Episode 1: Awake

Overview

"Awake" is the first episode of Life is Strange: Before the Storm. The episode released on August 31, 2017.

Synopsis[]

During an epic night at an old mill watching her favorite band, Firewalk, perform, Chloe gets into trouble with two men after spilling beer on one of them. Unexpectedly, she receives help from a girl who turns out to be the popular Rachel Amber, a student well-known at Blackwell Academy. Following her fabulous night, Chloe wakes up in the morning to a family that’s changing right before her very eyes. After a difficult time with her mother and David Madsen, her mother's new boyfriend, she reunites with Rachel. The two newfound friends decide to skip their classes and hitch a ride on a cargo train, arriving at a lookout point. Using a viewfinder there, Rachel, who is upset with what she sees, insists that she and Chloe get drunk. Having stolen some wine from two picnickers, the girls go to a junkyard and Chloe confronts Rachel about her change in mood. After Rachel refuses to answer and runs off, Chloe discovers the wrecked car in which her father was killed. She meets up with Rachel again, who discloses that she witnessed her father cheating on her mother with another woman. Rachel destroys a family photo in a burning trash bin, and in a fit of rage kicks it over. A nearby tree is set alight and starts a forest fire.

Checkpoints[]

Old Mill - Exterior (Prologue)
Old Mill - Interior
Price House - Upstairs
Price House - Downstairs
Dream
School Campus
School Drama Lab
Train
Overlook
Junkyard
Dream
Junkyard - Night
Overlook - Night (Epilogue)

Characters[]

Returning Characters[]

Original Characters[]

Licensed Soundtrack[]

Main article: Soundtrack (Before the Storm)

"Are You Ready For Me" – Pretty Vicious (plays in Punk Club)
"No Below" – Speedy Ortiz (plays in Chloe's Room)
"Burning The Mignight Oil" – Thomm Jutz and Peter Cronin" (plays in William's car in Chloe's first dream)
"Through The Cellar Door" – Lanterns on the Lake (plays when Chloe (and Rachel) listen to music on the train)
"Flaws" – Daughter (plays when Rachel sets the tree alight)

Reception[]

GameSpot - 8/10
GamesInformer - 8/10
GamesRadar - 4.5/5
DualShockers - 6.5/10
Gamer - 4.5/5
Twinfinite - 4.5/5
Metro UK - 8/10
Reviews - 3/5
PCGames.de - 8.5./10
CGMagazine - 8/10
WindowsCentral - 4.5/5
GodIsAGeek - 7/10
PushSquare - 8/10
DarkZero - 8/10
AttackOfTheFanboy - 4/5

Gameblog.fr - 7/10
PCInvasion - 7/10
XboxAchievements - 8/10
WeWriteThings - 9.6/10
ComicsBeat - 9/10
AppTrigger - 7.5/10
JustPushStart - 8/10
USGamer - 3.5/5
IBTimes - 3.5/5
PlayStationUniverse - 8/10
CogConnected - 8.3/10
NZGamer - 8.5/10
Metacritic
OpenCritic
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Achievements[]

There are eleven achievements the player can earn on Steam, PlayStation or Xbox.

Trivia[]

The title of this episode is derived from William Shakespeare's The Tempest from Prospero's speech in Act I, Scene 2: "Awake, dear heart, awake!" The achievement you get for completing the episode is also derived from that very same quote.
The achievement "I See U Saw" is a possible reference to the My First I Can Read Book I See, You Saw by Nurit Karlin.
The achievement "The Last Unicorn" is a reference to the 1968 fantasy novel The Last Unicorn by American author Peter S. Beagle.
One of the achievements the player can collect in Episode 1 is called "Dramatis Personae" which is a reference to classical drama. The term, deriving from Latin, describes the (main) characters in a dramatic work written in a list, usually featured at the beginning of the dramatic work's text.^[1]
The achievement "Awake, Dear Heart", which the player receives for finishing Episode 1, is a reference to the same part of The Tempest the title for Episode 1 derives from.
The train seen at the beginning of the episode has "1337" written on the side. This is the way "leet" is spelled when using only numbers.
The scene on the train between Rachel and Chloe was done on a dual mic session (and Kylie Brown said "Kathmandia" instead of Kathmandu the first time).^[2]
During the scene where Chloe tries to convince Rachel from walking away from the junkyard, the acting was prompted by the director's phrase "you can't be with someone you love anymore".^[3]
After completing the episode, the main menu will change to the tree that Rachel set on fire.
The checkpoints of this episode were released prior to the episode's premiere, in the first developer's diary for Before the Storm, "Return to Arcadia Bay". The script also shows that the "Train" checkpoint originally was meant to be a "Schoolbus" checkpoint instead and got later replaced.

Checkpoints Episode 1 Awake — Screenshot of the checkpoints.

Videos[]

Life Is Strange Before the Storm First Gameplay E3 2017

Life is Strange Before the Storm Gameplay – Chloe & David PEGI

References[]

↑ For more information on "dramatis personae", see here.
↑ Life is Strange: Before the Storm with Rhianna DeVries, the voice of Chloe
↑ Chloe and Rachel - Developer's Diary

Life is Strange Episodes
Life is Strange	Chrysalis · Out of Time · Chaos · Dark Room · Polarized
Before The storm	Awake · Brave New World · Hell Is Empty
Life is strange 2	Roads · Rules · Wasteland · Faith · Wolves
Life is Strange:True Colors	Side A · Lanterns · Monster or Mortal· Flicker · Side B
Additional stories	Farewell · The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit · Wavelengths

[1] For more information on "dramatis personae", see here.

[2] Life is Strange: Before the Storm with Rhianna DeVries, the voice of Chloe

[3] Chloe and Rachel - Developer's Diary

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