A Way Out (2018)

I would consider games by Telltale a successful western mainstream adaptation of visual novel genre. There are probably earlier examples of such games though but I do not know them. However, Telltale games are at the core point and click but in practice they are more like an interactive TV series They are relying heavily on episodic cliffhangers and cinematic camera angles. However, the game involves you in the action by giving you a sense of choice. You feel involved as you are challenged by hard decisions, even though the decisions might always result in the same ending. Thats why I think concept of Telltale games works, as interactivity can give storytelling one more layer of personal investment of the player.

A Way out is also a game that is pretty much an action movie in which you are able to move character up and down. At the same time it is also a very high budget game with very impressive visuals. It has great presentation, great action shots and great voice acting

But after I finished it it felt the same as a Netflix show. Extremely high budget, very watchable but when it is over you realise that it is extremely basic and forgettable without much open ended ended philosophies or questions to make you think about it. However as we are reviewing a game not a movie we also need to discuss the added value provided by the interactivity.

The good part is definitely the split screen coop. I am glad that the split screen is making a come back with mainstream titles. Among which is also very praised "It takes two". Couch coop elevates the whole gaming experience to a special social activity. And I am a big sucker for great local coop games. It is fun to figure out the stuff together.

But on the other hand, the game fails to deliver any substantial added value for being a game instead of just a movie in terms of immersion, exploration or individual experience. A lot of the times interactions felt forced. Its like watching a movie which would at one point pause and wait for you to press A button to let the character flush the toilet. Unfortunately I didn’t feel any closer to the character I was controlling or to the world that I was sort off exploring. The mini games included in the environment came off as cheap fillers to add some more explorable interactive content to a game that other ways just rushes to yet another action scene.

A way out provides a good entertainment for two players. For that I would definitely recommend it as it is engaging and quite fun. But in retrospect it is a rather shallow experience that is comparable to 2 friends sitting on one couch and watching a mediocre action movie.

Honestly, this game is trash. The gameplay is abysmal. It is literally x button simulator. You just run around pressing one button during the most generic story known to man. The actual co op style of gameplay is unique but honestly just play It Takes Two if you want an actually good game with a good story and gameplay.

P.S.: The same company developed both of these games which is insane. Playing these back to back is like night and day.

A Way Out was surprisingly fun!

It's a game filled with bugs, bad dialogue, ridiculous action-movie-sequences, cliche characters and clunky gameplay, but somehow... It kinda works?

Way Out's trump card (obviously) is the co-op. Playing this game alone would ultimately feel like a waste of time, but when you're playing with s friend, you get the most out of this weird experience. It's a mini-game bonanza!

There's a real sense of cooperation, very light planning and competition. Some moments got me sleepy, but others were just plain entertaining. Like the very good plot twist in the final chapter that surprised me and sort of changed the story perspective of the game. Or the well-directed hospital chapter. Actually, the worst parts of the game are set during the prison. When it "opens up", it's nice.

I recommend this game if you're doing it by couch co-op. You're going to have a blast. If you play it any other way, don't even bother.

Decent neat and quick experience, more cinematic and narrative than actually game-ish.

Brief summary of positives/negatives:

• (+) Story. Pretty good, with strong homages to classic movies and a nice plot twist.
• (+) Sound. Enjoyed the voice acting quite a lot, both characters are very well dubbed and really help out fleshing Leo's & Vincent's character.
• (+/-) Gameplay. I wouldn't say it's bad but it's mostly QTE stuff and simple coop actions. The gunplay is also barebones since it's not really the focus of the game so it's understandable I guess.
• (-) Graphics. Not the best looking game out there, it's ok but some textures are really ugly, facial animations leave a lot to be desired and probably the only strong point in this category is maybe the light engine and the smooth transitions from cutscenes to gameplay (fullscreen to splitscreen too).
• (-) Performance. Several glitches, some stuttering at some points (usually cutscene transitions) and some crashes.

Recommended despite it's flaws if you have someone to play it with that also enjoyes narrative driven games.

A brilliant co-op experience stuffed with references to movies and other games. The game offered more than anticipated and kept on giving, even after I expected the story to be finished.

A well thought-out gameplay really depending on cooperation with an addition of several delightful minigames made this a unique and amazing story-based game to play together. 5/5 would play again just to experience the different choices throughout the story.