I’ll admit, Life Is Strange totally took me by surprise. After finishing a few of Telltale’s games, I was in the mood for a little more episodic adventure. I’d already heard that the game wasn’t action-focused, but I put that to one side and downloaded the demo from PSN.
It was easily the best decision I had made, since owning a PS4.
Meet Max Caulfield
Life Is Strange focuses on a young aspiring photographer named Maxine Caulfield (Max). She’s currently attending boarding school and you’ll take her perspective during what seems to be a nightmare, mid-class.
Photography student. Manipulator of time. Good Samaritan. Max Caulfield isn’t someone the bullies want to be messin’ with…
Reminiscent of Alan Wake, Max finds herself near her towns lighthouse, during an aggressive storm at night. Max has no idea how she got there and it’s here that you take control of Max, cautiously guiding her to the safety of the lighthouse.
Once at the lighthouse cliff-top, you come face to face with a powerful tornado that’s seconds away from tearing through the village!
Life is Strange has a very eventful opening. Dontnod Entertainment sure know how to pull you in
Before this destructive force of nature can wipe-out both you and the lighthouse, Max suddenly wakes-up at her classroom desk. Still in shock after such a realistic nightmare, Max continues with class. Here, you’re introduced to the point-and-click mechanics of Life Is Strange.
The way you can interact with most of your surroundings, reminds me of Shenmue. A lot of effort has gone into making Max’s world spring to life and everything you interactive with, is even rewarded with audio dialog from Max. This isn’t only a great way of depicting the characters and world of Life Is Strange, but its also allowed Dontnod to inject some much-welcomed humour.
A life hand-painted
The first thing you’ll notice about Life Is Strange, is the games unique graphic style. Hand-painted scenery (and many other world objects) make up this beautiful episodic adventure. It may not jump-out at you at first, but every now and then you’ll be treated to a scene that really takes advantage of those magnificent brush strokes. You could sit back and enjoy them for hours.
