By Matt Taylor
Published by Square Enix and developed by DONTNOD; the Parisian team behind last years “Remember Me, “Life is Strange” aims for the sweet spot between the mature, realistic themes of independent titles, and the polish and support of a AAA game.
The brand new episodic modern adventure game tells the story of Max Caulfield, a high school student who’s just returned to her home town of Arcadia Bay, Oregon to study photography after 5 years away. An avid photographer and someone who’s more at ease behind the camera than in front of it, Max uses the camera to record and capture a moment in time, something that the player can use in unravelling the secrets of Arcadia Bay.
The brand new episodic modern adventure game tells the story of Max Caulfield, a high school student who’s just returned to her home town of Arcadia Bay, Oregon to study photography after 5 years away. An avid photographer and someone who’s more at ease behind the camera than in front of it, Max uses the camera to record and capture a moment in time, something that the player can use in unravelling the secrets of Arcadia Bay.
Setting Life is Strange apart from other adventure games is the ability to rewind sections of time, enabling the player to replay interactions and experiences. This allows you to retread sections of the game, letting you adjust choices and see all possible outcomes. If the player decides that the last conversation they had with another character didn’t go so well, or you failed to solve a puzzle in the right way, quickly rewinding time lets you repair the damage done, or simply see where the other options take you. The sections that allow you to manipulate time are bookended by checkpoints, stopping you from travelling the length of the game. Your choices still matter, but you can make them again and again.
The town you’re placed into begs the player to unravel it’s layers, letting you study the darker, seedier underbelly through your lens. The disappearance of a young girl, ignored by the authorities as a simple runaway, will lead you and the best friend you left behind on the path to discovering the gears that turn beneath the surface of Arcadia Bay.
I was lucky enough to see a play through of Life is Strange recently, and was given the guided tour by Jean-Max Morris and Michel Koch from DONTNOD.
The town you’re placed into begs the player to unravel it’s layers, letting you study the darker, seedier underbelly through your lens. The disappearance of a young girl, ignored by the authorities as a simple runaway, will lead you and the best friend you left behind on the path to discovering the gears that turn beneath the surface of Arcadia Bay.
I was lucky enough to see a play through of Life is Strange recently, and was given the guided tour by Jean-Max Morris and Michel Koch from DONTNOD.
“First of all, modern adventure game, what I mean by that is that we are putting much more emphasis on story and character development, as well as choice than we are on puzzle mechanics, although we also have some puzzles”, Jean-Max explained, “it’s a modern adventure game with a twist because at the very beginning of the game, Max realises that she has this very unique power to come back in time at any moment and change the decisions, her interactions, and therefore change the course of destiny”.
Jean-Max and Michel then took us through a scene in the game, which revolved around Max and Chloe, the best friend she left behind five years ago. As I want to keep this spoiler free, I won’t go into exactly what the demo included, but we saw all the elements of the game working in motion. Michel was able to go through the
scene twice, changing the choices he made as Max. While none of these changes charge the main storyline, they change the relationship between Max and the people of Arcadian Bay. The play through showed us how the game will work, but
stopped short of unravelling and revealing all of its secrets too us then and there.
Arcadia Bay is beautiful in Life is Strange, with every texture in the game hand painted. With the team aiming to release all five episodes just six weeks apart, they have a lot of work ahead of them to create and recreate the striking, vivid colours and detail in every inch of the game.
With the game expected sometime early next year, everyone should be excited to see more of Life is Strange.
Jean-Max and Michel then took us through a scene in the game, which revolved around Max and Chloe, the best friend she left behind five years ago. As I want to keep this spoiler free, I won’t go into exactly what the demo included, but we saw all the elements of the game working in motion. Michel was able to go through the
scene twice, changing the choices he made as Max. While none of these changes charge the main storyline, they change the relationship between Max and the people of Arcadian Bay. The play through showed us how the game will work, but
stopped short of unravelling and revealing all of its secrets too us then and there.
Arcadia Bay is beautiful in Life is Strange, with every texture in the game hand painted. With the team aiming to release all five episodes just six weeks apart, they have a lot of work ahead of them to create and recreate the striking, vivid colours and detail in every inch of the game.
With the game expected sometime early next year, everyone should be excited to see more of Life is Strange.
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