Life is Strange: Double Exposure Launches to a Mixed Reception
The latest game in the nearly decade old Life is Strange series released earlier this week to a less than stellar reception from critics and fans. Life is Strange: Double Exposure’s official release comes a couple of weeks after early access players were given access to the first two chapters of the game. Unfortunately, between those initial impressions and critic reviews, it seems that the latest entry in this narrative choice-based series is its weakest yet. The game is currently sitting at a fair 73 on Opencritic with only 52% of reviewers recommending it.
Image by Square-Enix
This release sees a return to the first playable character in the series from all those years ago: Max Caufield. Despite trying to leave her time bending past behind her, some strange events (as they do in this series) pull her back into a new mystery as she attempts to solve a murder. Despite having a low average score on critic aggregate, there are still some outliers that absolutely loved the game- indicating that it may be worth picking up if you’re a fan of the series. Chief among these was IGN, who awarded the game a very high 9/10. They had the following to say:
“The writing is great, the music is excellent, the cinematography and acting are top-notch, and Max’s new powers are a fun and intuitive fit for its murder mystery structure.”
Image by Square-Enix
Conversely, there are far more low scores compared to high. Eurogamer and Hardcore Gamer both gave this a 6/10. The latter offered the following write up:
“Whatever promise Life is Strange: Double Exposure has, be it in its beautiful setting, fun and likable characters, or its intriguing setup, ends up being undermined by a scattershot narrative that never comes together. And unfortunately, with a lack of any substantial gameplay or meaningful choices, that leaves this as just a so-so adventure game at best”
Image by Square-Enix
On Steam, things are faring quite a bit better, however, with the game currenting hovering around the 80% very positive mark. This seems to imply that, despite having its flaws, this is still a great entry in the franchise to a lot of people. While not perfect, Life is Strange: Double Exposure may be worth picking up if you’re interested in this new entry. Based on both critic and fan reactions, this truly is a love it or hate it kind of ordeal. As a result, it may be worth waiting to see how reception on this release develops over the next few weeks. Either way, you can pick it up on all major platforms now.
