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Life is Strange: Double Exposure Review

Not this time

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The original Life is Strange was the perfect storm. It mesmerized an audience with clockwork precision, thanks to a quiet protagonist, Max Caulfield, and her cool time rewind powers. The narrative was bolstered by the rambunctious Chloe Price and the bond they formed. Although there have been several entries in the franchise since the first in 2015, none have been a direct continuation. Double Exposure changes that. It is a narrative-driven adventure set 10 years after the original. On the surface, it has many similarities: Max is back, albeit with different powers, her new best friend is in trouble, and the events occur around a school across five chapters. The developers at Deck Nine, who were behind True Colors and Before the Storm, seemed like the perfect studio to brew up something amazing. Unfortunately the forecast is sometimes wrong.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Both endings from the first game carry over in the sequel, via an early in-game choice, but the ramifications are superficial (warning: first-game spoiler). Saving Arcadia Bay means Max can read the occasional sad message from Chloe’s grieving mother. Alternatively, Arcadia Bay’s destruction results in a bigger gut punch, as Chloe and Max go their separate ways. Chloe is not in this sequel, aside from a few uninteresting social media posts, and the reason for their split is dubious. Fans of Chloe who are hella upset should remember there is still a decade worth stories to tell, so who knows what the future (or past) will bring. No matter which ending players chose, Max went on a road trip to take award-winning photos. These earned her a place as the photographer-in-residence at the prestigious Caledon University, located on the other side of the country in the fictional town of Lakeport, Vermont. Max is now in her late 20s, and while still reserved she has a little bit of confidence from maturity.

Even though Max has been at Caledon for less than a year, she has become good friends with Safi, a grad student and budding poet. After they watch a meteor shower on a rooftop, Max finds Safi dead in the snow from an unknown assailant. Unfortunately Max cannot rewind time and save Safi, and not for lack of trying—Max has not used her powers in years, and they fail. But the attempt opens a connection to another timeline where Safi is alive. Not only can players observe this timeline with Max’s special vision mode, they can teleport between the two and transfer objects. Max has a chance to protect the alternate Safi and discover why her Safi was killed.

The narrative regularly tries to imitate the original but lightning does not strike twice. While Max supposedly gives workshops and seminars, she does no actual teaching in the game. Instead, she awkwardly mingles with students and staff, like the sequel is not ready to let go of the teenage Max from Blackwell Academy. One antagonist is a detective that harasses potential suspects, resembling Chloe’s abrasive stepfather in the original, but he vanishes shortly after being introduced. The mystery involving Safi’s dead friend (mimicking Rachel Amber’s tale) fizzles out. And despite signs of Safi being a decent companion, you don’t spend enough quality time with her.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Both the tone and pacing are clumsy, partly because Max keeps bouncing across timelines. It is hard to find good vibes when you’re investigating a murder in one dimension and looking for a future killer in the other. When characters are celebrating Krampus, you’re repeatedly hamstrung by trips back to gloom central. Many characters are unlikable too, because of deception, phony personalities, insincere concern, or rudeness. Jokes and levity are rare and often forced. Two awful optional romances crop up at the wrong time and go nowhere; one involves a silly imaginary date and the other a cringe smash-or-pass drinking game. Max’s other friend is a fairly likable scientist, but he is pushed into the background after discovering her power. Players can find polaroids that show fun activities that seem to be from other dimensions, but these just highlight how much joy is missing.

If there are positives to find in the narrative, they mostly relate to the character revelations and chapter structure. There are a few big surprises that raise good questions and help to pull the story forward, mainly in the first three chapters that have long and respectable arcs. The final two chapters are short but not sweet, with the last being a lackluster abstract journey through familiar places, with hollow allusions to the original. It will take around 12 hours to finish all five episodes at a leisurely pace. You can re-explore chapters for collectibles, which thankfully lets you skip through dialogue.

Choices have no substantial impact on events. Dialogue selections alter immediate responses, as expected, but rarely are there any more consequences. To hamper replay value, there are usually only two dialogue options and not many branching conversations. That initial choice (Bae or Bay) crops up a few times, but mostly as a binary modification to throwaway lines. The biggest change involves Max’s relationship with two colleagues. Their opinion of Max alters how evidence is acquired and opens or closes small conversations. But like in The Expanse, major events happen regardless of which ‘big’ decision is chosen, like when a character is shot in the shoulder. Even the final choice only results in a tiny cutscene variation. Unlike the original, the ending is not well defined or impactful, and the game screams that Max will return. Hopefully none of the other characters do.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Max’s timeline powers are disappointing and not as cool as her previous rewind ability. It even becomes a liability, as viewing ghostly figures from the other world, to eavesdrop or clumsily pursue, can drop the framerate considerably. Most objectives ask players to jump back and forth between dimensions to ferry items or chat to characters in a leapfrog fashion that gets incredibly boring. You can only switch at set places in the world, and while these are typically hidden from public eye, the game is not consistent when hiding Max’s superpowers. And each time you jump, the social media feed might erupt with more unfunny garbage that briefly clutters the screen. One of the most inept demonstrations of Max’s new power involved sabotaging a projector while listening to a character from the other dimension, with both seemingly unaware of the concept of handwritten instructions.

You will not need a manual for any of the game’s other activities. Max can wander around campus to read posters, browse art displays, and change student grades. She can take snapshots and post them online, although only at preset locations. There are no adventure puzzles to solve, aside from one optional puzzle box that is linked to a secret society arc that never develops. Strangely, there are not even any of the typical quick-time events, but that may be because action scenes are rare.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure

At least the game has a wonderful atmosphere with colorful visuals and fantastic audio. The Unreal Engine affords the world some nice lighting and shadows, with warm colors, soft textures and detailed faces, although it can be super blurry at times. There are not many places to visit, and far too many invisible walls, but areas usually have good environmental detail and enough objects to investigate. The one feature that deserves thunderous applause is the amazing facial animations that are a step above those in True Colors. Brow and eye movements, nose twitches, hair physics, and excellent lip-syncing convey a lot of dense emotion. Voice work for the whole cast is pretty good. Hannah Telle reprises her role as Max Caulfield and it is fantastic to hear her again. Her vocal inflections, mannerisms, and dialogue seem incredibly authentic for a slightly older Max.

The music is a delight too, featuring more of that light, low-tempo melancholy guitar strumming with female vocals that the series is well known for. Songs by Tessa Rose Jackson, Matilda Mann, and Chloe Moriondo are a clear highlight, and many are deployed at the right time. Zen moments allow players to sit and absorb the tunes, although some are oddly placed, which relates back to the game’s struggle with tone and pacing.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure

While Life is Strange was the perfect storm and True Colors was a whirlwind of emotion, Double Exposure is more like some dark clouds and a gentle breeze. Aside from interesting revelations and the glorious return of almost-super Max, the story is a poor retread. Not only is it unfinished, it is packed with unlikable characters, unappealing romances, meaningless choices, and clunky pacing. It lacks humor and joy, and benches the more likable personalities. Max’s timeline switching power is a letdown, forcing players to leap back and forth enough to cause whiplash. It is not all bad news, thanks to amazing facial animations, great visual design, and chill music. Whether or not Life is Strange needed a sequel is up for debate, but it is safe to cancel the latest storm warning.

Our ratings for Life is Strange: Double Exposure on PC out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
Presentation
85
Stunning facial animations convey deep emotion. Wonderful music and art fits perfectly into the franchise. Voice work is quite good, with Hannah Telle starring as an older Max.
Gameplay
55
While the revelations are good and Max is back, the story’s pacing and tone is flawed. In addition to a poor ending, the 12 hour story seems incomplete.
Single Player
45
Switching between timelines is tedious and Max’s new powers are never used in an interesting way. Hunting for clues is boring and there is a lack of consequences for actions.
Multiplayer
NR
None
Performance
(Show PC Specs)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
GPU: ASUS 6700 XT DUAL OC 12GB
RAM: 16GB DDR4
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
PC Specs

70
Performance is generally fine although viewing the other timeline can tank the framerate.
Overall
59
Despite excellent facial animations and wonderful music, Double Exposure has pacing issues, unlikable characters, dire gameplay, tonal problems, and is an incomplete imitation of the perfect storm.
Comments
Life is Strange: Double Exposure
Life is Strange: Double Exposure box art Platform:
PC
Our Review of Life is Strange: Double Exposure
59%
Mediocre
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
Life is Strange: Double Exposure is ranked #1717 out of 1984 total reviewed games. It is ranked #61 out of 72 games reviewed in 2024.
1716. Harold Halibut
PC
1717. Life is Strange: Double Exposure
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