Life is Strange Before the Storm Episode 3: Hell is Empty Review - worthy end

nehashetty (58)in #gaming • 7 years ago (edited)

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Deck Nine has managed to release the third part of Life is Strange: before the end of 2017, before the Storm. The prequel of Life is Strange comes to an end. A worthy conclusion to a series of heavy episodes, although Hell is Empty seems to ripple too slowly.

Where Chloe Price in Life is Strange is the big rebel, it is in Before the Storm her girlfriend Rachel Amber who fulfills that role. At least, that is how this three-part game begins: the ladies decide to play truant, to light fikkies and above all not to do what their parents tell them. In fact, that is never wise, but had the ladies otherwise found out the big secret in this third episode?

Probably not, because in this closing only one problem plays the main role and that is who is the woman with whom Rachel's father kissed in the park. Did he get strange, did Rachel's mother know about this and was this a one-off thing? These are all questions that play, but that are quickly suppressed when it is known who the woman really is. Fortunately, Rachel's father is clear about that in the end, although that again means a gameplay element.

Chloe's comebacks

What has just been introduced in Before the Storm is that Chloe can use her clever comebacks to win discussions and let people do something for her instead of the other way around. However, it is precisely that nice new gimmick that remains almost entirely in the valve. Once you have the fire in this way to the shots and even if you do not respond well, there is actually no man overboard.

Too bad, because this episode is extremely passive. There are virtually no moments in which you control yourself; all you have to do is choose from time to time in a conversation what Chloe replies. Only a few times you get Chloe to drive and you can scour around in Rachel's room, Chloe's mother's house and someone's office, and you get the chance to tinker with a car on the demolition. It is only rarely clear why those moments have been chosen to give the gamer the control again. Especially the fixation of the car seems to add little.

Where such a thing in other games means a significant drop in the figure, this is not the case in Life is Strange. The narration is so strong that the gameplay is not extremely missed except in conversations. In fact, you can even experience the moments that you have to let Chloe explore yourself, such as the platform moments in Sonic games. They always put an end to the wonderful renflow in which you find yourself, instead of the obstacles that challenge you in a fun way. You just want to know, how the story unfolds, and how Chloe gets her information you do not necessarily have to discover yourself in very complex puzzles.

The story is fantastic in Before the Storm. Rachel Amber is of course quite a mystery in the main game and partly it remains in this forerunner. There are, however, many aspects to her that become painfully clear, which happens in a great way - which we will not reveal. It is the same income in the third episode, because it starts with a very slowly telling story of Rachel's father, but once that is over and Chloe is back in the picture, then Life is Strange again as usual. The heavier conversations are interspersed with moments when Chloe performs on his own and moments in which you enjoy the fantastic soundtrack that is so characteristic of the series.

Resting

a moment Such a meditation moment sometimes feels a bit pointless, but it adds enormously to the atmosphere and helps you to think about what you have just heard and seen. By varying the story and the resignation so strongly by the choice of subject matter of Rachel, but also by the realistic written and recorded dialogue. Although the subjects are very intense, Before the Storm never feels like a soap opera.

What really takes the lead in this third episode is the eternal dilemma between the lie and the truth. Should someone really know the truth, even if it is much more painful because of the lie in which someone has been living for some time? When is the pain of truth so great that telling a lie is lawful? It is amazing how Deck Nine smoothly converts these kind of common small dilemmas into a grotesque issue that you probably still long wonder if you made the right choice. You learn once again that not everything is black and white and that in most problems many people with different emotions and motivations are involved.

In these three episodes as a whole, it is marvelous how the concerns of Chloe and Rachel brought them together, in which the friendship between the two unfolds naturally in order to become much deeper through violent life events. In the short time frame of Before the Storm (three episodes of up to one and a half hours each) there is not much room for more stories, but Deck Nine offers something more than just the common thread, with for example the home situation of Chloe.

In the first two episodes it is made clear that this was essential to initiate a destructive chain reaction, but in the third episode all of this is no longer the motivation of Chloe and her life is much more dominated by Rachel than her own hachje. Her adulthood is wonderful to behold, because although there is only one problem in the valve that predominates, all previous problems subtly still pass by. With that, the story in the credits of Life is Strange: Before the Storm as well, especially with the knowledge you have when you played the original game.

Life is Strange Before the Storm Episode 3: Hell is Empty is now out on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Conclusion

Life is Strange: Before the Storm offers enormous added value for the players of the popular Life is Strange. Where the game has become even calmer in gameplay, it has improved even more in the area of dialogue and narrative. Before the Storm also contains all the ingredients to leave a deep impression and especially a recognizable feeling of 'have I made the right choice?'.

➕ Huge good storytelling
➕ Realistic dialogues
➕ Extreme subjects are naturally discussed

➖ Strange slow narration at the beginning
➖ Even more passive in gameplay

Thanks for reading.