Life is Strange is giving itself a tough act to follow.
Ever since playing the first episode, I was left to wonder how things would ramp up and get interesting, for no other reason than to sustain itself across four additional installments. While “Episode Two” was slow and ambling, it had a mother of a cliffhanger ending.
The problem is, “Episode Three: Chaos Theory” unfolds in exactly the same way.
“Chaos Theory” picks up from the aftermath of the last episode (don’t worry, we’ll keep it spoiler free) and has a couple slow-moving time puzzles and fetch quests before its last third really amps it up again. By the end of the episode, you’ll be excited for the next installment of the game… until you realise you’ll have to slog through an hour and a half before getting to even a teeny bit of resolution. Yet again.
This episode is most on-the-nose when it comes to morality. Spoiler-free, there’s a choice you have to make right around the midpoint of the episode that’s akin to either killing a puppy or helping an old woman across the street. In a game that does such a great job getting into the gray areas of life, it was unfortunately to see such a spectacular stumble.
As you move forward, the game also makes a strange point to show you bathrooms awash in graffiti. Not one or two tags, mind you, but about six in the mens’ and the same in the womens’. Even with hundreds of students in the school, all the graffiti pertains to a very select few, and is just unbelievable to the max.
Pardon the pun.
It’s that same kind of little stumble; the graffiti is obviously meant to tie some loose threads together, but just ends up being a fourth wall-breaking, unnecessary addition to a mostly intriguing — and seemingly ever-building — set of mysteries.
I’m sounding quite negative, but on the whole, there’s enough in Life is Strange to keep you going, even though the Pretty Little Liars vibe is getting way stronger. The fetch quests are straight forward and seem to be in play merely to pad the game, but the way Life is Strange continues to work with time is intriguing; I found myself slapping my forehead in disbelief after it took me far too long to get past a puzzle moment.
This is the weakest of Life is Strange’s three episodes by far, but considering the quality we’ve seen from DONTNOD so far, that’s not a terribly damning statement. I only hope “Episode Four” manages to amp up the action and stay true to its (mostly) real-life roots.
Life is Strange “Episode Three” was reviewed using a promotional code on Xbox One, as provided by the publisher. We’re holding off on a final review score until the entire season has been released.
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