Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 11
  2. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Sep 1, 2017
    70
    Let’s face it: if you played Life is Strange then you’ve probably bought this already, and if you haven’t, then you should play that first. If you’re one of the few Life is Strange players who haven’t picked this up yet, I’d definitely recommend waiting until we see how the rest of it turns out. What’s here is good and fine, but this episode feels like a prequel episode (no pun intended) that’s building up to whatever’s going to happen.

Awards & Rankings

User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 117 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 79 out of 117
  2. Negative: 18 out of 117
  1. Aug 31, 2017
    10
    Incredible and magical as it should be, charismatic characters, interesting and varied, a wonderful soundtrack and an impressive artIncredible and magical as it should be, charismatic characters, interesting and varied, a wonderful soundtrack and an impressive art direction, the game touches on delicate and controversial subjects with a lot of respect and makes the experience very immersive and magical, looking forward to the next episode Full Review »
  2. Sep 1, 2017
    9
    Another emotional and heartwarming visit to Arcadia Bay. Chloe is back as we know her and the game delivers all you would expect. Enjoy theAnother emotional and heartwarming visit to Arcadia Bay. Chloe is back as we know her and the game delivers all you would expect. Enjoy the mosh pit shaka brah. Full Review »
  3. Aug 31, 2017
    6
    Life is Strange: Before The Storm Episode 1: Awake
    No confidence in whats to come
    Before the storm is a prequel to life is strange where you
    Life is Strange: Before The Storm Episode 1: Awake
    No confidence in whats to come
    Before the storm is a prequel to life is strange where you play as maxs blue haired friend chloe..
    though at least in episode 1, that blue hair is nowhere to be seen…
    This time the story focuses on her friendship with rachael amber.. the missing girl from life is strange…
    She saves you from a party and the rest is history..
    episode 1 is reminding you about chloes fathers death, how much she hates school and her step dad.. and how much teen angst she has, while setting up her and rachels relationship and care for eachother..
    but by this 2 hrs long episodes end… my care was nowhere to be found…
    There is no special rewind ability here.. this is all interacting with the environment and dialog choices.. turning this into a telltale games sort of adventure..
    Appreciated though is that chloe talks to herself reminding you where items are or where you should be looking for a certain item to progress the story.. it doesn’t waste your time which is refreshing for an adventure game…
    There is also a battle system where you trade insults or come up with clever replies based on when your opponent says to get your way in a situation..
    and you have to do so quickly as youre being timed…
    this system is really the only noticeable gameplay here…
    Again there is no rewind puzzles or really any puzzles in this first episode
    aside from a few fetch questy moments finding your moms phone or an item to pry open a coinslot… the game was dialog choices with characters and a situation I just didn’t care about…
    the game gives me no reason to care about chloe and rachaels relationship…
    I asked myself while playing multiple times what is even the point of this
    There was one cool moment here where I was playing a table top game with these 2 nerds at a picnic table and had to make choices, it was fun and immersed me into the world…
    but afterwards I was just out of it, again wondering why…why does this game even exist…
    Im not sure if this is just fan service or if this game is going to actually go somewhere..
    The story so far is just not compelling
    nothing from episode 1 has hooked or intrigued me, nothing has me excited for the next episode…
    this isn’t a good sign when this game is set to take place across only 3 episodes total…
    I give
    Life is Strange: Before The Storm Episode 1: Awake
    a 5.5/10
    Full Review »