Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Episode 1: Awake Reviews

Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Episode 1: Awake is ranked in the 75th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Wccftech
Top Critic
8.8 / 10.0
Sep 4, 2017

Before the Storm is a glimpse into a struggling mind. It is a not a blank canvas to create your own character, but the story of one person meeting another. Beautiful and flawed.

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Sep 3, 2017

Before the Storm evokes everything wonderful about the first game, with even the loss of Max Caulfield and her time-rewind mechanic not as great as one might think. This is fan service at its best. If you were a fan of Life is Strange, you'll love this opening episode and the tease of what's coming in the following episodes.

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9 / 10
Sep 3, 2017

A solid and long episode with great characters and story. Must play for Life is Strange fans.

Review in Turkish | Read full review

9 / 10
Sep 3, 2017

This is a perfect start to a new Life is Strange saga and left me wanting more as the original series did so expertly. If you're already a fan of the series you'll feel right at home (although I do miss Max…) and if you're new, it ain't a bad place to start. If anything I would envy the chance to play this first before the original game, as my final choice and decisions throughout the original might have been very different having become attached to Chloe before Max.

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 3, 2017

If you were a fan of Life is Strange and its formula, this prequel will be perfect if you desired more from Arcadia Bay.

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7.5 / 10.0
Sep 3, 2017

Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 1 fails to live up to the promise of the original. While providing a great soundtrack, updated visuals, and better animations it struggles to realise just what made Life is Strange special.

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Sep 3, 2017

The good doesn’t stop there. The new entry into the series wouldn’t be anything without a legitimate sense of place. Luckily, the game’s soundtrack provides that, and so much more.

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7.5 / 10.0
Sep 2, 2017

Deck Nine’s take on the cult hit episodic series delivers a more grounded experience without losing the compelling drama and hard-hitting emotion

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7 / 10.0
Sep 2, 2017

The new Life is Strange story is not as charming and exciting as the original one, but it makes a nice comeback to familiar world and atmosphere.

Review in Polish | Read full review

8 / 10
Sep 2, 2017

Life is Strange: Before the Storm's first episode is a strong and reassuring start to a prequel series filled with potential.

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Sep 2, 2017

Dontnod's first season of Life is Strange is a wonderful work, and one of the finest episodic adventure games of its kind. That's a lot to live up to, but Deck Nine does a top job recreating what fans love about the series while setting up a new story to be told about a pair of young women bound by new, exciting feelings and a shared distrust of the world around them.

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GameMAG
xtr
Top Critic
8 / 10
Sep 2, 2017

Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Episode 1: Awake is a bit different from the original, but at the same time the game is no less intense in atmosphere department, which slips a little at the very beginning, but then quickly picks up. If developers gonna keep the same level of production in the next two episodes, then one of the most interesting adventures of this year awaits us.

Review in Russian | Read full review

VG247
Top Critic
Unscored
Sep 1, 2017

Life is Strange: Before the Storm is here. Who wants to talk about feelings! No major spoilers.

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Unscored
Sep 1, 2017

It will give you and your friends a lot to talk about, and that's all you really want from a Life Is Strange game. And trust, you will have raging emotions about your life decisions in Life Is Strange: Before The Storm.

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 1, 2017

For a mini series, Before the Storm is a worthy prequel, the drama around Chloe, attractive and lovely characters, just like the first season and the all-new gameplay system consisting of the Backtalk option which is amazing, makes this episode a satisfactory one and a "Must" for the fans. If you're missing the Arcadia bay and its people, do not miss Before the Storm

Review in Persian | Read full review

Sep 1, 2017

Episode One: Awake of Before the Storm is a surprisingly promising entry for the short three-episode series. There's the right amount of callbacks to the series that made so many fans fall in love with Chloe and Max in the first place. While I still wish the dialogue wasn't as teenager cringe-y in a not-realistic way, there's far more of it this time around that plain isn't. Hell, even Chloe's eventual over-usage of "hella" is explained in a tongue-in-cheek nod to the future. For everyone who was worried about Before the Storm's authenticity under the reigns of a new developer: don't be.

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8 / 10
Sep 1, 2017

Deck Nine's Life Is Strange prequel ditches time travel, but finds power of a different sort.

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8 / 10
Sep 1, 2017

Like Chrysalis, Awake once again feels like the beginning of something great.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 1, 2017

Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a good prequel, very respectful of the source material. Chloe and Rachel are a great couple and the beginning of this new story is quite satisfying.

Review in Italian | Read full review

7 / 10
Sep 1, 2017

I've got plenty of minor quibbles, but this is still an impressively solid start to a product that has an awfully special predecessor to live up to. I'm just hoping that this doesn't end up feeling like a prequel that nobody really needed.

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