Deepens Chloe and the first game's story
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“If you don't like Chloe as a character in LiS1, I'd still recommend you to play this one.”
Steam review · 11.2 h played ↗
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 93%Very Positive · 93%Deck Nine, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)2017Choose Your Own Adventure · Mystery · Adventure
The verdict
A character-driven, emotional prequel about Chloe and Rachel with a great soundtrack and a beloved Farewell episode. Skip it if you wanted time-rewind gameplay, meaningful choices or a strong ending.
Great for
Fans of the first Life is Strange who want an emotional, story-first look at Chloe and Rachel
Main risk
Choices barely matter and without time rewind it plays like a slow teen-angst movie
What players love
Great soundtrack and atmosphere
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“The soundtrack gives the game its soul.”
Steam review · 11.9 h played ↗
Chloe and Rachel's moving relationship
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“The relationship between Chloe and Rachel is the heart of Before the Storm, and it's easily the game's greatest strength.”
Steam review · 19.4 h played ↗
Emotional, bittersweet story
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“Absolutely amazing story, heartbreaking and Captivating from the start.”
Steam review · 18.2 h played ↗
Farewell bonus episode is a highlight
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 positive reviews
“Farewell DLC is the GOAT.”
Steam review · 15.2 h played ↗
What players complain about
Annoying, edgy Chloe and Rachel
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“Chloe is so much of an "edgy" cliché punk it actually feels ridiculous.”
Steam review · 4.4 h played ↗
Boring, slow story and dialogue
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“Boring and slow paced.”
Steam review · 6.3 h played ↗
Choices don't matter, feels like a movie
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“the gameplay boils down to moving around and making dialogue "decisions" that almost never have any effect on the predetermined story”
Steam review · 19.1 h played ↗
Backtalk is a weak replacement for rewind
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“Instead we get Chloe and her ability to backtalk? That’s just talking.”
Steam review · 14.9 h played ↗
Weak or rushed Episode 3 and ending
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews
“The final episode was of the most disapointing and baffling things I've witnessed in recent memory”
Steam review · 24.4 h played ↗
Bonus episode locked behind Deluxe upgrade
Mentioned in ~1 in 38 negative reviews
“You can’t buy the bonus episode on its own, you have to shell out the 10€ extra for the deluxe “upgrade””
Steam review · 10.7 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: PlayableController support14 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 7 or above (64-bit Operating System Required)
ProcessorIntel Core i3-2100 (3.1GHz) or AMD Phenom X4 945 (3.0GHz)
Memory3 GB RAM
GraphicsAMD Radeon R7 250 or NVIDIA Geforce GTX 650
Storage14 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 10 64-bit
ProcessorIntel Core i3-6100 (3.7GHz) or AMD Athlon X4 845 (3.5GHz)
Memory6 GB RAM
GraphicsAMD Radeon RX 460 or NVIDIA Geforce 1050
Storage14 GB available space
OSWindows 7 or above (64-bit Operating System Required)
ProcessorIntel Core i3-2100 (3.1GHz) or AMD Phenom X4 945 (3.0GHz)
Memory3 GB RAM
GraphicsAMD Radeon R7 250 or NVIDIA Geforce GTX 650
Storage14 GB available space
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