Life is Strange: Episode 3–Chaos Theory
Developed by Dontnod
Published by Square-Enix
Available on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
The latest episode of Life is Strange, Dontnod’s coming-of-age odyssey of a girl who discovers she can time travel, has dropped today, and it may have just changed gaming forever. Nobody saw that twist coming, and I would be amazed if anyone didn’t gasp audibly at the final curtain reveal. Chaos Theory is going to be talked about for the rest of the year as easily one of gaming’s most jaw-dropping moments…but let’s start back at the beginning, shall we?
Coming fresh off the heels of the second episode, an experience that left roughly half of us traumatized with good reason, one would have thought that Episode 3 might have been content to spin its wheels off of that traction alone, and milk a whole episode out of it while planting a few narrative seeds here and there. Instead, the events that closed Out of Time simply echo in the background for Chaos Theory, creating a crucial sense of reality while it builds toward an ambitious finale that handily outdoes its predecessors.
Chaos Theory is broken into three basic sections. The first, a school break-in is the sort of thing we’ve come to expect from Life is Strange so far, with a few puzzles and collectables interspersed throughout the plot beats. It’s worth noting, though, that this setting contains what may be the first non-sexualized strip down and swim in gaming history, or…any history really. It’s an impressive step forward in gender politics for two girls to be able to just swim in a pool and have fun splashing around, without the camera ever lingering on their bodies or sexually titillating the audience in any way. In the heavily-sexualized world of gaming, where even the most deplorable and villainous of females are often utilized for sex appeal, Dontnod gets major points for subverting this archetype.
The next part consists of an eventful breakfast at Chloe’s residence, and the follow-up, in which Max and Chloe attempt to infiltrate a drug-dealer’s RV in hopes of making headway in their Rachel-Amber investigation. This section of the game steps it up a notch, first by giving the player a peculiar choice in the first part, and a complex mini-game of telephone in the second. The choice, which I won’t spoil, is something that could easily play wrong in a lot of creative hands, but, like the aforementioned material, is luckily handled with the awkwardness and honesty it deserves. The other section, however, is careful and concise, forcing the player to really figure out what knowledge to share with one character or another to achieve the desired result. It’s a nifty little scene that evokes Groundhog Day, and is every bit as charming, if a touch on the darker side.
In other ways the gameplay still remains somewhat static, with the majority of it concerning examining objects, talking to people, making decisions based on new information, and collecting items–but in a world that’s this rich and compelling, even these mundane tasks take on an unprecedented gravity. Take a sequence toward the end for example, when your character is saddled with the responsibility to prevent the unthinkable, and must brainstorm in surprisingly complex ways in order to prevail. It’s awe-inspiring for a game where time can literally be manipulated at almost any time to feel so tense and taut during scenes like this.
That the shocking revelation which is delivered from this scene’s success comes at the expense of the touted choice mechanic is irrelevant almost immediately in the face of the gall and bravery it takes to make such an insane and unexpected left turn when your story is already past its halfway point. Without saying any more, Max, and the player, are going to find themselves in an extremely different situation than they are used to in the coming episode. What does this twist mean for the character relationships we’ve developed so far? What will it mean for the decisions we’ve made? And how can Max possibly integrate into a world that she now feels more alien to than ever before?
Only one thing is certain: it’s going to be a very long wait for episode four.