Life is Strange: Episode 4 - Dark Room

By: Robert Murphy

Have you ever found yourself reading a novel with a great beginning and a phenomenal ending to it but the middle bits were just dragging along? Well sadly this is the case for the fourth episode of Dotnod’s Life is Strange as things take a turn for the worse after transporting us to an entire new world at the end of the last episode. There had been such promise and a unique growth to Max Caulfield’s time manipulation powers where she was able to alter events from deep in the past. As I said though the follow through just wasn’t quite up to snuff until the dramatic conclusion.

I had high hopes for the follow up episode in the wake of all that is revealed from your decision to change time all together. This in turn created a whole new time line and without revealing too much it gives a delightful yet exceedingly dark insight into what would have happened if Max and Chloe had remained close when she moved away. While you wouldn’t expect such a drastic outcome from such a small choice it was nonetheless interesting to briefly explore an alternate reality. The disappointing part about all of this though proves to be the fact that this decision is entirely wiped clean from the story. Perhaps the developers were too scarred to explore this change or worried that it wouldn’t be received all too well but whatever the case it made for a weak cop out once you go back to your reality. What this whole experience means for Max’s powers remains unseen but it was an interesting move while it lasted.

What the Dark Room aimed to finally do for the story was to get things rolling in terms of the shady dealings going on in Arcadia Bay and all around Blackwell Academy. All the pieces were there and now all Max and her best friend Chloe had to do was put them together in order to find Chloe’s former best friend Rachel Amber and how it connects to drugs as well as Arcadia Bay’s wealthiest family. While this may sound all well and good, you will literally find yourself putting these pieces together one at a time on a gigantic board that Max and Chloe put together in her room. On it are all the clues you gather throughout the episode in pointless and one off fetch this and grab that quests that add to the monotony of the episode. Then you will spend the rest of your time putting the clues together that match up to other related bits and pieces of information you gathered around town.

While it’s good to get all of the intrigue out in the open, the episode presents things in far too of a rushed fashion. Most of the previous episodes Max and Chloe have found themselves hopelessly stumbling along trying to figure out the big picture but with no such luck to be found. This wasn’t a bad thing in any way but it didn’t lead you too far into the story that lied ahead of you and now in this penultimate chapter you have to see it all crammed right in front of you.

The payoff for all of this proved to be worth the anguish however as the final moments to the darkest episode of the series came to a close. Big questions were finally revealed as well as a huge underground story behind the supposed main bad guy, Nathan Prescott. The Prescott family has more than a few skeletons in their closet that need explaining but there is far more to the story than just a wealthy father neglecting the needs of his son. But, the biggest reveal has yet to come as the shocking ending for the chapter will leave players with all new questions to ponder on while they wait for the upcoming storm in Life is Strange’s final chapter.

Dark Room proved to a be a bit of a mess as it attempts to bring all the forces of Arcadia Bay crashing down on top of you. There is definitely are dark shift to the story this time around that I deeply enjoyed exploring, things finally started to focus on the overall goal for Max and Chloe and while it was presented poorly, a great conclusion came out of it in the end. However, I will approach things causally the next time around and hope that Dotnod can deliver a fantastic overall story and not just a beginning and an end.

Good:

- The secrets of Arcadia Bay finally begin to unravel

- A darker overall tone that was harsh but compelling

- Strong beginning and compelling conclusion

Bad:

- All the mystery is crammed down your throat in one episode

- Dull fetch quests and mystery solving tools

- A long and inconsistent story through the middle portion

Scully Rating: 6.0 out of 10