Life is Strange Double Exposure: Iconic queer game’s latest instalment rated ‘excellent’ by critics

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is finally here to the elation of queer fans everywhere, and the reviews are in.

The latest instalment to the episodic time-travelling queer classic Life is Strange series released on Tuesday (29 October).

The player steps in the shoes of the lovably awkward protagonist Max Caulfield (Hannah Telle) several years after the events of Life is Strange. Now an award-winning photographer living in the snowy hills of Vermont, Max has made a new life for herself and left her past behind her.

The game released to positive reviews across the board, receiving a score of 73 on the review aggregate site Metacritic, as well as a Mostly Positive score on Steam marketplace based on 1,154 reviews at the time of reporting.

Critics almost entirely enjoyed the game’s storyline and its subtextual themes of dealing with trauma and heartbreak.

While some have criticised the game’s decision not to give a definitive answer to whether Chloe died or not in Life is Strange, Rock Paper Shotgun’s Brendan Caldwell wrote in their review that they were “on board” with the idea.

“A huge theme of Life Is Strange is acceptance, learning to accept that those you love may be ripped from you unfairly. To see fans get uproarious about Chloe’s vanishing act is like watching Max herself flail against the stormwinds of time. Yes it hurts, but let’s move on.”

IGN’s Nick Maillet, meanwhile, resonated with the game’s dialogue, saying in their 9/10 review that conversations “felt like I was talking to an actual person instead of playing a game of guessing the correct answer.”

To several critics, this is largely down to the game’s “incredible performances” and impressive art style. Eurogamer’s Tom Philips, who gave the title a three out of five stars, commended developer Deck Nine’s “excellent character animation,” which Philips said “stands alongside PlayStation and Xbox first-party blockbusters.”

“After finishing Double Exposure, I’ve gone back simply to rewatch some of the key scenes between Safi and Max (once again played effortlessly by the returning Hannah Telle) which are, by some measure, the game’s highlights.”

Non-critic reviews on Steam and other platforms praise the game’s “bold steps” with a power system that one reviewer said feels “innovative.”

“The plot seems promising and as dark as we can expect of [Life is Strange] franchise,” another reviewer wrote. “Graphics are more realistic, the style changed and looks amazing … There were a few non-disturbing bugs but it is fine for a fresh release.”

Life Is Strange: Double Exposure is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC platforms.