August has officially arrived which means we’re reaching ever so closer to the day the highly anticipated, Life Is Strange: Before The Storm, will finally hit the shelves. The folks at Deck Nine Studios and Square Enix were kind enough to show off another snippet of exclusive gameplay of episode 1 entitled “Awake” from the upcoming game, and so far the Life Is Strange fandom are already beaming with excitement as they eagerly await to be reunited in Arcadia Bay with their favourite rebellious punk rock misfit, Chloe Price.
When a brand new Life Is Strange game was first announced, fans of the much-loved episodic time travel adventure were excited to see where the story was going to go from where it left off. However, when the new game was announced to be a prequel taking place three years before the first game, the excitement of the fans hit overdrive especially since the story of the prequel was going to focus solely on Chloe Price and her relationship with Rachel Amber, a character who played a major role in Life In Strange and in Chloe’s life before she met Max.
Many people who loved and adored Life Is Strange were also a little worried as DontNod Entertainment were no longer involved with the new project. To take their place, Deck Nine Studios stepped in. Certain changes have been made to Life Is Strange: Before The Storm by this new company such as new voice actors for example. Ashly Burch, who lent her voice to Chloe in the first game, was said not to be returning for the prequel but would still be working on the game as a consultant/writer. Many fans were left sceptical after hearing this news as Ashly Burch did such an incredible job at voicing the character and giving a very emotional performance. One of the reasons fans loved Chloe Price so much was because of the phenomenal emotion and range that was provided to her character through the fantastic Miss Burch, so people were sad to hear that she wouldn’t be coming back to voice her again. Nonetheless, the new voice actress for Chloe, Rhianna DeVries, has so far displayed some promising scenes in the new 9 minute gameplay for the game that released just today.
The gameplay showcased a very hungover Chloe Price lazing away in her bedroom, listening to depressing indie rock music and lighting the odd cigarette – the Chloe Price we all know and remember. In this story, we see a much more rebellious and morbit side to Chloe as she struggles to come to terms with her mother’s new marriage to David Madsen after her father’s untimely death. She looks up at a band poster on her wall called “Firewalk” and recalls the first time she saw Rachel Amber. When I first watched the gameplay and saw the poster, I assumed Deck Nine were throwing a quick nod to Twin Peaks as the band’s name, Firewalk, rang very similar with the 1992 Twin Peaks movie, “Fire Walk With Me.” This might not be a Twin Peaks reference at all, but one of my favourite things about Life Is Strange was how subtle the game developers were with including pop culture references throughout the game. Let’s hope we do see more of these little references in Before The Storm when the games releases.
Life Is Strange: Before The Storm features the same choice-driven gameplay as the first game obviously with Chloe searching her bedroom for new clothes to wear after her crazy night out at the Firewalk concert. As Chloe rambles downstairs after her mother calls for her, Chloe is forced with the unbearable task of fetching her stepfather’s car keys before she catches a ride with him to school. In this gameplay clip, we see just how miserable and almost fed up Chloe feels with her life, often finding herself remembering cherished memories of her father when she comes across old pictures or interacts with objects such as his toolbox in the garage. Its moments like these where we do see the softer side of Chloe, the sweet girl she once was before her father’s accident caused to her become depressed.
From what we’ve witnessed so far in the gameplay clip Deck Nine has shown us, Life Is Strange: Before The Storm looks to be a fascinating contender and still includes the same light mellow tones of teenage angst Life Is Strange had down from the music to the environments. The first episode, Awake, is set to release on August 31st for PlaySation 4, X-Box One, and PC.
