Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Episode 3: Hell is Empty (PC) Review

While Episode 2: Brave New World offered a lukewarm experience as a whole, it concluded with a pretty strong scene where our deuteragonist Rachel Amber finally "exploded" at her dad for being far from a faithful hubby. Episode 3 begins with him explaining that that mystery lady she kissed was actually Rachel's biological mom, and why she wasn't part of his life any more. It's a scene that makes it easy to sympathise with him - a character that previously just looked like a boring and stereotypically cold and serious father.

Unfortunately, and similar to the previous episode, this doesn't really push things forward as much as it should. In some ways that's okay, as there aren't really any big secrets to unveil in here. Simply put, Episode 3: Hell is Empty is more concerned with finishing things, and showing the emotional "scars" that this journey has left on the cast. The problem is that, once again, this dawdles quite a lot.

In all honesty, in each and every single scene, more than five or so minutes are simply wasted at watching people just… sitting there, looking sad and all. That's not to say that the drama isn't still strong, or the characters aren't handled well or anything. Yes, this remains a pretty emotive tale that glues you to your seat, but the pacing is so freaking slow at times that it makes you want to play DOOM afterwards or something.

This is a shame, as this is actually a powerful finale that challenges Chloe by offering some pretty tough crossroads, as the developer once again doesn't use the easy black or white approach, especially near the end, and even more so in the very end, as all paths lead to pain - after all, this chapter revolves around the theme of "truth or lie," and, just like in real life, the answer is not exactly obvious. All in all, this provides a good, tear-jerking, but also pretty slow, end to the prequel - one that's not bad, but also one that could be much better.