Developer: Deck Nine
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform(s): PC, PS4, XB1
Review copy purchased
Life Is Strange: Before the Storm’s third episode, Hell Is Empty, is an emotional rollercoaster, but unlike the final episode of the original Life Is Strange game, there’s no sudden rise in paranormal elements compared to the previous episodes. It’s refreshing that despite having some fast-paced moments, the final episode is ultimately a rather slow one — it really is the calm Before the Storm.
It’s a fitting culmination of the story behind it, with the ominous signs from previous episodes finally manifesting in a satisfying way. Hell is Empty is all about trauma and loss of loved ones, in the past, present and for those who’ve played Life is Strange, in the future, too. There’s only one big choice here and it’s much heavier than that in Life Is Strange, because it’s not about throwing away your gameplay or not, it’s about what it means to love someone.
After seeing her father with a different woman than his wife in episode one and confronting him about it in episode two, Rachel finally gets to find out the truth. Or at least part of it, depending on what choices you make throughout the game. That’s where the main difference between Chloe and Rachel lies: their families. While Chloe has been pushing away her mother’s new boyfriend, David, after losing her father and has been causing trouble all around, Rachel seemed to have the perfect family. However, on the other hand, Chloe’s family is very open about things. Joyce, her mother, gets David to put his investigative tendencies behind him and trust Chloe, and David even tries to bond with her, opening up about what he experienced in the war.
The music in this episode is just as slow and melancholic as the rest of the series, except in those few moments where shit hits the fan so fast you can barely react. By far the creepiest moment of the episode is one that was carefully built up over the last two episodes, and it’s still done differently than you would expect it to be. It’s presented in a way that you start to know something is wrong but you can’t quite put your finger on it until you put together what you remember from the last episodes. It’s quite a tense moment, especially because it interrupts the flow. In the middle of a dark and fast-paced sequence, you’re hit with a twist that slows everything down, but ups the ante. It’s unexpected and it works.
The third episode begins with larger visual metaphors than in previous episodes. Usually there are small things placed in the game, like the crows and totem poles, but the beginning of the episode really works with what the visual medium can do. It feels like something which could belong in a movie, which fits, but at the same time, is a shame, as it’s a good use of part of the medium of video games, but not of all of it. By having Chloe and Rachel take a look at their father’s memories through the same tower viewer that they saw him kissing the other woman in, it brings the story back around. On top of that, the last dream sequence with Chloe’s deceased father in the driver’s seat takes place on the same stage where she played Tempest with Rachel in episode two.
Hell Is Empty is in some aspects more enjoyable, because it doesn’t force you to play certain scenes that work better as cutscenes, but at the same time, it almost doesn’t have enough meat on the bone in terms of gameplay. Other episodes had more things to do in that perspective, which makes this one look and feel a bit empty. However, it’s still a very good ending to Before the Storm, and for the most part, a good prequel to Life is Strange. That being said, at least a bit more gameplay –be it more choices, more use of the backtalk mechanic, or more playing with the environment– wouldn’t’ve have hurt, even if the genre is built up upon cutscenes and talking.
Nonetheless, Hell is Empty is the best episode out of the three, making the game better overall, with elements from the previous episodes paying off in major ways. The game not only deals with topics like trauma and loss of loved ones in a sensible way, but also dares to do things that are not often seen in media, such as humanizing drug addicts in a way that they’re not only seen as victims. There is so much suffering from the beginning until the end of the episode, that even in moments where you can clearly see that the main characters are happy, it’s not possible to just accept it. There’s a lingering doubt at the back of your mind when you remember that the game is a prequel. Chloe wanders from one trauma to the next. Acceptance followed by denial until her curtain calls.
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