The “butterfly effect” has been taken to a new level in “Life is Strange”, a decision making based game that had its first episode, “Chrysalis”, released in late January. It is similar to Telltale Game’s “Walking Dead Series” and “The Wolf Among Us” with each “level” being an episode which are released and purchased seperately.
The game follows young high school student Maxine who has a passion for photography. She soon comes to realize that the visions she has are more than just daydreams. When Max sees a girl get shot in the girl’s bathroom she’s thrown backwards in time to the classroom she was in a matter of minutes ago. Upon realizing that she has the ability to time travel, Max decides to save the girl she saw get shot. That’s where her adventure starts, thrown head-first into a string of events she wouldn’t ever expect to happen.
Even from the demo version, available before purchasing the first episode, it’s clear to see that the graphics are astounding. When first playing the demo, I couldn’t tell when the cutscene ended because the graphics were just as good as normal gameplay.
These games are famous for their plot twists and quick turns, so I won’t reveal much about the main plot. However, once you get into the episode, it grabs you and keeps you going until you see the credits roll. The decisions you make in the game, unlike other decision-based games, can be changed with Max’s time traveling abilities. There are a few decisions that cannot be changed, but you do have the ability to change a decision right after you make it. However, you can’t jump back too far into the past, as Maxie’s abilities haven’t progressed to that extent. This means that one person’s play through can be completely different than another person’s. When you go into the next episodes in the future, your decisions stay with you throughout the storyline.
abilities. There are a few decisions that cannot be changed, but you do have the ability to change a decision right after you make it. However, you can’t jump back too far into the past, as Maxie’s abilities haven’t progressed to that extent. This means that one person’s play through can be completely different than another person’s. When you go into the next episodes in the future, your decisions stay with you throughout the storyline.So jump into Maxie’s adventures of tempting fate before she knows it, while running into a wide cast of well developed characters and mind blowing events. Episode 2, “Out of Time” was released a few days ago on March 24th. You’d better believe I’ll be off to buy that episode, as this game isn’t one you can put down after your first taste.
8.5/10
Hannah Makholm/Graphics Dept.
