Life is Strange is a new episode series with a deep story which is significantly affected by choices made by the user. While this may sound like a clone of the Telltale Games formula, Life is Strange offers something significantly different to the experience one has when playing a Telltale Games series.
You play through the game as a young girl called Max. One of the reasons why the game is something different is because Max is just an average girl. At the start of the game, you will find her simply communicating with friends and taking pictures. This helps increase the realism of the story, as you can relate to Max.
As you progress through the game, you will develop her personality by making choices regarding her actions and speech. Characters in the game are quite developed; if you make particular choices regarding what to do and say around them, they will reveal a deeper personality that the first impression you get of them.
Max is also quite a funny character. Her use of sarcasm is generally humourous and again adds to the realism, immersion and normality of the story in Life is Strange. Overall, things like fantastic voice acting, use of humour and the presence of normal, everyday events make Life is Strange thoroughly enjoyable.
The biggest difference between the system that Life is Strange’s formula and that of a Telltale Games series is, however, the ability to reverse time. Max has the ability to go backwards by a very short amount of time, in order to rectify mistakes or bad choices that were made. This adds a lot of potential to the game in terms of what the user can do. If you have a particular hatred for Max, you can reverse time and make the worst choices. If you are fond of Max, you can reverse the clocks and make a good choice for her. However, should you wait too long before turning back time, you will be stuck with the original decision you made.
Additionally, some of the gameplay requires strategic implementation of these powers. Sometimes you must use her time reversing abilities in order to discover the solution to a puzzle or to trigger a particular event. Her power is part of the story in Life is Strange and more information regarding its nature is sure to be drip-fed to us through future episodes.
Life is Strange also boasts incredible attention to detail. There is a huge amount of additional content available to peruse should you choose to avail of it. Exploring everything that the episode has to offer can take a number of hours and if Life is Strange is the type of game suited to you, I would be confident this is something you will enjoy doing.
One thing which Life is Strange lacks is stellar graphics. While I would have liked vivid, high-resolution graphics, the game has its own arty charm. The same can be said about the music, environments and character personas. Overall, Life is Strange is different and certainly worth playing. The first episode has provided a gripping introduction to what looks to be an excellent series. I highly recommend trying the title!