Life is Strange Before the Storm Episode 2: Brave New World – Review (PS4)

If you knew what the future held would you still want to live through the present? While Chloe, at this point, is unaware of the tragic events that are to come, anyone who was played through the first game knows what young Chloe has yet to live through. This never takes away from the sense of hope you feel as you see the relationship between Chloe and Amber continue to flourish in episode 2.

By the time we meet up with Max in Life is Strange Chloe has already been removed from Blackwell Academy for quite some time. As Brave New World begins we witness the events that led to her dismissal. Principal Wells is having one of his many parent teacher conferences with Chloe and Mrs. Price, but this one is different. For the first time Blackwell’s model student, Rachel Amber, and her parents are attending as well. You lead conversations however you choose, which makes you feel like you are actually in control of Chloe’s future at Blackwell. Does she stay or she is expelled? We know that at some point she leaves the academy, yet you find yourself wondering what could happen if you say all the right things to Principal Wells- could you save her this time? Situations like this are what make Life is Strange so special. You truly feel like the decisions that you are making actually mean something.

From there you make plans to meet Rachel later at the junkyard and you spend the next portion of the game waiting for her arrival. In the junkyard you find the truck that Chloe drives around in the first game. In its current state it will not run. This means you need to explore the junkyard and find whatever items you can in order to get the truck put back together. While this section of the game never feels like it is there to further the story along, it’s a nice way to learn more about Chloe and how much she put into fixing up that old truck. What Deck Nine does so well in instances like this is make certain moments and items that appeared to be seemingly trivial before feel incredibly important. Eventually Rachel shows up and we are treated to more of the intimate moments between the two girls that have become the heart of Before the Storm.

With the focus clearly on the budding relationship between Chloe and Rachel, it’s easy to miss some of the other important cameos at Blackwell. The friendship between Chloe and Eliot feels as if it is trying to resemble the one Max had with Warren – yet it fails to hit the same emotional levels through the first two episodes. This is probably a deliberate decision that we’ll be keeping a close eye on as the final episode unfolds. Especially as Eliot learns Chloe doesn’t reciprocate his feelings. Other than an easily missed text message there is really little else making note of the fact that Chloe completely blows him off to spend more quality time with Rachel. Even Samuel the groundskeeper seems suspicious of Eliot during his conversation with Chloe. During the performance of The Tempest Nathan and Victoria make nice appearances giving small hints at events that may have helped mold them into who they are during the events of the first game. Limited time spent with Chloe’s mom and David only bring up more questions than are answered in this episode, leaving a lot of ground to cover in act three.

As we made mention of in the review for episode one, each episode has that big wow moment that leaves you completely speechless. Brave New World’s reveal comes with a bang and it was just what the series needed. Ending with such a cliff hanger will make new and old fans desperate for answers. New characters and directions is what makes a prequel feel fresh. They have taken things from the original source material and expanded on them in ways that have been nothing short of magical. The choices you make feel important and final- especially without Max’s handy rewind feature- making everything feel new at the same time. Seeing Blackwell through Chloe’s eyes is a completely different experience than we had walking those halls as Max. This is a testament to the writing and development team taking great care of the places and characters we love and knowing how to view the world through their eyes. The scene where Rachel is performing The Tempest is incredible. This is one of the finest moments in the series to date and the improvisational performance they give on stage will sit with you for some time.

With only one episode left, Brave New World has sucked us in and left us salivating for the final episode. If the first two episodes are any indication we will want to immediately jump back in to Life is Strange upon completing the third episode and we truly feel that it will be a completely new experience thanks to Before the Storm.

Recommendation: If you are playing Brave New World then you’ve already played Awake and are eager to play through the events that will lead to the game’s conclusion in the next episode. As stated in our review of Awake, if you haven’t played a single episode of Life is Strange we recommend playing through the original game first. Doing so will make the events in Before the Storm that much more powerful. If you played the original game and didn’t love it there is very little here to make you a believer once again. It is definitely more Life is Strange and to fans of the game that is a great thing.