The Original Life Is Strange Voice Actors Are Coming Back For Before The Storm's Bonus Episode

Life Is Strange Before The Storm
(Image credit: Deck Nine Games)

Deck Nine's Life Is Strange: Before The Storm managed to find a dedicated audience, following in the footsteps of Dontnod's original Life Is Strange outing. One of the big criticisms of Deck Nine's title was that it didn't feature the voice of Ashly Burch as Chloe. Well, for fans of Burch, there's good news insofar that she's coming back for the bonus episode.

Not only is Burch coming back, but so is the original voice actress for Max Caulfield, Hannah Telle. Hannah Telle hasn't appeared in any of the previous episodes for Before The Storm, so this could be her first time reprising the role since the ending of the original Life Is Strange.

Originally, Burch wasn't included in Life Is Strange: Before The Storm due to the voice actor strike from SAG-AFTRA. This resulted in Burch being replaced with Rhianna DeVries, who actually managed to get her first gig in acting through Deck Nine's video game.

Now that the SAG-AFTRA voice actor strike is finished and a new deal has been struck, Ashly Burch is making a return to the Life Is Strange franchise, which was revealed in a quick behind-the-scenes feature from the official YouTube channel for the upcoming bonus episode that will be available for those who purchased the deluxe edition of the game.

There are plenty of gamers in the comment section absolutely ecstatic that Burch is back in the role of Chloe Price. Fans were originally angry that Burch wasn't in the prequel after they grew attached to her very pronounced depiction of the character in Dontnod's outing of the original game back in 2015 for home consoles and PC.

During the production of Life is Strange: Before The Storm, the SAG-AFTRA strike was taking place, which originally got underway back in October of 2016. It managed to affect a number of productions getting underway or those about to get underway. The strike lasted through September, 23rd, 2017.

Of course, the first episode of Life is Strange: Before the Storm was made available on August 31st, 2017 for home consoles and PC. During the production of the game, while the strike was taking place, Ashly Burch was replaced with Rhianna DeVries.

However, given that the strike is now over, Burch is stepping back into the role of Chloe Price, but it won't be for the third and final base episode of the season. Instead, Deck Nine has decided to do a little bit of fan service by creating a special bonus episode for Before The Storm, the prequel to the original game.

We're not entirely sure where the bonus episode takes place in the timeline, but it appears to be before Chloe and Max separate, which means that it would be a prequel to Before The Storm. While talk about the bonus episode is kept to a minimum, there are some hints about what could happen based on the behind-the-scenes video.

Unfortunately, there are no release dates for Life Is Strange: Before The Storm's third episode or the bonus episode, but we do know that the bonus episode will be available at some point in 2018.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.