Life is Strange: Episode 3 – Chaos Theory (XB1) Review

Everything comes at a cost.

I enjoyed the past two episodes of Life is Strange. They were decently acted, had an interesting premise, and really made me think about the decisions I was making. The time mechanic was never really a gimmick, and the ending to episode 2 was very intense and very moving. While I was happy with what Dontnod had done, I was still feeling a bit of a disconnect. Now that I have played through episode 3, I am on board with this series in so many ways, and I firmly believe that people out there need to play this game.

After the huge event that took place at the end of episode 2, Max is now living in the wake of her choices. People look at her slightly different and some even open up to her. To the more pressing matters, Max and Chloe do some sleuthing to try to find evidence or a trail that would help link certain people of interest to the events that took place at the end of episode 2, and possibly try to figure out what exactly happened with Rachel Amber’s disappearance.

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Platforms: PC, PS4, XB1, 360, PS3
Price: $4.99
Price I’d pay: $4.99

There are very few “puzzles” in this episode and the ones that do crop up really take four or five minutes to complete. They are simple and never distract from the story. This is a great thing because the premise and story are Life is Strange’s strongest features. Even when told through a sometimes immature teenager, how Max deals with the situation is usually always believable.

The time mechanics feel almost like they take a backset in this episode but at the same time, have some of the more interesting moments. Sneaking around the school at night and seeing Max and Chloe’s relationship grow even more is so well done in this episode. Seeing more into their lives actually made me care more about them and it really made me feel for their struggles and causes. This episode has some choices that had me staring at the choice screen for a while, and even with the power to see how they played out and rewind to try the other choice, they were difficult to make.

I don’t even dare going into spoilers for this episode because of how powerful the events that occur are. The usage of camera angles and music adds even more to what is happening. Things I didn’t normally notice in the first two episodes. I really think it is a large improvement over the first two. The voices still don’t match up to the mouths at all really, but that is the only real issue I had with it. The pacing has been improved significantly, and I was never stuck having to fulfill a fetch quest that took me out of the story.

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I would always suggest playing the game if someone were to actually ask me about it. After playing episode 3, I will seek out people and tell them to play it. I’m not kidding around when I say that the last few minutes of this episode brought me to tears. Only one other video game has done that to me. With the power to rewind time and choose what happens it always comes with a price; it could be good or bad, but in the end it will always affect us. Life is Strange has shown that in a spectacular way, and I highly suggest it to anyone reading this review.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Good voice acting
  • Wonderful character interactions
  • Powerful story
  • Amazing presentation
Bad
  • Voices still don’t match up with the mouths
9.5
Excellent
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Drew is the Community Manager here at ZTGD and his accent simply woos the ladies. His rage is only surpassed by the great one himself and no one should stand between him and his Twizzlers.