DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

REVIEW: LIFE IS STRANGE - Eps 1-4 (Various)

5/8/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
So... Life is Strange. How strange? Well, imagine a world ruled by a giant floating beak called Birdok-7, that drips honey and yam juice from its tip. 

Oh, how its craven subjects would crowd beneath this bounteous and benevolent nozzle, mouths agape to sample its syrupy banquet.

That would be pretty strange, wouldn't it? Now forget all about that, because it has absolutely nothing to do with the video game, Life is Strange.

CORE BLIMEY
At its core, Life is Strange is indebted to the point and click adventure games of the past. 

Most obviously, it ditches a side-on, 2D graphical style with something more acceptably contemporary, but the most profound change is in terms of its subject matter. Rather than, say, the borderline Type-A adventuring and mysteries seen in those point and click adventures of yore, it adds angsty teen drama to the mix. 

Sexting, casual drug use, cliques, social media, people talking about illegally downloading movies, how growing up is, like, so totally yeah, and step-parents are, such, like, douchebags, man... are stirred into the traditional blend of mystery and adventuring. 

You play Max, an 18 year-old girl with a passion for photography, who has returned to the small coastal town she grew up in, after five years living in Seattle. Now attending the local college, she finds herself swept up in the disappearance of a girl, a conspiracy revolving around the town's richest family, and the visions she's been having about the imminent destruction of everythii-iiiii-i-iiiing...

Fortunately, Max has also somehow acquired a set of special abilities, allowing her to rewind time a short distance. It's not a unique gameplay mechanic - we've seen it before in games like Braid - but it's one that's utilised well by Life is Strange. Mostly, Max can use it to influence character interactions - the outcomes of which will impact on the story going forward - as well as the usual puzzles.
Picture
GRIPPED AT THE SEAMS
It's character and story that Life is Strange really has going for it. Though it drops the ball slightly in Episode 4, through some irritating and laborious puzzles - there's a concluding fifth episode still to come - everything leading up to that point will keep you gripped. 

That is, providing you can get past a few comically sinister characters (particularly Samuel the janitor - who might as well end every sentence with "Samuel is ever so creepy he is"), and the slightly grating and cliched American teen drama - at points it was only the fruity language and incessant drug references that stopped this feeling like a show on Nickleodeon. 

It's an apt comparison, however. Life is Strange does feel more like a TV show than a game - the visual language it uses to tell its story is very TV-like. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the more you get away from a game feeling like a game, the more jarring it becomes when your character starts doing the sorts of things that games characters do.

You know: such as going through every drawer and cupboard in somebody's bedroom looking for clues, while they're sat on the bed, apparently oblivious. Or when two characters are having a conversation, and it becomes clear from the inflection in their voices that the actors recorded their dialogue at completely different times.

Picture
CHURLY RISER
But that's us being a bit churlish. Life is Strange, for the most part, will keep you gripped. There are moments of real poignancy, the visuals get a good balance between stylised and photorealistic, and you might even come to actually care about some of the characters. 

It might not be as progressive as some would have us believe - strip away the contemporary story content, and lose the time travel, and you have a pretty traditional adventure game.

But arriving as it does in bite-sized chunks, it just about manages to ration out enough of its story to prevent you from advocating that everyone between the ages of 15 and 20 should be euthanised.

SUMMARY: Essentially, a slick point and click adventure for Generation Hipster.
SCORE: 8.1212222 out of 10.311144
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
  • REVIEW: JOURNEY (PS4)
  • REVIEW: HER STORY (PC, Mac, iOS)
  • REVIEW: THE WITCHER 3 (PS4/Xbox One/PC - PS4 version tested)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ