- Format: PC
- Source: Origin Access
- Completion: One full playthrough
A game where you play as two prison inmates, Vincent and Leo, A Way Out is a split-screen co-op only game with an engaging story and plenty of interesting set pieces. I played though the game with my fiancee and found an interesting experience that I definitely recommend playing through at least once.
Starting in a prison, each character starts in separate sections of an exercise yard, both doing their own thing. You can talk to people, work out and wander around. Eventually, one of the characters will get into a fight and the two end up meeting and decide that you could work together to escape prison. To do so, you’ll need to plan and get certain supplies.
The sections where you have to gather equipment to escape the prison are the best part of the game. They sort of feel like mini Hitman levels, minus the murder. There are a few ways to complete it, and some parts can be done by one person, others can require two. There’s something satisfying about being given an environment and working out how to use it – especially with two of you trying different things, then calling the other over when they have an idea. The biggest flaw of the game is that there aren’t enough of these – and most of them are fairly early on in the game.
The middle section of the game is made up of more linear paths with a few chance scenes. You can explore around a little bit, but generally from this point on there’s one main way to do things. You can find some minigames to play along the way – such as basketball and darts, which are fun to mess around with for a bit.
Unfortunately, things start to fall apart a bit later on, pretty much exactly when you get guns. The gunplay in the game isn’t anything special, but also isn’t terrible. The shooting sections seem to have far less interactive elements, and fewer moments where you get split up and have to perform different tasks. The main part where you do get split up is the second car chase sequence of the game.
Both of these sections feel amazing to start with. Usually one person is shooting, one person is driving. As you get through them, the poor car handling mixed with the on-rails shooting at big targets that don’t seem to react much until the cars are ready to explode – which just means that the shooting isn’t satisfying – means that you’ll just wish that these sections would end. If they were kept short, they would be great sequences, but they just end to drag on.
That said, there is a lot of charm to the game and the focus on being co-op only does create plenty of interesting set-pieces. The final section of the game is very interesting (although I’m not entirely sure if I liked the gameplay aspect, I was still very invested in what was happening story-wise).
For how cheap a month of EA access is (and if you want to play with a friend online, only you need to own it – they can download a free version to join you), the game is definitely worth playing though. It definitely has flaws, but also feels unique and will keep you invested
