Life is Strange: Episode 4 - Dark Room

Dontnod have had me hooked since episode one, but no other episode has kept me on the edge of my seat like The Dark Room has. Truly harrowing at times, the very real and raw emotions at work come through in every line of dialogue and every action Max and Chloe take. Whilst your choices might not seem as valuable or as game-changing as in previous episodes, you’ll be too hooked in the story to really care or notice.

French developer DONTNOD really kicked things into overdrive with the third episode of Life Is Strange. While the first two episodes were certainly divisive – even amongst the staff here - it would be hard to argue that the series wasn't in the process of carving out its own niche. Episode three was where proceedings truly blossomed, bursting forth with a spectacular entry, and now here we sit with the fourth instalment. Luckily for us, DONTNOD has not only matched what came before - it's surpassed it.

Life Is Strange: Episode 4 - Dark Room is a great penultimate episode for this bestselling series, following up on a lot of questions we had from previous episodes, while giving us a bunch of new questions as well. While it does have some shortcomings, it's another solid entry into this narrative-driven game and by the episode's end, the player should be eagerly awaiting its conclusion in episode 5.

It will remain to be seen whether or not Life Is Strange will be able to juggle these two conflicting angles of its story and bring them both to a close without disappointment. But given what we’ve seen in Episode 4 and how, upon looking back, it’s surprises can all be explained or made sense of – and how our choices have affected our experiences in later episodes – we’re very close to calling Life Is Strange a resounding success.

In previous Life is Strange episodes, developer Dontnod has proven that it's not afraid to tackle complex issues, such as abuse and suicide. Most developers wouldn't dare touch these subjects, but Dontnod keeps pushing even further with them. Sometimes that doesn't make it an easy game to play. In Arcadia Bay, everyone's dirty little secrets are more sinister and alarming than expected. Episode 4 isn't for the faint of heart - it's for those who have hope that this crazy ride has some satisfying solution that isn't as messed up as it seems.

Dark Room is the most complicated, conflicting episode of Life Is Strange yet. It sets up a finale that could be a genuine stunner, but there’s a lot resting on its shoulders. That finale will need to even out the drastic and disappointing change in tone established in Dark Room, which compromises its characters for the sake of a cool mystery. An emotional intro and devastating outro show how well Dontnod can handle both separately, but the hours in between leave so much to be desired in terms of marrying these people to their story.

Megan: There are moments I truly enjoyed, like piecing together clues you've gathered to find the creepy bunker, or having that incredibly emotional moment with Chloe early in the game. "Dark Room" is probably the most "exciting" episode we've had yet, between the sense of urgency, the altercations we saw and the final twist. But I'm genuinely disappointed and disheartened by Dontnod's stumbles. It's with a general sense of fatigue that I'm carrying on to the final episode, hoping to find answers to all my remaining questions.