Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 3 hands-on: love and loss

Life is Strange: Before the Storm’s tempest of teenage angst and romance is coming to a close with Episode 3, Hell is Empty. It’s developer Deck Nine Games’ and publisher Square Enix’s prequel to Dontnod Entertainment’s hit title 2015 Life is Strange. It explores the backstory of blue-haired Chloe Price from the first game and how her story intersects with the mysterious Rachel Amber, who goes missing sometime between Before the Storm and the original. It’s coming of age on December 20 for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.

In the previous two episodes, Chloe’s relationships with everyone around her have become strained and nebulous, with as-of-yet unforeseen consequences. When I played a demo of Hell is Empty, it started with a quiet moment of reprieve from the tension: Alone with Rachel in her room, my first task was simply to cheer her up after her parents dropped a massive truth bomb on her. Unlike other scenes, such as an intense confrontation between the main antagonist Damon Merrick and another character, the choices you make here aren’t as extreme. This conversation is restrained, and your goal remains to comfort Rachel.