Poor graphics and clichéd storyline, which hark back to American teenager films, fail to lift this prequel to Life Is Strange
The prequel to the hugely popular Life Is Strange, puts you in the shoes of Chloe Price and unlike the original, there are no supernatural forces at work here. Instead, it's a journey into teenage angst and a system called Backtalk, where you can be nastier with a series of timed putdowns.
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Before the Storm takes place in the tiny town of Arcadia Bay, three years before the original game and gives you a glimpse into the life of the protagonist Chloe Price. In this game, her personality seems like an amalgamation of every American movie about teenagers.
This, compounded by the fact that the developers are trying very hard to drive the fact that she is a toxic smart mouth, makes the game feel inorganic. Even scenes that are meant to be symbolic and supposed to make you feel for the character are cringe worthy. The clunky dialogues made it difficult to truly enjoy the experience of being a nasty American teen.
The story of Chloe Price does have potential though. She has lost her dad to a car crash, she doesn't like her mom's new boyfriend and she is attracted to Rachel Amber, who is the clichéd model student of her school. However, nothing is fully explored. Graphically, Life is Strange is not the best-looking game. The side characters seem to be poorly animated.
What Before the Storm does well though is the music, which is thoroughly enjoyable. The Backtalk system is also something to look forward to, though better writing would have helped it immensely.
Like its predecessor, the game will be out in episodes and even though we aren't totally impressed with the game right now, we are hoping the developers can salvage it by the next episode.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Rating: 2/5
Developer: Deck Nine
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PC, PS4, XBOX
Price: PC: Rs 479; PS4: Rs 1,172; XBOX: Rs 1,420
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