"There's a lot you don't know about me", Max Caulfield says at the beginning of Life is Strange Double Exposure. She's speaking to her friend Safi as they try to find the perfect spot to photograph in an abandoned bowling alley, but it very much feels like Max is saying it to me, too. I've felt equal parts excited and apprehensive about stepping into a new experience with a character I got to know so well in Don't Nod's Life is Strange. So many questions swirled around my mind going into Chapter 1 and 2 of the adventure. How would Deck Nine handle Max's tumultuous past? How has the rewind power affected her since her time at Blackwell? What would it be like to fill her shoes again after so many years? Can I still resonate with her in the same way?
I'm a different person to who I was when I played the first episode of the original, and just I've changed and grown, so has Max. But there's still so much about her that feels familiar, and it's apparent right from the start that there's a lot here that fans of the first Life is Strange will appreciate. Playing Double Exposure feels like getting reacquainted with an old friend I haven't seen in a long time, who's now trying to navigate their way through a new supernatural murder mystery.
Look at this photograph
By bringing back Max Caulfield, Life is Strange Double Exposure has the tricky task of catering to longtime fans while also trying to bring in new players. I've only gotten to play the first two chapters of the story, but so far, it's already done a good job of striking that balance. There are plenty of nods to Max's previous adventure for the former, but there also seems to be enough of a shift in direction to make this feel fresh for both audiences.
Gone are the days at Blackwell Academy, and instead of a coming-of-age story that follows Max as she tries to figure out her path, she's now the artist-in-residence at Caledon University. With a new cast of characters to get to know, it's through conversations with her friends and acquaintances that Deck Nine begins to feed in kernels of Max's past. Of course, choices are at the heart of the experience, and very early on you get to pick dialogue that shapes her history and reflects the possible outcomes at the end of the original Life is Strange. I've already started to see my choices factor into Max's life in Caledon, and I'm all the more curious to see if or how they'll pop up as the story progresses.
All of the Life is Strange hallmarks are front and center right away, from the way you can spend a lot of time exploring and interacting with objects in each location you go to, to taking a moment to stop and reflect at certain points. And not unlike protagonist Alex Chen in Life is Strange True Colors, you also have access to Max's phone and a journal, which helps build up a better picture of her experiences and relationships in recent years.
One aspect I already love is how Double Exposure gives you the opportunity to put Max's passion and talents for photography to use a lot more, with different snappable scenes to find and capture with her camera. You're free to compose the picture however you want, with options to tell someone how to pose if there's a person in the shot. Later on, there's even the chance to use a Polaroid camera and get more creative with a double exposure feature that lets you capture the same shot twice and blend them together. Some of the photos I take even pop up in the story, and I never tire of seeing my handiwork on display.
Rewind
In the original Life is Strange, I always appreciated how the rewind mechanic made me really consider my choices. I also liked the way Max's unique supernatural power was born out of the events she was going through, as if a deep desire to change things and prevent tragedy awakened it within her. Now, in Life is Strange Double Exposure, her power develops into a new reality-shifting ability that lets you move between two different timelines in order to try and solve the murder of your friend Safi. In one timeline, her friend is still alive, while in the other, she's been killed. Just like the first game, I love how the new power comes into play as a result of the events Max finds herself in, and it also factors into puzzle scenarios not unlike the rewind ability.
Trying to figure out who's behind the murder is the main mystery that propels you forward, but I also felt like I was constantly uncovering more questions than answers as I started to learn more about the people now in Max's life. Just two chapters in, I have no clue what's going to happen next, but the very fact that I'm positively itching to find out speaks to how invested I've already become in the events of the story so far.
With a diverse cast of characters, an intriguing mystery to solve, and a new power to play around with, I'm looking forward to returning to Caldeon and seeing where Max's journey goes next. But more than that, Life is Strange Double Exposure has already allayed some of my initial apprehensions about Max's return, and I'm curious to see how my choices will impact the rest of the adventure. While I still think you might get a little more out of the experience if you play the original Life is Strange first, Double Exposure will likely also speak to any narrative game or murder mystery fans out there.
See what other exciting releases we have to look forward to with our roundup of new games for 2024.
