Max Caulfield returns in Life is Strange’s latest title, Double Exposure, where new mysteries and new powers await our beloved photographer! Read our review to see what the game does well, what it doesn’t do well, and if it’s worth getting for yourself.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Review Overview

What is Life is Strange: Double Exposure?

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is the latest entry in the cult-hit Life is Strange series, where everyone’s favorite dorky protagonist, Max Caulfield, once again takes the protagonist's mantle a decade after her journey in the first game. We’ll follow Max, now a photography instructor for Caledon university, grappling with another mystery in the form of her murdered friend, Safi, as she learns to control her new powers over parallel universes.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure features:
　⚫︎　 Max Caulfield returning to star as the main playable character
　⚫︎　 A continuation of the story from the original Life is Strange game
　⚫︎　 New powers: The ability to see through and teleport to another parallel universe
　⚫︎　 A murder mystery that spans across two timelines
　⚫︎　 A story-driven branching narrative heavily influenced by your choices throughout the game
　⚫︎　 An ensemble of beloved indie artists for its soundtrack, including Tessa Rose Jackson, Chloe Moriondo, and Dodie.
　⚫︎　 "Cat Content"

For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Life is Strange: Double Exposure's gameplay and story.

Digital Storefronts
Steam	PlayStation	Xbox	Switch
$49.99

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Retains the ‘Cringey’ Charm of the First Game Immersive and Impressive Character Animations Breathtaking Visuals Soundtrack Consists of Great Artists	Takes A Bit To Get Your Powers Some Inconsistent Character Writing Only a Handful of Locations Frequent Visual Bugs That Indicate Lack of Polish

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Overall - 80/100

Life is Strange: Double Exposure feels like the first true Life is Strange game since LiS 2, but mainly due to it mostly borrowing the lightning-in-a-bottle formula the original game had. From the gigantic expectations placed upon it, being the series’ first sequel, it plays it safe and ‘familiar’ to try to satisfy old and new fans alike, but has some troubles getting the angle right. From its execution, Double Exposure is objectively the best developed LiS game, from its storytelling, characters, art, graphics, and music, but finishes with its main subject out of focus, and any core themes being left off frame.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Story - 6/10

Double Exposure is unique in that it’s the first major entry with a returning main character. However, looking closer, the story is structured parallel to the original, with certain characters' significance in the overarching plot appearing very similar. A bit of unevenness and unfairness can also be found from all their character writing and contributions to the plot, where some are treated as major characters but were only adjacent to move the story forward. Though the execution of the overall mystery element was very well done, it falls off afterwards when its main mystique disappears and they struggle to find a central theme to focus on.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Gameplay - 7/10

Double Exposure does little to innovate on the well-worn interactive game it’s famous for. This isn’t to say Double Exposure is dull, and that Life is Strange always had bad gameplay, but the parallel-universe mechanic, though interesting, was only done so much besides going back and forth to find the next point-of-interest. Though they did the best they could with the seamless shifting of very different realities, it feels more could’ve been done behind the gimmick.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Visuals - 9/10

The current art and visual style feels like a natural evolution for the series as a whole where they have done away with the stylized painterly art style the originals had in turn of the realistic stylized graphics. The environments, props, lighting, and camera angling all make sure the artistic flair still lives on. The most prominent new feature would be the incredibly subtle and expressive facial animations from major characters that significantly add to their interactions and conversations. However, there are some inconsistencies regarding the character fidelities and facial animations amidst all the well-polished ones.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Audio - 10/10

Another staple for Life is Strange has been its atmospheric indie soundtrack that has captured the hearts of many, and Double Exposure is the culmination of that indie heart that has grown over the decade. The latest title brings forth a collection of indie superstars from Dodie, Chloe Moriondo, and Tessa Rose Jackson to comprise a stellar soundtrack. The voice cast also proves astounding, where there is no doubt that most were able to deliver stellar performances in their roles, with Max and Safi both being clear stand-outs.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Value for Money - 8/10

Double Exposure’s costs only $49.99, a step down from the $59.99 of its predecessor in True Colors, where it was infamous for sporting a shorter playtime than usual for the series. In terms of content, DE partially eclipses TC with having more explorable side content on top of its main story, albeit not that big of a gap. Its playtime is also more-or-less similar to the previous game, but it has more branches throughout its story that adds further replayability for players to go through. However, the ending is lackluster as all your choices don’t contribute much or add-up to the final decision, which might leave a sour taste for some.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Review: Picture-Perfect Setup, Ended Up Out of Frame and Focus

Spoiler warning for the FIRST Life is Strange game ahead

Life is Strange: Double Exposure has a Herculean task ahead of it–to satiate the legions of fans who have been waiting nearly a decade for the continuation of Max Caulfield’s journey in video game form (the comics have a very limited and niche audience unfortunately). Though it manages to maturely ‘explain-away’ Max’s past with justifiable reasons to focus on her present and future, some inconsistencies with her writing cause some dissonance with the characters everyone fell in love with in the first game. The title still has an abundance of heart, soul, and charm that has made it infamous in the internet, yet one can’t help but notice that even though they try to respect the characters’ history by addressing it, it immediately gets brushed into the wayside to focus on the present and the future.

However, this is in-line with the thematic lesson our protagonist struggles to cope with, immersing players with the frustrations and learnings of Max Caulfield into the lack of further acknowledgement of our history, and the absence of our power to rewind. As much as we wish we have the power to turn back time and keep living in the past, the game pushes us and Max in uncharted waters of meeting new people, love interests, and situations, to look forward to an unpredictable future where you can’t make certain of things with the Rewind. This is a harsh truth that Max had learned off-screen after all these years, and needed to be taught to the players.

After all that however, Max’s importance to the plot aside from her powers stops, because as soon as the story finally connects Max’s history and her learned-lessons to the story, the narrative takes a turn away from the well-established murder and significant themes, into some sort of superhero story focusing more on the powers themselves. It then appears that, at the end of the day, Max’s history with powers was the main driving force to bring her back into the fold. This leads to a feeling of Max being unneeded for the plot in the first place, and that any other character would’ve been able to fill her shoes as the protagonist.

It’s a very tonally obvious change in focus, from the constant buildup of the mystery in the first few chapters, and then the revelations at the end of Chapter 3 and 4, but then completely shifts into something different throughout Chapter 5. I would deem Chapter 1-4 being the height of the game, where it perfectly manages to keep you interested as you progress the story. Then it all falls flat by the end as the writers seem to have written themselves into a corner, struggling to figure out how to get the characters out of the situations they themselves have spent so much time creating. And that’s not even talking about how the game’s narrative and characters similarly parallel the original game, taking heavy inspiration from its major events and twisting them to fit their version or ‘take.’

Life is Strange: Double Exposure had the makings to be a great continuation of Max Caulfield’s tale, but ended up becoming a Life is Strange game with a great execution that Max Caulfield was merely plopped into, which was watered down into some sort of ‘remake’ or ‘reboot’ of the series.

The Cringey Dialogue is Still Prevalent and Endearing

Life is Strange has been infamous on the internet throughout its existence as "that Tumblr game with the cringey dialogue." One would think they’d try to stray away from that reputation in the series’ first direct sequel in order to shed the reputation off, but no– they lean more into the corniness, the cheesiness, and the millennial–zoomer awkward dialogue that will have most teens to adults wincing from the embarrassment. That has been my personal guilty pleasure I look forward to in the series, where not necessarily it’s not necessarily the notion of "it’s so bad it’s good" is being applied, but rather the levels of irony and superficial cheesiness’ that makes all endearing. If you were a fan, enjoyed, or at least tolerated all of that in past games, then this game goes 110%. If you disliked or hated them, then you might not have a good time here.

Your Powers Develop a Bit Late

One small gripe that a lot of people might notice is that you don’t really gain or get a glimpse of your powers as quickly as the other titles, which could lead to some restlessness from some fans. In LiS1, Max immediately rewinds time as she sees Chloe get shot in the bathroom; Daniel immediately wreaks havoc with his telekinesis as Sean watches on; and Alex immediately senses Steph’s anger as she comes out of the DJ booth. With Double Exposure, you’ll spend the bulk of the opening act reacquainting players and setting the story up, delaying the reveal of her powers at the end of Chapter 1, only becoming accessible in Chapter 2. Though this could appear as it becoming as second thought to some, it goes in-line with the plot of Max not being able to use her powers anymore at all, and to provide players a brief period of time with her as a normal person.

Impressive Facial Expressions and Animations

A major graphical upgrade the series has finally cultivated are more complex facial expressions and animations that serve to further immerse and deliver a wide range of emotions and tones. In the first game, there were plenty of times where Max would have her face as she voices desperation and grief, or a serious situation would be taking place and various characters will have their default emotionless faces staring blankly. Deck Nine, iterating over their technology from Before the Storm, True Colors, and now Double Exposure, were able to reach a facial fidelity that can showcase more emotions, and it’s very palpable from how animated and whacky Safi is. She seems to use every single muscle in her face to make dozens of faces, bringing the character to life alongside her voice excellent performance. Max is also ever-more expressive, with specific nuances displaying her distaste, unsureness, and general quirkiness in everyday actions such as watering plants, petting cats, or taking photos.

However, this level of polish seems to only be for major characters, as some side characters often appear not as well-rounded or sometimes looking more uncanny than immersive. It becomes jarring at times where you’ll see the extensively-rigged and animated main cast, to then have a close-up with a side character that obviously has yet to receive the same polish and care the others have had.

A Bit Unpolished with Visual Bugs Here and There

On the other hand, throughout the game, you won’t be a stranger to some weird appearance of bugginess concerning props and models. From misplaced or even doubling of doors, hair shrinking into your head or even balding your character, floating phones, and characters hitting a half-second T-pose as the camera pans to them during cutscenes, the immersion the game works so hard to build up keeps getting evaporated from these frequent bugs that can be found throughout.

The Vis-Art is Masterful as Always

After all’s said and done in terms of the graphics department, one aspect almost everyone identifies with the Life is Strange series is its unique art, and it continues to shine in Double exposure even though they’ve made the jump to realism in Unreal Engine. It’s natural evolution of the series to have a bit of realism mixed in with its stylized painterly colors for its models, where majority of props are still clearly shell-shaded, and then being shone with the Unreal Engine’s more realistic lightings. Though fans will doubtless feel nostalgia for the old art style, Double Exposure is the path forward for the series' aesthetics as it still carries with it the artistic heart and soul it’s famous for.

However, it’s clear from the get-go that the game only has so many locations, with only 9 major areas explorable throughout the game. Though they make for it through the parallel universe hopping, it’s somewhat disappointing they weren’t able to add more variety in terms of environments, as gorgeous as they are.

Star-Studded Original Soundtrack and Stellar Voice Performances

Last but not at all the least, Double Exposure’s soundtrack is chock-full to the brim of indie stars that have been in one way or the other just feel like they belong in the series. English singer and songwriter Dodie Clark enters the fray with her somber song ‘Someone Was Listening’ which is the game’s main menu and pause theme, humming a constant mysterious beat in the background. Chloe Moriondo sings her heart out on ‘September,’ a somber and emotional score that serves as the credits song. Then the heavy lifter Tessa Rose Jackson contributed numerous writing, producing, and performing credits all throughout the game, resulting with her being involved with the bulk of the soundtrack.

Not only did we have heavenly voices in the soundtrack, but the voice actors knocked it out of the park, with the returning cast of Hannah Telle as Max, and the quirky performance of Olivia AbiAssi as Safi being the main standouts of the cast. Intriguingly, Chloe Price, having a few lines in the game, were voiced by Rhianna DeVries, the replacement voice actress back when the original voice, Ashley Bursch, wasn’t available due to a voice acting strike during its development. Bursch’s absence as Chloe’s voice is palpable from the little lines the character had, but DeVries’ performance is no slouch as she fits to become a worthy replacement.

Is Life is Strange: Double Exposure Worth It?

It’s Good, but Don’t Shoot Through Rose-Colored Lenses

Though Double Exposure does not feature everyone’s favorite blue-haired punk in the flesh, there is still an abundance of substance in the game, from its great mystery-narrative, fun new characters, gorgeous sceneries and graphics, well-animated facial expressions, great voice acting performances, and stellar soundtrack. However, there are definitely inconsistencies with the plot, character writing, and the overall polish of the game.

For those who wish to see the continuation of Max Caulfield’s story without her partner in time, Double Exposure is a good attempt at tackling her future, albeit with some questionable character choices here and there. Overall, if one only focused on Max and her regrets regarding her powers, she fits in naturally into the story as her past resonates with the main revelation and their proceeding climactic conflict. This, however, is the crux of Max’s involvement, as the rest of the story, from its powers to the ending, feels like it could’ve been any other character to have been in her place.

Digital Storefronts
Steam	PlayStation	Xbox	Switch
$49.99

Life is Strange: Double Exposure FAQ

SPOILER WARNING FOR LIFE IS STRANGE: DOUBLE EXPOSURE

What Timeline Does Life is Strange: Double Exposure Following? Bay or Bae?

There is a choice early on in the game’s first chapter where you yourself chooses the timeline you’re in, and the effects of that one choice heavily recontextualize your history, be with in terms of texts, journal entries, or belongings.

Is Chloe Price in Life is Strange: Double Exposure?

Chloe will not be physically present in any part of the game. She does, however, is heavily mentioned and featured in Max’s journals, and even more if the player chooses the timeline where Chloe lives in the original game through her active social media presence, and the fact that they still have each other’s numbers. However, the two have broken up and have separated for an undisclosed amount of time.

Does Max Caulfield Get A New Love Interest in Life is Strange: Double Exposure?

Max has two new love interests in Amanda, the principled bartender of The Snapping Turtle, and Vinh, the head of student body Abraxas and administrative assistant to the President of Caledon University.

What are Life is Strange: Double Exposure‘s System Requirements

Game8 Reviews

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Life is Strange: Double Exposure Product Information

Title	LIFE IS STRANGE: DOUBLE EXPOSURE
Release Date	October 15, 2024(Chapters 1&2 Early Access) October 29, 2024 (Full Game)
Developer	Deck Nine Games
Publisher	Square Enix
Supported Platforms	PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam), Switch
Genre	Adventure
Number of Players	1
ESRB Rating	Mature 17+
Official Website	Life is Strange: Double Exposure Website

Clark Jason Kong

Growing up playing all sorts of games, they love playing a little bit of everything, all of the time. Favorites include Counter-Strike, Life is Strange, Final Fantasy, Spiritfarer, and Devil May Cry.