The darker the secret, the deeper you have to dig. The truth always lies right at the bottom where it is no longer covered by all the lies and deceit, but as you slowly wipe away the darkness in search of the light, you’ll sometimes find that the very light which you were hoping would illuminate your way to the truth is much darker than you could ever have imagined. Things are slowly starting to fall into place in Arcadia Bay, and our protagonist Max is right in there, in the middle of it all.
Picking up after the traumatic events of episode 2, the students of Blackwell feel worn out and there is a definite air of remorse and despair. These events have finally given Max that final push to really uncover the truth and find the culprit(s) behind all of this. There is still much unknown but the seemingly odd yet complimentary duo of Max and Chloe team up to try and actively uncover the truth. Nothing is as it seems though and even the people they thought they knew are hiding something too, and this includes Chloe’s close friend, Rachel, who seems to be at the center of it all and it makes her missing person’s case all the more mysterious. I won’t delve further into that but things are slowly coming together and all the major players are being revealed.
The story is much better paced than episode 2. There are moments of genuine sincerity and the dialogue exchanges within feel natural and heartfelt. There are still too many ‘hellas’ being thrown around but it’s become a quirk of those using it so it never became too grating. There were some surprisingly tense moments as well that were well choreographed and acted and it gelled well with the overall scenario as it made the quieter moments feel more meaningful, and it’s those moments that really shine.
The relationship that Chloe and Max share is as beautiful as it is intricate, but the intricacy stems from the troubled past of Chloe. I genuinely felt sad as they showed more of Chloe’s life and what goes on in her mind. Sure, it sometimes devolves into typical teenage melodrama and uses some clichéd tropes (you’ll know it when you see it), but it never brought the experience down as it did in episode 2. Its smart design and the developers crafted scenarios that flowed well together which accentuated every little nuanced moment. All of this leads up to an ending and cliffhanger that left me with my jaw on the floor and a body full of goosebumps. It’s a shame then that there are still some lingering issues that hamper what is otherwise an outstanding episode.
The gameplay this time around is a bit better than in previous episodes but it still stumbles over itself. Far too often it has you scavenging the area looking for a set number of items. Now, if I wanted to do some fetch quests, I’d play an MMO, but with a game like this that relies more on its storytelling than actual gameplay, mindlessly searching every draw and cupboard for an item only ends up hurting the overall flow of the game. Thankfully, there were more interesting uses of the time rewinding mechanic this time around but I just wish they focused more on it. It’s frustrating. Life is Strange has a really good mechanic going for it but it never fully utilizes it, instead it relies on genre tropes and doesn’t even do that well. Luckily, these moments don’t last too long and I just hope that they put less emphasis on this in the coming episodes.
One aspect of the game that does not disappoint is still the presentation. The look and feel still feels authentic and the musical tracks are expertly chosen and suit the scenarios they’re played in. The voice acting is still the same as before but the script is much better this time making the overall performances much more believable. There is one serious caveat when it comes to the graphics in this episode though. Episode 3 has a 300+ meg patch that goes along with it that fixes some game breaking graphical glitches. It’s unfortunate, but luckily the patch sorts out all the issues therefore treat this patch as a mandatory download if you want to play this episode. As a side note, I am not sure if this issue is in all versions of the game but it was definitely present on PlayStation 4.
Last Updated: May 19, 2015
Life is Strange - Episode 3 | |
Life is Strange Episode 3 falters in some areas but it was never enough to hurt the overall experience. With heartfelt moments and an incredible climax, this game proves that it can stand tall amongst the giants in the genre. I felt a bit disheartened by the incredibly slow and slightly boring second episode, but this one proves that this game is still hella awesome, and yes, I just said hella.
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Life is Strange - Episode 3 was reviewed on PlayStation 4 |
Admiral Chief
May 19, 2015 at 11:38
Nice one Umar
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 11:41
http://media.giphy.com/media/ClcWrARkrq1GM/giphy.gif
Admiral Chief
May 19, 2015 at 11:42
I should probably read it at some point 😛
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 11:43
YOU CUT ME DEEP!
Admiral Chief
May 19, 2015 at 11:46
Huehuehue, just making sure you don’t get cabbaged
Captain JJ Browman
May 19, 2015 at 11:58
Why, do you read his comments?
RinceTriss
May 19, 2015 at 12:01
BWAHAHAH!
Admiral Chief
May 19, 2015 at 12:04
xD
SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5
May 19, 2015 at 11:45
Nice review!
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 11:53
Thanks Panda 🙂
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 19, 2015 at 11:49
IMA LET YOU FINISH, BUT TL;DR
Witcher 3 has been delivered & is waiting for me at home!
Admiral Chief
May 19, 2015 at 11:50
Mine is already installed, and my loadshedding schedule at home has changed to when I’m not there, beers are cold, all is ready, TODAY IS A GOOD DAY!
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 19, 2015 at 11:52
No load shedding for me tonight unless we go to OMG WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE 3B Stage. Yay!
RinceTriss
May 19, 2015 at 12:01
I’ve made the call *RUNS
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 19, 2015 at 12:02
The Ghostbusters aren’t real 😛
RinceTriss
May 19, 2015 at 12:14
You’re only saying that because they’re now women. YOU ARE ANTI-PROGREZZION!
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 19, 2015 at 12:30
LOL!
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 11:55
BOOOOO go and play that lame rpg :/
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 19, 2015 at 12:01
I will! And I’ll call every enemy UMAR and LAUGH when I chop their heads off!
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:02
That’s…..That’s some dark shizz lol
Mossel
May 19, 2015 at 11:53
Yes!! I am patiently awaiting all the episodes before I play it.
Hammersteyn
May 19, 2015 at 11:54
Same here
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 11:55
Man, the wait is excruciating. Especially after this ep. Ending was SOOOOOOOOOO good.
Mossel
May 19, 2015 at 11:57
That’s why I’m not reading the review! lol, but I like to not know anything. Just the fact that you said it was good is good enough for me! There are 5 episodes right?
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 11:58
Haha, I tried not to get into spoilers. It’s hard though. Yup 5 episodes. so after 12 weeks you can get it lol
Mossel
May 19, 2015 at 12:00
All good, Witcher 3 should keep me occupied.
Sidenote: “What kind of a name is Kuuuumaaaaar anyway? What’s that, like 5 o’s and 7 u’s? What happened to good ol’ American names like Dave and Jim?”
hahaha love that movie.
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:02
HAHAHAHAHA Yes, another one get’s that reference 😀 😀 KUUUUUMMMMMAAAAAR!!
Kensei Seraph
May 19, 2015 at 12:03
And here I thought you were trying to reference a bear (kuma).
Hammersteyn
May 19, 2015 at 11:57
Great Review boet, saw you were playing last night XD
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 11:59
Haha, finished it at like 1 in the morning. Lotsa sugary snacks and coffee got me through it 😀
Hammersteyn
May 19, 2015 at 12:00
Too much Xenoverse in between? 😛
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:00
WAAAAY TOO MUCH :P. So good!! Best DBZ game since Budokai 3!
Captain JJ Browman
May 19, 2015 at 12:00
Wow. Dedicated Umar is dedicated.
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:01
Geoff promised me butt pics , so obviously I’m gonna work my ass off 😀
Admiral Chief
May 19, 2015 at 12:03
O_O
IT’S A TRAP!
Captain JJ Browman
May 19, 2015 at 12:04
Sounds about right. Strangely motivating, that one.
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:04
Coz there aint no butt pics like Geoff’s butt pics.
Captain JJ Browman
May 19, 2015 at 12:05
It’s like those graphics that you have to stare at for a few minutes before you start to make out what it actually is.
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:07
Like an onion, there are many layers to his butt….it’s why they call him Wobbly Onion.
Loftus
May 19, 2015 at 12:03
His mind and body was ready!
Captain JJ Browman
May 19, 2015 at 11:57
Best guy on chaos theory imo – Dr Ian Malcolm ;P
Loftus
May 19, 2015 at 12:02
Nice review Umar! many thanks 🙂
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:03
🙂
http://onwardstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/conan-bowing.gif
RinceTriss
May 19, 2015 at 12:02
Halla high marks from this reviewer *RUNS
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:04
Lol Play the game, and for every hella you hear, throw a rand in a jar. You’ll be rich!
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 19, 2015 at 12:05
Just imagine if she had pink or blue hair. Easily be a 9.97 or 10 out of 10. *run*
Kensei Seraph
May 19, 2015 at 12:06
*Scrolls back up to look at the screenshots*
There is a person with blue hair… are you colour blind?
Admiral Chief
May 19, 2015 at 12:07
He must be, that was one of the first things I thought of.
So game is actually, like 6/10 then?
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 19, 2015 at 12:07
Scroll down to where I said TL;DR ;P
RinceTriss
May 19, 2015 at 12:07
ZING!
Kensei Seraph
May 19, 2015 at 12:07
You don’t need to read to look at pictures.
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 19, 2015 at 12:08
Of course you do, they’re 1000 words. Even more reading.
Kensei Seraph
May 19, 2015 at 12:09
I wonder how many words you see in a gif then?
http://images.wikia.com/enanimanga/images/3/35/HeadTilting.gif
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 19, 2015 at 12:10
Hmm, refresh, or go to the shop to buy soup… SOUP WINS!
RinceTriss
May 19, 2015 at 12:11
And more scrolling! Your poor hand…
RinceTriss
May 19, 2015 at 12:08
And my point exactly 😉 Just teasing @umarbastra:disqus
Captain JJ Browman
May 19, 2015 at 12:04
To click “recommend” or to not click recommend?
Loftus
May 19, 2015 at 12:05
Do it! you know you want to! 🙂
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:06
Listen to Loftus..I know you want to…(I’ll send you butt pics….I’ll stop now with that joke lol)
Captain JJ Browman
May 19, 2015 at 12:07
Haha!
*clicks
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:08
*Sends
😀
Captain JJ Browman
May 19, 2015 at 12:08
O_o
Loftus
May 19, 2015 at 12:09
ARRGGHHH my eyes! it burns!!!! Washing mind with JIK tonight! 🙂
Kensei Seraph
May 19, 2015 at 12:11
Here.
*Passes the brain bleach*
I keep a bottle under my desk at all times.
http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/229/623/274.gif
Captain JJ Browman
May 19, 2015 at 12:21
Metalocalypse for the win.
Kensei Seraph
May 19, 2015 at 12:05
Nicely written review with enough spoilers to make me interested (I haven’t played the first 2 episodes) but not so many that I get put off.
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:08
hehe thanks. Tried to be as vague as humanly possible.
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 19, 2015 at 12:07
I want this game. I’m waiting patiently for all the episodes though. And then I still have to play TWD season 2, and TWAU, and Borderlands, and, and, and.
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
May 19, 2015 at 12:09
I’ve enjoyed this more than most of Telltale’s stuff post Wolf and TWD. Original story done well. Great characters and the music. hmm mmm mmm.
Kromas,powered by windows 10.
May 20, 2015 at 09:30
I found a game-breaking flaw in this game.
Launching the same day as Witcher. 😛
oomjan
May 20, 2015 at 23:34
I must say Epic game this. I love it the one thing that pisses me off is now I have to wait a long time for episode 4. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to wait so long…lol. I say 10/10 for this unpredictable ending.