Life Is Strange (Series) Review
Posted: 10 months ago, last updated 2 days ago.
Author: Andy Robertson.
Overview
The choices you make change the story in ways you can see, and, if you so choose, you can rewind and change. At the end of each chapter, can compare your decisions to other players’.
The games can be purchased in a single episode or as a series. There are the following available:
- Life is Strange (2013)
- Life Is Strange: Before the Storm (2017) prequel
- The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (2018) a free game that introduces characters for the next season.
- Life Is Strange 2 (2018)
Details
Rating: PEGI 18+, ESRB MATURE 17+
Release Date: 19/01/2016
Platforms: Android, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and iOS.
Genres: Adventure, Narrative, Puzzle and Role-Playing.
Tips
View our choice of games like Life Is Strange. This game is good if you want to:
Commitment
Players: This is a single player game. It takes up to 3 hours to complete each of the 5 episodes, bringing the completion time to 15 hours. To find everything in the game and experiment with alternate choices can take over 25 hours.
Costs
It's free to play the first chapter but then has in-game purchases for subsequent chapters.
This game is free with Xbox Game Pass.
Age Ratings
The second Life Is Strange series was rated PEGI 18 due to depictions of violence towards vulnerable and defenceless human-like characters, glamorization of the use of illegal drugs, and use of sexual expletives. The examiner's expanded these details: Content-specific issues This game contains infrequent depictions of violence towards vulnerable and defenceless human-like characters. One example of this involves a 16-year-old boy who has been forcefully handcuffed to a metal pole and unable to escape. During the scene the boy confronts his captor which leads to him being violently kicked in the face as punishment. Another example can be found in the third episode, in which a child is shot in the shoulder. The boy lets out a pained cry as a large amount of blood appears around the wound. Episode three also contains glamorisation of the use of illegal drugs. As part of the storyline the teenage protagonist and his younger brother work on an illegal marijuana plantation. They also meet up with a group of young adults who have worked on the plantation for numerous seasons and praise it as a reliable option for earning money. There is a minigame where the player must prepare the marijuana in a timely manner to sell it on. This game also contains frequent use of sexual expletives, the word “*!@?*” and its derivatives can be found throughout.
All Life is Strange games are rated ESRB MATURE.
Accessibility
Although subtitles are visually excellent, and internal monologue is distinguished from voiced speech with italics, there is no identification of the speaker. There isn't captioning of cross-talk and ambient speech or music and sound effects. Some effects such as thunder trigger gamepad vibration. You are reminded of your next objective with voiced directions, although these can be quite frequent and don't indicate the correct path.
Difficulty
How you can adjust the challenge of play, and assistance the game offers when you fail or get stuck.
Adjust Speed: Adjust the overall speed of the game, or rewind play for a second attempt, to ease reaction times.
Assistance
Assistance When Stuck: The game notices if you get stuck and provides assistance, such as skipping levels, hints or tutorials.
Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials, instructions and tips.
Reading
How much reading or listening comprehension is required, and how accessible this is.
Moderate Reading: Moderate reading required.
Subtitles
Large Clear Subtitles: Subtitles are large and clear, or can be adjusted to be.
Any spoken content has subtitles: All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game.
Some Dialogue is Voiced: Some of the game dialogue and narrative is voice acted.
Controls
How you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.
Multiple Buttons & Single Stick: Can play with multiple buttons and a stick.
Mouse and Keys: Can play with mouse and multiple keys.
Touchscreen
Touchscreen controls for this game are:
One Tap Anywhere: Play with touchscreen, tap anywhere.
Two Motions Targeted: Play with touchscreen, two simultaneous taps, swipes or hold gesture.
Invert X/Y Axis: You can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming.
Rapid Pressing Optional: Quick, repeated button pressing not required or can be skipped or disabled.
Vibration Optional: Controller vibration not used in the game or you can disable it.
Image
How you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.
Outline Interactive Elements: Characters, platforms and enemies can be outlined for visibility.
Audio Cues for Visual Events: Audio is provided to indicate visual events.
Audio
How you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see.
Balance Audio Levels: Set music and game sound effects separately.
Visual Cues for Audio Events: Text or other visual indicators of audio events.
System Settings
Android has accessibility settings including ways to navigate and interact, although not all games support this. Windows has extensive accessibility features. Some, like colour correction, work with games. Lots of accessibility software can be used with PC games, from voice recognition to input device emulators. PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping). Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games. iOS has a very extensive suite of accessibility settings including ways to navigate with voice and comprehensive screen reading, though most of the features don't work with games... read more about system accessibility settings.
Supported by PlayabilityInitiative
Games Like Life Is Strange
The following games are like Life Is Strange. They address a similar topic or offer a similar way to play. They are good options to play next and also good alternatives to Life Is Strange for younger age ratings.
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