Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 2: Brave New World – Teenage Drama Queens

Take a long, hard look at the picture below. Did you not see it coming? Could it really be considered a spoiler? Maybe, if you haven’t played the first episode of Before the Storm, or even the entire first season of Life is Strange, but for the rest of us, it was almost inevitable. Fate in videogame form.

Chloe Price and Rachel Amber were destined to get it on. And it is kind of beautiful seeing their relation being shaped through ups and downs, surprises, awkwardness, rushed decisions. Very few games dare to touch this subject, and here it is handled in a very respectful, genuine, teen angst kind of way.

That being said:

Warning: this review may contain (more) spoilers!

After a surprisingly intimate first episode, Brave New World sees Chloe’s life spiraling down, reaching a point of desperation where Rachel is the only one who seems to be there for her. The bond between the two teenagers gets even stronger as the story unfolds, and this is a genuinely good episode with plenty of interesting situations and choices to be made.

Chloe and Rachel’s plan to leave Arcadia Bay is still a thing and a hot topic in Brave New World. But while we don’t know the immediate future for the two girls, being a prequel removes some of the suspense from this tale. By now you should know about Chloe’s academic future or Rachel’s inexorable fate. It’s to the writers’ credit then that the whole thing still feels so endearing, occasionally funny in an awkward way, and most of the time particularly tragic. A romantic tragedy, we could say.

There are a few big decisions that you have to make and most of them aren’t black or white. You may be praised for your actions, but deep inside you know you’re a hypocrite and have to deal with the guilt; or you could try to do the right thing and end up messing things up even more. Such is the beauty of this episode, with quite a few grey area decisions that hopefully will gain all their meaning in the final episode.

And then there’s this other set piece that is more funny and emotional than what you have experienced before: The Tempest, a school production based on the Shakespeare play where you have an important part. It’s fun to act and choosing the way it’s going to turn out – how good are your improv skills? –, and this adds some deeper meaning to what Chloe and Rachel have lived. It’s touching and heartfelt.

The final set piece of this episode is where all hell breaks loose. I won’t spoil it to you, but you can expect some extremely tense moments and a breakthrough revelation that will leave you scratching your head. How will this new piece of info fit with everything else is everybody’s guess.

With more than three years separating Before the Storm from the events in Season 1, we’re not quite sure just how bold Deck9 is going to be. Right now, Nathan seems more of a jackass than the ruthless monster that he turned out to be, and there’s still no sign of Jefferson. I can’t stop thinking that there’s some sort of surprising and surreal twist in store for us – there has to be. A couple of things seem to hint at something major going on, but nothing solid is revealed so far. If I’m wrong and nothing abnormal happens during episode 3, they could have just called this season ‘Life is Strange: Normality’ or something like that.

When all is said and done, Brave New World is like the huge forest fire that keeps on burning since the first episode: it’s intense, overwhelming, a great episode in a series that still has a lot to offer. It’s actually a shame that Before the Storm could be the last time that we ever get to see Chloe, Max and Rachel. I can only hope that Hell is Empty is memorable and that Max’s little spin-off is as emotional, bittersweet and rewarding as it can possibly be. I’m crossing my fingers for Life is Strange 2 to feature a cast that is half as compelling as this, flaws and all.

Final rating: 9.0/10

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