If there’s one thing I can’t get over with the Life is Strange series, it’s that no matter how much elements of its design advances, some aspects feel as if they are always stuck in the past. While Life is Strange: Double Exposure has proven to be divisive in some circles, sitting at a series-low of 73 on Metacritic, I think there’s a lot that it does exceptionally well – its nuanced storytelling, impressive visual fidelity, smart character studies, and expansive puzzle design.
You can read our Life is Strange: Double Exposure review for more on all that. But if there’s one thing that really shatters immersion for me in the new installment, it was the way Max Caufield rigidly navigates environments. Movement has only incrementally improved since 2015, and for an experience so resoundingly grounded in exploring every inch of any given space, that Max still moves like a character from the original Resident Evil trilogy is a little frustrating.
Speaking with game director Jon Stauder, he tells me that the team is always working to ensure that it’s making the right investments with its time, energy, and budget to deliver the best experience possible. For Double Exposure, that meant that restrictive movement echoes that of Life is Strange: True Colors as the team focused its energy on inserting a familiar character into a new setting and a new power struggle. But that isn’t to say that this won’t change in the future.
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A good chunk of how we scope these games is consideration of the tools that we have to work with, and the engine that we’re working within. Life is Strange: Double Exposure is our first Unreal Engine 5 game, which immediately meant massive leaps in visual fidelity,” says Stauder. “There’s some really neat bells and whistles which have come online recently in Unreal that are going to do great things, like help us make sure that the janky walk feels less janky the next time around – you know, should we be so lucky!”
It remains to be seen whether Deck Nine will be given the opportunity to deliver on this promise in the future – although the studio has teased that there’s plenty of opportunities to continue widening the aperture of this universe. Personally, I hope the studio gets the opportunity to deliver a Double Exposure sequel, if only to see how more fluid movement can materialize.