Life is Strange 2: Episode 3 - Wastelands

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Game Informer
    May 21, 2019
    73
    Sean and Daniel’s relationship continues to be the best part of Life is Strange 2. Will they continue to grow apart or will they find common ground despite their differences? I’m eager to leave behind the hippies and weed farm, and see what comes next for the Diaz brothers.
  2. M3
    May 20, 2019
    70
    When we sum up our experience with episode 3, it definitely feels better than when we played through the other parts. It all ends as usual with a strong cliffhanger that promises well for the continuation. We hope, however, that the next episode offers more action and gameplay moments with more direct control over the events.
  3. BaziCenter
    May 15, 2019
    70
    More than halfway through the story of Life is Strange 2, and it seems that the series story is still off the track. Wastelands episode offers the same solid music and tempo that we expected, but nothing more, and the only reason it can be considered a good episode is because of the way it concluded and opened up a huge potential for the next episode.
  5. XGN
    May 22, 2019
    65
    The third episode of Life is Strange 2 delivers a constant sense of tension while focusing on the characters. The choices you have make however feel forced upon you. It's a bit weird since this episode lets you breath and delivers some depth.
  6. PlaySense
    May 15, 2019
    65
    Wastelands is a textbook filler episode. Sure, there's interesting character development, but it isn't rooted in any interesting gameplay, as Life is Strange 2 still keeps player interactivity to a bare minimum. Add to this a certain level of predictability and you'll understand why this third episode left us thoroughly underwhelmed.
  7. God is a Geek
    May 16, 2019
    60
    While Wastelands improves on episode two for the most part there’s still a long way to go to hit the heights of season one.
  8. Metro GameCentral
    May 10, 2019
    60
    Another slow-paced and only intermittently interesting episode, that underlines the fact that the story and characters are never going to be as engaging as the first episode suggested.
  9. Game Revolution
    May 13, 2019
    50
    It all falls on the characters but the game’s cast isn’t strong enough to bear that burden. Its tame story would be more acceptable if the many soft moments in between beats had less cringeworthy dialogue and more actual humor.
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In Progress & Unscored

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  1. GameCrate
    May 13, 2019
    The plot leaves Sean and Daniel on a brutal cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to see how it resolves. Episode 4 can’t come soon enough. Nice work, Dontnod, you’ve reeled me back in. At this point, I’m reasonably sure that Season 2 will live up to Season 1. And by that, I mean that it will cause me to cry myself to sleep and feel shaken for days after.
  2. TheSixthAxis
    May 9, 2019
    This episode marks a clear turning point for the boys. Instead of going from one safe harbour to another on their journey down to Mexico, there’s a clear shift to simply being on the run once more. The dynamic between Daniel and Sean will be clear to see once more, especially as Daniel’s powers grow stronger and stronger. I just have to hope that I can still remember their names at the end of August.

Awards & Rankings

64
#64 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2019

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 57 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 57
  3. Negative: 25 out of 57
  1. Hallowsend666
    Jun 13, 2019
    1
    In case you are wondering why this episode it rated higher than the previous ones: The brother we are forced to escort takes a backseat to aIn case you are wondering why this episode it rated higher than the previous ones: The brother we are forced to escort takes a backseat to a number of new characters. The location is also not changing.

    Overall this seems like a desperate attempt to go back to the LiS gameplay after the fist two episodes where a complete disappointment.

    They seem to have succeeded in that damage control, but overall this is once again a rather weak entry into the franchise because as with S2EP1 and 2 the game lacks direction and story.    … Full Review »
  2. w0lf1
    May 26, 2019
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. The human interactions between Sean and the other "Campers" are great. The Lovestory is well written and the end has a cool plottwist.… Full Review »
  3. Taronn93
    Jul 3, 2019
    3
    So, the training of yound Daniel Skywalker continues, but in this episode he and Sean are not the most important thing, so they introduced aSo, the training of yound Daniel Skywalker continues, but in this episode he and Sean are not the most important thing, so they introduced a bunch of new characters with 2 returning ones from a previous episode of LiS 2. It's funny that they managed to make me more invested in their stories than the protagonists'. At this point i would rather continue watching their story, but of course in the end they decided to take them all away just after 1 episode.

    The only reason why giving this episode a 3 is that Daniel wasn't in the spotlight most of the time, which just shows what a bad job they did with the writing during the 2 episodes. Most people doesn't care about the story we got, so we are more interested in side character stories.

    The choices are still just illusions, we can't really affect anything major in the story. Just a reminder: This is the sequel of the game that had Kate Marsh in it. Everyone who played LiS 1 knows what i mean.

    The story is still going nowhere, which is just annoying. LiS 1 was full of interesting storylines. Kate Marsh, Chloe Price, Rachel Amber, Victoria, Nathen, Jefferson, David and more. LiS 2 has nothing. We have 2 kids who want to go to Mexico... great, but they are not progressing at all and everything that happens to them is completely irrelevant because at the end of every episode, they lose everything over and over again.

    Such a shame. I still stand by my opinion. We needed the sequel of Chloe's and Max's story, not this story filled with nothing.    … Full Review »
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