Well, that escalated quickly: Life is Strange 2's first 20 minutes of gameplay is... surprisingly violent

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Indie music, teenage angst, murder... It's all here in the first gameplay demo for Life is Strange 2

Yesterday, Square Enix and Dontnod Entertainment finally unveiled the curtain for Life is Strange 2, with a full trailer for its sequel to the original, critically acclaimed point-and-click adventure game of 2015. 

The trailer sets the scene for new characters Sean and Daniel, two brothers on the run after something goes awry back home. Well, now we know exactly what that something is, as the first, extended gameplay demo for Life is Strange 2 has been released online, and it shows what went down during that much teased confrontation with the police. 

You can watch the whole thing in the trailer below, but first, two warnings. While this is a very early scene from the premier episode of Life is Strange 2 (out next month), there are obviously big story spoilers for those who want to go in blind. Secondly, note that Dontnod has deliberately edited and cut down some of the scenes for the sake of brevity; it's likely that you'll be able to spend far longer pottering around in Sean's room, for example. Check it out here: 

...woah. Dontnod certainly isn't messing about when it comes to mixing more emotive, teenage drams with graphic, adult violence. I count at least three deaths in the space of a few minutes which, other than Arcadia Bay's storm, must be a new body count record for the acclaimed series. 

Otherwise, anyone who's fond of Life is Strange will likely be happy to see the return of tastefully picked licensed music, lingering shots of Northwestern Americana, and lots and lots of talking. One question remains, however: Where is Hawt Dawg Man? If he doesn't show up, we riot. 

Life is Strange 2, like the previous game, will be segmented into five, seperately released episodes, the first of which hits PS4, Xbox One, and PC digitally on September 27, next month. 

That's not all. Life is Strange 2 is just one of several new games of 2018, and you can read all about them here. 

Alex Avard
Alex Avard
Former Features Writer

Alex is a former Features Writer at GamesRadar+, which once made him responsible for gracing the internet with as many of my words as possible, including reviews, previews, interviews, and more. Lucky internet!