Remind me to never become besties with Max Caulfield, lest I end up dead in a ditch somewhere. After spending all of 2015's Life is Strange trying to keep her pal/lover (depending on who you ask) out of death's clutches while trying to uncover a mysterious serial killer, she's back at it all over again in Life is Strange: Double Exposure.
It's a little deja vu, sure, but I'm actually really happy to have Max back on my screen. She's all grown up, now a guest lecturer at a university far away from Arcadia Bay—whether that place is still standing appears to be down to some backstory choices you make in the beginning of the game. In place of Chloe Price are her new pals Safi and Moses, the former of which has been found mysteriously dead in the snow.
Instead of Max being able to hit the rewind button, her time powers work a little differently in Double Exposure. There are now two timelines—one where Safi is still alive and well, and the other where she's dead—that Max can hop between by finding spots with twinkling lights. Orange twinkles will shoot her over to the alive timeline, while blue brings her back to the dead one.
Zipping between these two realities is key to completing puzzles, like being able to access areas blocked off in one timeline or bringing items over to solve conundrums. I get to make use of this power in a segment that comes a little later into Double Exposure—Moses has nabbed Safi's camera in the "dead" timeline, realised he's made off with evidence and decided to stash it somewhere in his office. An office that the rather jerky detective Vince Alderman is trying to strongarm his way into.
Focus on the big picture
Of course, I can't just waltz straight into it while Alderman is staring me down. Instead, I saunter around the corner and tear my way into the "alive" timeline, where Moses is pottering around his freely-accessible working quarters. As I'm walking around the much brighter, warmer office, I can't help but notice just how pretty Double Exposure is. That's thanks to an upgrade to Unreal Engine 5, as well as Deck Nine continuing to utilise performance capture like it did in True Colors.
Max's movements and facial expressions feel far more dynamic and detailed, with original voice actress Hannah Telle reprising her role. I wanted to explore every nook and cranny of Moses' office, taking in all of the set dressing between both timelines that was already helping me piece together a picture of their friendship.
Frustratingly, while the game looks real pretty, it felt clunky to navigate. I've always felt like I'm fighting the camera controls in Life is Strange games, and Double Exposure is no different. The camera swings left or right in bite-size chunks, not allowing me to smoothly sweep my surroundings. Fiddling around with the sensitivity didn't do much to help, either. I was regularly walking into walls trying to interact with objects, and the awkwardness was putting me off going out of my way to explore.
I did my best to power through for the sake of this preview, however, taking note of all the little differences in a life with and without Safi. Some of these come into play for puzzle solving, like a moment where I retrieve a particularly noisy decoration off a Christmas tree in Safi-alive timeline to distract Alderman in the other, allowing me to slink around to a more advantageous position. It also gave me a very brief glimpse into an extra-special Max power I'm sure will come in handy further down the line: causing objects to shift timelines.
One timeline has Moses building his telescope in the middle of the office, while the other still has it all boxed up against a wall. The boxes were blocking a vital piece of the puzzle I needed to solve, and I wasn't quite sure how to figure it out. That was, until Max hovered her hands over the boxes, somehow shifting their fate to that of the timeline where they're fully constructed. Max seemed as shocked as me, which makes me think this particular power might be used a little more sporadically.
It made me want to see what other ways Max will have to make use of her powers, and if there are any other little surprises along the way. Of course, outside of all this puzzle-solving still lies the classic Life is Strange choices. I was only given one major decision to make during my time, the outcome of which I've been unable to unravel. It's one of my favourite parts of these games though, and I hope Double Exposure continues the tradition of showing you how your choices stack up to the rest of the population.
One final notable thing about the game is its wealth of gameplay customisation options. There are a ton of content warning toggles that range from topics like violence to transphobia, as well as the ability for longer timed choices and a button that lets you confirm major choices before you make them. The series has long been about exploring uncomfortable themes, but it's nice to see Deck Nine offering ways to soften those feelings for players who might not otherwise be able to fully enjoy the experience.
The original Life is Strange came at such a pivotal moment in my life, and remains a hugely impactful game for me. That's probably giving me some higher expectations going into Double Exposure, but from what I've seen so far Deck Nine is doing a fairly good job of living up to them. Smoother controls would make the whole thing go down a little easier, but either way I'm stoked to see what's next in life for my girl Max Caulfield.
