Life Is Strange: Double Exposure – 2024’s most controversial sequel

After almost a decade, Max Caulfield from the original Life Is Strange is back, in a new story with new superpowers to explore.

Life Is Strange is a peculiar series, both simultaneously beloved and maligned for its corny teenage dialogue, melodramatic plot hooks and muddy, emotive soundtracks. In Double Exposure, Max Caufield, from the first game, returns camera-in-hand to solve the mystery of her new best friend’s murder on the campus of Caledon University. A decade on from the original game, her time-rewinding powers have gone, but she discovers she has a new power: to jump between timelines, where her friend is still alive.

In the early days of the series, all the games were episodic, like old Telltale Games titles, but ever since 2021’s True Colors they’ve been sold as normal all-in-one video games – although the first two chapters of Double Exposure were available in early access, for those willing to pay extra. True Colors was around 10 hours long, and Double Exposure sits at almost double that. Although it’s hard to be sure given we spent several hours replaying a section after encountering a game-stopping bug.

That and the strange lack of marketing from publisher Square Enix should offer some warning that this is not the triumphal return that fans would’ve expected for Max. In fact, this is one of the most baffling missteps in recent gaming history, given the developers is still Deck Nine – the same studio behind both True Colors and the excellent Before The Storm.

Although the original Life Is Strange worked similarly to Telltale games like The Walking Dead, they were superior in almost every way. The branching narrative, where moral decisions dictate how the story progresses and characters react, is still second to none and as corny as the dialogue could get, the characters of Max and Chloe were well-drawn and relatable.

Rather than avoiding zombies, Max’s story involved learning what to do with strange new superpowers, whose origins remain unexplained, and which allow her to rewind time. Naturally, this quickly veers towards disaster, but Life Is Strange is not an action game; it’s one about decisions, consequences, and empathy. Your conduct throughout culminates with a decision at the end, to either save Chloe or the whole of the town of Arcadia Bay.

Double Exposure allows you to start the game assuming one or the other but whichever choice you did make (or pretend you made) Chloe is not in the game in any substantial manner, which has greatly upset many fans – and understandably so.

The world of Caledon University is an enjoyable one to explore and the host of supporting characters are rich and colourful – and definitely the highpoint of the game. This time round Max is not the only one with powers and Double Exposure raises the question of what someone less morally sound than Max would do with potentially godlike abilities. Or at least in theory it does, as that plot thread, like most of the others in game, never feels properly explored.

Instead, some of our favourite in-game moments were the ‘reflection’ scenes, where players can simply exist in the space, accompanied by the game’s star-studded soundtrack. It feels as though it strolled right out of the original games, complete with beanie and a good dose of angst. The track Illusion by Tessa Rose Jackson is a particular standout but especially bleak.

Whilst Double Exposure does a solid job of establishing the supporting characters, it doesn’t appear to know what to do with them. There are moments where reactions and dialogue with Max are nonsensical and jarring. Characters don’t react to Max’s questions and snooping in a way that you might expect real people to. Some of them will blow up at Max for the way she acts, but without knowing their relationship well enough, it’s hard to know how to take it.

The choice to remove Chloe from the gameboard, and break up the pair, has caused quite a stir amongst players who chose to sacrifice Arcadia Bay at the end of the first game. If that’s you, we’re afraid that the game will not hold your hand there. Texts and social posts from Chloe, as well as a smattering of mentions, throw only the tiniest of bones to fans. This game is almost solely about Max, as she grapples with the consequences of her choices in the first game.

It is understandable that Chloe purists will be wary of Amanda, Max’s female love interest in the game, but it honestly didn’t take us long to warm to her. Her voice artist, Samantha Bowling, is brilliant and paints her as both cool and vulnerable, and a character we wish we had gotten to know better in the game. Sadly, she’s limited to short interactions that have little impact on the narrative.

Vinh is also a strangely underdeveloped character, who it feels as though the creators were unsure what to do with. Is he a good guy? What is his motivation? Even the game itself doesn’t seem to know.

Also, in a crime we haven’t seen since Cyberpunk 2077, irrespective of player choice the romance arc is hard to avoid. Max will flirt with Vinh no matter what choices you make, and even the other supporting characters will comment on it. This in turn can lead to a number of potentially awkward scenes, depending on your choices.

We’re all for character complexity, and the idea that Max herself is imperfect and messy, but with the lack of clarity as to who this guy is, or Max’s relation and feelings towards him, you never know how to react when he’s around. This is especially true when you consider the fact that you can choose to keep Amanda as a friend, rather than love interest, right from the start.

In terms of fan service, the game is full of hidden extra details and little Easter eggs, designed for replayability, lest you miss them. There are also plenty of conversations around campus with subplots for you to listen in to, although unfortunately these weren’t that interesting or juicy. We often found our attention wandering, in favour of progressing the main narrative.

No spoilers here, but the resolution to the game fells rather cheap, with one key decision taken by Max (note, not the player) in particular likely to draw ire and frustration from players of the previous titles. However, perhaps the most damning issue with the game is that whatever consequences your choices have, the stakes just aren’t there for you to really notice when they occur.

The original game had one of the most complex branching narratives in gaming history, with your decisions having direct influence on the lives of other characters. In Double Exposure, choosing Max’s daily outfit is about as consequential as things get for long stretches of the game.

It feels impossible that the same people behind Before The Storm can have made Double Exposure, but whatever the behind the scenes explanation is, this is a deeply disappointing sequel that’s so unsatisfying even Max’s time powers couldn’t save it.

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