Life is Strange: Before the Storm 2018.09.13 — Mac version

Fans of character-driven stories who wanted more from the sleepy town of Arcadia Bay will feel right at home. This three-part standalone story steps back in time to explore Chloe Price's rebellious teenage years and her complicated friendship with Rachel Amber. It is a moody, choice-led drama that needs no prior knowledge of the first game.

Published by Feral Interactive, the Deluxe Edition runs on Intel Macs with macOS 10.13.4 or newer. You will need a decent chunk of free drive space — 28 GB — and at least 8 GB of RAM to keep the scenes flowing without stutter.

Expect keyboard-and-mouse controls that feel natural for a point-and-click adventure. On an M1 MacBook Air under Sequoia, the game launches and plays through Rosetta 2 without complaint. Performance holds steady enough for a story where pacing and dialogue matter more than frame rates.

A small tip: the voice acting is English only, and the performances are a huge part of the experience. Plug in a pair of headphones early so you catch every whispered secret.

When character bonds matter more than points

If you play games for the people in them rather than the score at the end, this one lands hard. Fans of the original Life is Strange will spot small echoes of things to come, but you do not need that history — the story stands on its own. Players who like slow-burn dialogue, messy characters and choices that sit with you after the screen goes dark will find plenty here.

It is also a good fit for older Macs. The system requirements are modest by modern standards, and the game does not punish you for running it on a machine that has seen a few years of use. If your Mac meets the 10.13.4 floor and has the RAM and drive space, it should cope fine.

Picking a language before the hour on the couch

You copy the app to Applications, launch it from Launchpad, and the menu settles in around you. First thing you do is pick your language — the interface supports seven, but the voices stay English. Then you set aside an hour or two, because this is not a game that rewards five-minute bursts.

The opening puts you in Chloe's trainers during a bad week. You wander, you read notes stuck to walls, you talk. The dialogue options are not about winning; they are about deciding who Chloe is when no one is watching. A scene with Rachel behind the school can shift from funny to tense depending on one line you choose. Save points are generous, so you can stop mid-chapter and pick the thread back up later without losing your place.

Headphones keep the voice cast doing the heavy lifting

• Before you start, check that you have 28 GB free. The install is not huge, but a nearly full drive can make loading screens drag.
• Plug in headphones straight away. The English voice cast carries the emotional weight, and laptop speakers flatten it.
• If the game feels sluggish on an older Intel Mac, drop the resolution first. This is a story game, not a twitch shooter — you will hardly notice lower texture detail.
• Play the first episode in one sitting if you can. The pacing works better when you stay inside Chloe's head without a gap.
• Do not chase a "perfect" run. There is no fail state here, and reloading to undo a choice robs the story of its sting.

One more thing: the Deluxe Edition label means you get the full three-part arc in one package. No waiting between episodes, which suits a rainy weekend rather well.

• macOS 10.13.4 or newer
• Intel processor (Apple Silicon runs via Rosetta 2)
• 8 GB RAM
• 28 GB free hard drive space