The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is a prequel to a sequel. It’s what you might call a ‘prelude’ episode to Life Is Strange 2. It was released for free last year, but I only got around to playing it recently. That may seem strange, considering I was a big fan of the original Life Is Strange, but the truth is, as much as I enjoyed Life Is Strange, it was one of those games I didn’t feel really needed a sequel.

That said, I’m glad they haven’t tried to simply continue with the story and characters of the original, but with a new story and new characters. The problem is, from what I’ve seen of Life Is Strange 2, I’m just not that interested in that new story or characters, and that’s probably why it’s taken me so long to try out this free episode.

 

You play as Chris, a young boy living with his father. Chris loves superheroes and likes to play as the titular ‘Capitan Spirit’, his OC – DO NOT STEAL. The episode takes place one snowy morning and is set not only within the ‘real’ world, but within Chris’ imagination. If you were ever a kid who liked to play imaginary games then there’s a somewhat warm, nostalgic quality to it that the developers were clearly keen to capitalise on.

You’re limited to exploring Chris’ house and yard, and the episode will only take a couple of hours to complete, even if you take your time. You’re given a set of ‘missions’ to complete which involve exploring the environment and solving simple puzzles. As you progress you’ll learn more about Chris, his father and their situation.

 

I don’t want to spoil any of the story here, but I did enjoy that aspect of it. There are moments when it’s not exactly subtle, but it does a good job at slowly revealing aspects of Chris and his father’s life and their relationship. Some of the ‘choices’ you make in this episode are supposed to carry over into Life Is Strange 2, but I doubt they will have any great impact.

I don’t really have much more to say about Captain Spirit. It’s a short, but fun little experience which tugs at the nostalgia strings and because it’s free, there’s really no reason not to check it out. I guess the real question is – does it make me want to give Life Is Strange 2 a go? Well, I’d say I’m a little more interested now than I was before, but I think I’ll still wait for all of the episodes to be released . . . and maybe a sale.