Jan 18, 2018
Announcing the Farewell release date & boxed editions of Before the Storm
Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Inexorabilis
Now that the complete season of Life is Strange: Before the Storm is out we know many of you have been wondering about when the bonus episode “Farewell” will be released. We're really excited to announce that Farewell will be releasing on March 6th 2018 alongside boxed editions of Before the Storm, which will release that same day in the US and on March 9th in PAL territories.

As with everything we do with Life is Strange, we spent a lot of time listening to what fans liked and wished for, after we released the boxed edition of the first season back in 2016. For this edition of Before the Storm, we therefore created three different versions for you to choose from:

The Vinyl Edition includes an exclusive vinyl set of the original soundtrack; a physical artbook featuring art from Life is Strange: Before the Storm plus the original soundtrack on CD, all beautifully contained in an exclusive presentation box. This version will be available through the Square Enix e-stores and can be pre-ordered here.



The Limited Edition will be available from participating retailers and will include the physical artbook featuring art from Life is Strange: Before the Storm plus the original soundtrack on CD.

Alternatively, a Standard Edition will be available too if you'd prefer to have just the game on disc to add to your game collection. This will initially only be available in the US and will launch in other territories at a later date.

All three editions also include the following digital content:
  • Bonus Episode: ‘Farewell’ - play one last time as a young Max Caulfield in a special bonus episode...
  • Mixtape Mode – Design your own playlist from the Life is Strange licensed soundtrack and listen to it alongside a cinematic scene from the game
  • Outfit pack – Change up Chloe's look with three new complete outfits. Includes the Punk Doe, Hawt Dawg Man & Illuminati outfits
  • Episode 1 from the first Life is Strange season
Finally, you can receive these exclusive figurines of Chloe and Rachel if you pre-order the box edition from participating retailers. Remember to double check that your preferred retailer is offering these before pre-ordering!



Exciting times! Which version will you be picking up? Let us know!
Jan 18, 2018
Announcing the Farewell release date & boxed editions of Before the Storm
Life is Strange: Before the Storm - SE Toby
Now that the complete season of Life is Strange: Before the Storm is out we know many of you have been wondering about when the bonus episode “Farewell” will be released. We're really excited to announce that Farewell will be releasing on March 6th 2018 alongside boxed editions of Before the Storm, which will release that same day in the US and on March 9th in PAL territories.

As with everything we do with Life is Strange, we spent a lot of time listening to what fans liked and wished for, after we released the boxed edition of the first season back in 2016. For this edition of Before the Storm, we therefore created three different versions for you to choose from:

The Vinyl Edition includes an exclusive vinyl set of the original soundtrack; a physical artbook featuring art from Life is Strange: Before the Storm plus the original soundtrack on CD, all beautifully contained in an exclusive presentation box. This version will be available through the Square Enix e-stores and can be pre-ordered here.



The Limited Edition will be available from participating retailers and will include the physical artbook featuring art from Life is Strange: Before the Storm plus the original soundtrack on CD.

Alternatively, a Standard Edition will be available too if you'd prefer to have just the game on disc to add to your game collection. This will initially only be available in the US and will launch in other territories at a later date.

All three editions also include the following digital content:
  • Bonus Episode: ‘Farewell’ - play one last time as a young Max Caulfield in a special bonus episode...
  • Mixtape Mode – Design your own playlist from the Life is Strange licensed soundtrack and listen to it alongside a cinematic scene from the game
  • Outfit pack – Change up Chloe's look with three new complete outfits. Includes the Punk Doe, Hawt Dawg Man & Illuminati outfits
  • Episode 1 from the first Life is Strange season
Finally, you can receive these exclusive figurines of Chloe and Rachel if you pre-order the box edition from participating retailers. Remember to double check that your preferred retailer is offering these before pre-ordering!



Exciting times! Which version will you be picking up? Let us know!
Jan 11, 2018
Weekend Deal - Life is Strange Franchise, Up to 75% Off!
Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Valve
Save up to 75% on the Life is Strange series as part of this week's Weekend Deal*!

*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time
Jan 4, 2018
2017 Steam Award winners include PUBG, Cuphead & Witcher
Dota 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alec Meer)

We’ve already seen which games sold best on Steam last year, but a perhaps more meaningful insight into movin’ and a-shakin’ in PC-land is the games that people feel warmest and snuggliest about. To that end, Valve have announced the winners of the 2017 Steam Awards, a fully community-voted affair which names the most-loved games across categories including best post-launch support, most player agency, exceeding pre-release expectations and most head-messing-with. Vintage cartoon-themed reflex-tester Cuphead leads the charge with two gongs, but ol’ Plunkbat and The Witcher series also do rather well – as do a host of other games from 2017’s great and good.

Full winners and runners-up below, with links to our previous coverage of each game if you’re so-minded. Plus: I reveal which game I’d have gone for in each category. (more…)

Jan 2, 2018
Wot we played on our holidays
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alec Meer)

2018

Welcome back, gentle human bean, to another year of PC gaming thrills, spills and ambient anxiety about the correct deployment of the term ‘roguelite’ here on Rock, Paper, Shotgun. As our beleaguered forms struggle to cope with the sudden shift away from Chocolate Oranges for breakfast, now is the time for our time-lost minds to reflect upon how we occupied ourselves over the past ten days.

To wit: what videogames did we play, when time, relatives, bloating and demanding pets allowed?

(more…)

Dec 23, 2017
Life is Strange: Before the Storm review
Life is Strange: Before the Storm

The truth can be hard to look at, is it really something you're ready for? Maybe the lies we tell each other are less horrible than the truths we keep hidden? In addition to these being the main questions Life is Strange: Before the Storm asks of its players, they were also, in a way, the questions those players asked of publisher Square Enix when Before the Storm was first announced. Why spoil the mysteries of the original Life is Strange by laying them bare for all to see? Why not let fans leave the words unsaid and the people never met to their imaginations? Why entrust these beloved secrets to a new development studio? But, despite those legitimate concerns from the Life is Strange community, since the first episode launched in August this year it's been apparent that Before the Storm is not only a worthy follow-up to the original Life is Strange, in some ways it surpasses the groundwork that has already been laid.

Before the Storm paints a more intimate picture of Chloe Price, hellraiser best friend of the original's protagonist Max Caulfield, three years before the events of Life is Strange, in the time Max moved away to Seattle and the two lost contact. Playing as Chloe is a markedly different experience to playing as Max, and given how much you know about Chloe's future at this point, it's remarkable how much freedom it feels like Before the Storm gives you in shaping her outlook and attitude.

Crucially, of course, Chloe does not have Max's mysterious ability to rewind time. This could have been regarded as a step backwards in the complexity of the game, but Before the Storm wisely plays to Chloe's strengths of perception and social manipulation, meaning there are plenty of opportunities to carefully explore your surroundings and approach altercations as a puzzle to be solved. And there's a very marked permanence to the responses you give and the reactions you have to the world around you, raising the stakes in a very real way.

Read more…

Dec 21, 2017
The “Choices Matter” Award
Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Inexorabilis
You've nominated Before the Storm for the "Choices Matter" Steam Award and we've been short-listed! Now we once more need your help to win it!

http://store.steampowered.com/news/35437/

Voting begins in a few short hours!
Dec 21, 2017
The “Choices Matter” Award
Life is Strange: Before the Storm - SE Toby
You've nominated Before the Storm for the "Choices Matter" Steam Award and we've been short-listed! Now we once more need your help to win it!

http://store.steampowered.com/news/35437/

Voting begins in a few short hours!
Dec 20, 2017
Life Is Strange: Before The Storm s final episode out now
Life is Strange - Episode 1 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alice O'Connor)

Tragic teen tale Life Is Strange: Before The Storm has concluded with the launch of its third episode last night. Before The Storm is the prequel to 2015’s wonderful third-person coming-of-ager, doing away with the time-travel powers as it focuses on wild rebel Chloe and her gal pal Rachel Amber. It’s a story whose final ending was already known, but I’m told life is about the journey not the destination. A bonus episode is still to come, reuniting Max and Chloe and their original voice actors for a prequel to this prequel, but that’s separate from Before The Storm’s story – and only for Deluxe Edition owners. For now, let’s see what Chloe and Rachel are up to in episode 3: (more…)

Dec 19, 2017
Before the Storm Complete Season Out Now!
Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Inexorabilis
The third episode and season finale of Before the Storm releases today and to celebrate the occasion, Deck Nine Games put pen to paper to say thank you to you, our fans for all your support along the journey so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P_OrZbFAJg
In the very beginning of development for Before the Storm, we knew that Life is Strange fans were passionate and committed to the characters and world from the first game. We were confident that they would want to play as Chloe and meet Rachel. We hoped we could write and produce a story that would make them happy.

When Episode 1 was released and the flood of love for these characters washed over us. It was at that moment we finally, truly, understood, at a much deeper level, how important it was for us to get everything just right. We have all found that one person who changed everything for us. Chloe, Rachel and all the other characters speak to the pain, despair, hope and love that lives within all of us. It became vital that we honor our fans and deliver our very best work.

As Episode 2 was released we formed an even deeper and more meaningful connection with Chloe and Rachel. Fans by the thousands responded on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit - sharing their feelings, theories and their own personal stories. The private messages we received from fans spoke of despair turned to hope and new dreams of a better future in their own lives. This is the first game I have made that has meant so much to so many people. I am incredibly proud of the team and what they have delivered and am deeply humbled by the reaction of the fans.

Episode 3 is bittersweet for us. The story of Rachel and Chloe is coming to a close and just like the fans, we're not ready for it to end. We have grown deeply attached to this world. With great care we have tried to deal with incredibly personal topics and explored themes never touched on before in games. Thanks for taking the time to play through all three episodes, we hope you like what we’ve worked so hard to deliver.

Thank you so much for all of your support for Before the Storm, Deck Nine, Square Enix and of course Dontnod Entertainment. We love reading your articles and we hope that all of our future games mean as much to our fans as this one has.

All the best,

Jeff Litchford – Vice President, Deck Nine Games
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