‘Life is Strange – Episode 2: Out of Time’ Review (PC)
So, Life is Strange: Episode Two – Out of Time has been released and I kept my promise of buying the season pass, and I’m glad I did. With Out of Time starting with a “next day” feel, the past events still feel raw in people’s minds and plenty of people have grudges against Max which we have to get help her avoid.
I don’t really want to say too much about the plot of this second episode as part of the pleasure of the game is the way the story reveals itself, especially with the choices you make and the way you keep on messing them up. There is a predictability to this episode as Max is pulled between two friendships, both which need her attention. Whatever choice you make it really hits home that the game isn’t going to make you feel like this is going to be an easy ride, things are going to get emotional.
What is more noticeable with this episode is that the story does have that linear feel to it and even with the ability to manipulate time, many times you are only rewinding to get to the right answer. As a lot of the episode is your character trying to convince Chloe of your power and then playing with it there is a feel that you are going through trial and error multiple choice actions until you get to the right order. There are many times where observational skills are well-tested and thankfully these actions makes the story progress. This makes these situations easy to forgive, especially when it all leads to the big finale.
One thing that I did notice with this second episode is the almost normal feel to the events that are taking place. There are clues as to what happened to the missing girl and how a group in Arcadia Bay have abused girls at the school, and this storyline should be praised in the more realistic way it is portrayed and the effect it has. There feels like there is a real danger that young women often go through in real schools and if anything this adds to the impact to the game and how potent the story is actually becoming.
What this leaves the player with is the feeling that Life is Strange is not going to take the expected path, and that although there is a fantastical event taking place and weird things do happen, for the most part there is a dangerous reality to what is going on. Max has an ability that not only gives her special powers, but is taking a toll on her and we are discovering more about that as the game goes on. We’ll obviously see more about this in future episodes, but a feel of dread is slowly. This shows the strength of the game and its ability to make the player become emotionally attached to the characters. This point is proven with the episodes major scene which has to be praised as one of the tensest in this type of game in a while.
Life is Strange: Episode Two – Out of Time continues to show that it’s not only Telltale Games that can do emotionally driven games, and in some ways is doing it better. It may be the refreshing change in style that makes Life is Strange have more of an impact, but that never detracts from the fact that with such a good story being revealed with each episode, this is a game that should be praised for its ability to keep the audience enthralled.
***** 5/5
Life is Strange: Episode Two – Out of Time is out now.
