Issue three already. It’s been a tough road to get here. It’s been all go for our heroes so far. We’ve spent the past two issues (over here, and here) of this series with Max and Chloe just trying to make sense of the predicament the pair have found themselves in. We’ve worried about them, sat in awe as Max somehow dragged Chloe into her visions and we’ve got that pit-of-the-stomach feeling as we’ve realised that all might not be easy and fixable for our favourite pair. Now, as this third issue takes hold, the curtain is starting to be pulled up and we get a glimpse of just how bad things are getting.

Spending a bit of time with the duo’s band up in Seattle, Life is Strange’s third issue slows the pace down a little and reminds us that there is a home and a future for Chloe and Max up north. It’s not long until we are back in Arcadia Bay with our heroes and, suffering from her last vision, Max is passed out on Chloe’s bed, recovering. We can’t say the same for Chloe’s room though. Much like the rest of the house, and Max, it has been ruined by the storm and the road to recovery seems to be getting longer with every minute the pair stay in the bay. A trip back to the rebuilt Blackwell Academy for the anniversary gathering will see things get even weirder and reveal more than Max and Chloe could have bargained for.

As Life is Strange begins to wrap up, the slower pace to start this issue wasn’t initially a welcome one. A craving to see the story continue and answer the questions posed in the last two issues leaves the reader frustrated in the opening panels of this latest instalment. But those feelings soon subside when the tale Emma Vieceli is weaving for us plays its hand. The tension builds to a nail-biting crescendo as the expert storytelling plays with you until the book has you right where it wants you and it turns its final card.

Initial problems with the pace of this issue are proven unfounded and the only complaint to be made about the penultimate release of this story is the delay readers have to suffer through before the conclusion finds its way into desperately waiting hands.