“Look, look, I found a banjo!”
“Good for you, I found this sock.”
“Oooh and I can play it! I can go this fast!”
“Great! I’m doing the dishes now for some reason.”
“Nice. Ha! I can draw a moustache on this photo!”
“Do you think any of this has any implications on the plot?”
“No, but aren’t you having fun?”
“I have to admit, yeah, I am…”
A Way Out is a very unique game, I want to say one of a kind because I don’t think there is another cinematic, story-focused, two-player game with a couch co-op mode out there. And no, I don’t count Beyond Two Souls since it isn’t truly co-op.
The players take on the mantle of Vincent and Leo, two tough guys who meet at the start of the game… in prison! Vincent got sentenced for murder and is out for revenge against some dude named Harvey. Leo is a thief who doesn’t shy away from armed robbery, and also seems to be out for vengeance because this Harvey double-crossed him during a heist. At the beginning of the game, Vincent arrives in prison, meets Leo, and quickly bonds with him over their shared nemesis, so much so that they decide to escape together. And that’s how adult friendships are formed.
It is really hard to explain the gameplay because it is so all over the place. There is a point-and-click adventure level, a driving-chasing sequence, some shoot-outs, stealth missions, and just general faffing. So what is the core gameplay? Probably roleplaying as your characters, to be honest.
You can play this game online or locally with a friend. We opted for local co-op and shared our TV screen. Interestingly the screen is split vertically, not horizontally. The game also plays very well with camera movement and switches between characters. At first we thought it would be annoying to hear the other player’s game, but overall A Way Out was immersive enough that it didn’t bother us.
We rarely do spoilers, but we can’t avoid it for this game, we have to go into spoiler territory in the bad section, but don’t worry, we will mark it clearly with big friendly SPOILER ALERT signs.
The Good
There is no better way of putting it, we had a blast roleplaying as the characters, one of us was weirdly autistic, and the other had a large nose and thought that he is funny.
Faffing around is one of the best parts of the game. Just checking out your environment, picking up stuff, playing various instruments, washing the dishes, etc. was so calming, as weird as it may sound. The best example of it is in a house where you need to steal some clothes and a car, but you can also just spend there an hour faffing.
The game is also full of funny character moments, e.g. Leo is afraid of heights, so if you are somewhere high the player controlling Leo gets a nice little vertigo effect. Also, this may or may not be true, but it seemed like one of the characters is really bad at catching fish. It might be a personal dexterity issue, but we decided that it is a character trait of Vincent cleverly implemented by the developers.
The action sequences are all fairly light but our adrenaline levels did increase. They are all over-the-top, think Uncharted-level of nonsense, nicely choreographed, and incredibly versatile. Everything happens only once in this game: car chase, parkour, motorcycles, white water rafting, etc. You get a good sequence for ten minutes and before it could get boring it is over. None of these are outstanding or come anywhere close to let’s say anything in Uncharted 2, but since there are so many of these mini-games and they are so different, it ends up being quite entertaining.
The hospital chase scene is especially cinematic, they played exceptionally well with the character switches and camera movements, never seen anything like it, and it’s also a one-time-only thing. It wouldn’t have been fun if we had to do it ten times, or with difficult enemies who keep killing us, but doing it once, and getting surprised every minute works.
The game is also hilarious at times, probably unintentionally, but the dialogue that plays out couldn’t have been an accident. So wooden, so out of place sometimes.
First example: you are at the prison workshop, trying to get a tool from a guy, so you politely ask, do you need that tool? He answers, yes, I am using this tool, check out the toolbox over there maybe you can find your own tool. We are all humans here, using our not at all generic tools, beep boop. I made up that last part.
Second example: we walk into a hospital, saying we are in a bit of a hurry is a wild understatement, but we stop for a connect the dots game, and then on the way to the elevator Vincent stops and asks a person on a ladder if they are switching the bulbs, and they say they saw a ghost and we leave it at that. It doesn’t come up any more in the game. Maybe ghosts exist in the universe of A Way Out and are considered boring?
Third example: we are in a garage, there is a car, someone is working on it, and Vincent just stands there, milling around, and the mechanics start discussing that the driver probably died and now he is in a better place. The whole thing is just so weird, there is no outcome, no context, we do not know these characters, it does not impact the story at all.
Now, unfortunately, I think the game was going for a sombre, melancholic feeling, which will bite us in the end, but while playing it felt like one of the best Monty Python sketches.
The Bad
Well, some people might say that there isn’t much gameplay in this game, and I can’t blame them. That doesn’t make the game bad, but I can understand if some people are not interested.
The action scenes are functional, if simplified, but the adventure puzzle-solving could seriously be turned up a notch, the puzzles are painfully easy.
There are very long sequences when nothing really happens, e.g. you need to find a guy, so for ten minutes you end up interrogating random strangers who don’t know anything. But then these boring scenes are followed by fun action sequences so you forget about them. But if we are being honest, a lot of this game is padding.
However, all these are minor nit-picky issues, but we can’t talk about the biggest problem with the game without spoilers.
************ SPOILER ALERT ************
OK, ready? Here comes the bad part.
At the end of the game, there is a good twist, one character turns out to be an undercover cop. It works, makes sense, we suspected all along that something is not honest about that guy. Cool, good job game. And then the two characters turn against each other, and one has to kill the other in a series of button smashing contests, and that’s the end. We hated, hated, hated it, it felt like we are so completely trapped like never before in a video game. Neither of us wanted to do it, and it is not a fitting end for a tale of becoming friends, however silly that tale might have been. I think it’s GoT Season 8 level of bad decision, but obviously much fewer people care about this. The whole point of the game up until the last scene was how we became friends and how much we care about each other despite our differences. So what was the point of all that? I guess the moral of the story is that indeed, you can’t make new friends as an adult.
You know what would have been a good ending? There are two options, Vincent letting Leo go, thus ruining his career, or Leo going back to prison, thus ruining his, you know, life. That would have been perfect. And if that had been the ending, this would have been an amazing game, honestly. Now, it’s a misjudged and disconnected mess. I get what you were going for, game, but Last of Us you are not.
It’s an easy and childish and lazy solution to get some feels.
************ END OF SPOILERS ************
Without spoilers, the main issue is that there is a complete tonal change in the game, and also the ending goes on for like three different big boy emotional cut scenes which are completely unnecessary.
The Co-Op
The game has the usual co-op sequences like solving puzzles, one is a lookout, the other does something shady, one drives, the other shoots, etc. But it has also interesting scenes where you need to time your movements together, like busting down a door to the rhythm of thunder, or row a boat without one of you overtaking.
Immersion and story-wise, A Way Out is probably the best co-op ever. Correction, could have been the best ever if not for the major spoiler issue in the Bad section.
The Recommendation
This game is not for cynical people, it is very easy to hate. Your only option is to immerse yourself in all the craziness and wooden dialogues.
The gameplay is slowish, calming, and very much on a lighter side. But the action sequences are fun, fast, and over-the-top. The game offers a very unique story-driven cinematic experience, something we haven’t really seen before, so if you like couch co-op games, and don’t mind the sour ending, this is a must.
Info
| Release Year | 2018 |
| Genre | Action-Adventure |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Number of Players | 2 to 2 |
| Length | 6 hours |
Rating
| Overall | Good |
| Story | Bad |
| Co-Operation | Good |