Our editors hand-pick these games based on a broad criteria: similar games that cater to the same player base, or games that share similar themes, gameplay mechanics, or artistic styles.
Hazelight Studios deserves praise for the high ambitions of their first title, with A Way Out attempting to emulate a wide variety of genres, themes and gameplay mechanics. While there are some key sequences that end up working out for the better as a result this jack-of-all-trades style approach, the overall game suffers from inconsistent gameplay and an uninspired story and presentation.
If you go into A Way Out thinking its mandatory two-player co-op is a gimmick, you’ll likely come out of it realizing that it couldn’t have been done any other way. Vincent and Leo’s journey will have you and a friend performing tasks together both mundane and dramatic, and the result is a memorable, variety-packed cinematic adventure that feels like what Telltale’s games might’ve evolved into if they’d leaned into game mechanics instead of phasing them out.
A Way Out has many faults, but a lack of heart isn’t one of them. Seeing that heart translated into a cooperative play experience makes the journey worthwhile.
A Way Out's co-op vision is a bold choice that works because it uncompromisingly places players in a co-op context, joining them onscreen and off. But given the weakness of the gameplay at times, perhaps the game isn't bold enough.
There's a twist that would provoke eye-rolling in any movie, it would seem so predictable - but the co-op context, the investment that you and your friend have made in Vincent and Leo's journey, side by side, somehow make it fresh and shocking. This moment alone makes A Way Out a successful experiment in the unique and still underexplored possibilities of video game storytelling. If only the story had been worth telling in the first place.
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