Developed by Dontnod
Published by Square-Enix
Available on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
As much as every episode of Life is Strange has ended on an increasingly strong note thus far, The Dark Room has taken this series to a Return of the King level of resolutions, with a number of plot lines having come to their surprisingly pleasant, or seethingly uncomfortable, heads in this penultimate chapter.
Beginning with a quiet and introverted prologue, The Dark Room gives us a bit of time with the alternate reality before taking it back and sending us to the true state of things as we’ve come to know them. Even still it does drop us a few clues, most importantly that the apocalyptic elements of the story remain the same in either reality, suggesting that Max’s powers may not be the key to salvation after all. Though it seems like a given, with hindsight, that this would not become the alpha world of our characters, it’s still a bit of a disappointment to see it taken away almost as quickly as it comes. The entire exercise seems to be the games way of telling us, once again, that there are some things that even Max can never take back, a fact that many of us already learned at the end of Out of Time.
Despite the somewhat uneven delivery on the promise of the Episode Three cliffhanger, The Dark Room picks up the threads we’ve been following with an assured confidence, knowing that it must work twice as hard to wow us as a result–and amazingly, it actually succeeds in doing just that. Though we’ve been placed into the role of amateur detectives all along this winding road, this latest episode is the first time where we’ve actually had the legitimate feeling of putting the pieces together and solving the mystery for good. In fact, police procedural and murder mystery fans will marvel to see that Max and Chloe get to organize their findings on an actual bulletin board, finally putting all of the clues together in order to make some sense of how the disappearance of Rachel Amber, Kate Marsh’s sexual assault, and the virulent growth of Prescott empire all tie together. The tying up of all of these loose ends gives The Dark Room a sense of gravity and deliverance that was lacking as the story built itself up, but pays off brilliantly as we start to see the writing on the wall.
Part of this comes from the sense of finality that is inherent to the character interactions. For the first time, Max is actually given the opportunity to interact seriously and permanently with every major and minor character in the mythology as established thus far. This slowly uncovered revelation gives The Dark Room a weight that has been absent in previous iterations, and establishes a Game of Thrones-esque quality of feeling like the end of the story, even as its setting the table for just that.
On top of that, Episode Four may just be the most thrilling and enthralling episode yet, with almost nothing outside of the prologue feeling like simple table dressing. In fact, there isn’t a single story thread that isn’t either closed or expanded upon heavily as the credits loom in the distance. Perhaps most impressively, at least from a game design front, the long advertised ‘End of the World Party’ actually delivers on the size and scope that one might expect from Arcadia Bay’s most elite and established brat-pack. There’s a sleazy power and depressing honesty to the final section, as Max and Chloe seek retribution in a neon-drenched, drug-addled rave, that is astute in its depiction of the human condition, even as it exaggerates in a way that most of us would never experience in real life. The closest comparison would not be Twin Peaks, The Twilight Zone, The X-Files, or one of the other frequently referenced television mythologies in the Life is Strange universe, but the much more apt and honest world of Veronica Mars: a reality-based series that focuses not on the supernatural, but on underdogs fighting a losing battle against the cancerous corruption of power and money.
With excellent design, a laundry list of power punches, and a double whammy close that sets the stage brilliantly for the final episode, The Dark Room has delivered in a manner that raised the stakes even further than the previous endings, while compounding the suspense and leaving fans aching for the coming resolution. Even with major releases like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Batman: Arkham Knight and Metal Gear Solid V, don’t be surprised to see Life is Strange on the shortlist at the end of the year. This game is really something special.