[Review] Way Out

[Inkriql]

A Way Out is an action and adventure game developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts under its EA Originals program. It is the second video game directed by Josef Fares after Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. The game does not have a single player option: it can only be played in cooperative mode online or in split screen localentre two players. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 23, 2018, selling more than one million copies in two weeks.

Playability
A Way Out is an action and adventure game that is played from a third person perspective. It is specifically designed for cooperative multiplayer in split screen mode, which means that it must be played with another player through local or online play. [1] In the game, players control Leo and Vincent, two convicted prisoners who must leave prison and flee from the authorities. As the story of both protagonists is told simultaneously, their progress may not be synchronized, which can result in one player controlling his character, while another is watching a scene. [2] Players must cooperate with each other to progress, and each situation can be approached differently, with both characters taking different roles. For example, during an early segment of the game, the player who controls Vincent needs to distract a nurse and a guard, so that the player who controls Leo can find a necessary chisel to help escape. These roles are not fixed, so Leo and Vincent can exchange their roles on another play. Players can interact with many non-playable characters, and there are dialogue options for players to choose.

The game offers a "play for free online" model, so that players can join online sessions (organized by the player's friends) regardless of whether the player who joins owns the real game. The player who joins must be a member of Xbox Live or Play Station Plus.

Plot
In 1972, Vincent Moretti (Eric Krogh) is newly imprisoned and sent to prison for fraud and murder. In jail, he meets Leo Caruso (Fares Fares), who now has been inside for 6 months for robbery, assault and armed robbery. While in the cafeteria, a thug sent by crime chief Harvey tries to assassinate Leo, but Vincent intervenes, which causes both to be sent to the infirmary while the thug is beaten to death after stabbing a guard at the prison. While in the infirmary, Leo requests Vincent's help to steal a chisel from the office. Vincent complies. After the robbery, Vincent feels that Leo is planning a prison escape and offers to help so that he can also escape. Leo initially refuses, but reluctantly agrees to collaborate when Vincent reveals that he also holds a grudge against Harvey.

Leo and Vincent advance in their escape plan, steal sheets to make a rope and smuggle a wrench to open a rack. Using teamwork and tools together, the two escape from jail on a rainy night. After evading the police in the desert, the two find an empty camp and fish to make food. Vincent reveals that Harvey had him launder money before killing his brother as a warning and framing Vincent for the murder. Leo begins to tell his story, but is interrupted when a police helicopter passes, which makes both begin to move again. They later find an old couple's house, and they both steal new clothes, a shotgun and a truck before evading the police who were chasing them in the vehicle and, after crashing, a rowboat. After surviving a waterfall, the duo finds civilization, after which Leo reveals that he and Harvey had stolen a valuable gem, a Black Orlov, but that when Leo tried to sell it, Harvey betrayed him by killing his buyer and escaping with the gem, which led to Leo's arrest.

In a mobile home park in the city, Leo confirms the safety of his wife Linda and son Alex, before going to a construction site with Vincent. They find Ray, one of Harvey's subordinates who works as a construction foreman, and, after a chase, the two capture him and interrogate him to find Harvey's location, which they discover is Mexico. Plotting revenge against Harvey, the duo steals a service station to buy weapons from an arms dealer, Jasmine. When the two leave, Jasmine follows them and betrays them by giving their location to Harvey. Later, in a telephone booth, Vincent calls Emily, a pilot, and convinces her to take them to Mexico. Then he finds out that his wife, Carol, had just given birth. The duo agrees to go to the hospital, but a hitman arrives sent by Harvey, who tries to kill them, but ultimately fails. Then they go to the hospital and Vincent sees his newborn daughter, named Julie, but quickly needs to leave while the cops surround the building. Leo is captured but manages to escape thanks to a distraction from Vincent.

The next day, Emily flies Leo and Vincent to Mexico, and they both find their way to Harvey's mansion. After a shooting with Harvey's guards and Harvey himself, the two dominate Harvey, force him to return the Black Orlov and, after he tries to take one of them as a hostage, they kill him. Escaping with the Black Orlov, Vincent and Leo return to the United States on Emily's plane, but are immediately surrounded by police upon landing. An officer takes Leo's Black Orlov and hands Vincent a gun, revealing that both he and Emily had been undercover police officers. Leo and Harvey's Black Orlov deal had been fixed by the police, and the murdered trafficker was Vincent's brother, Gary.

Feeling betrayed, Leo subdues Vincent, takes him hostage and kidnaps a police car to escape. While trying to avoid a police blockade on the road, the car crashes into the water. Both escape from the submerged vehicle, Leo steals a boat while Emily is picked up by Emily in a police helicopter. After a chase in which Vincent tries to destroy the boat's engine, Leo jumps before he crashes into explosive tanks and encounters a warehouse in the harbor. Emily lands the helicopter and both she and Vincent chase him inside. Leo manages to ambush Emily, removing his weapon and ordering him to leave, since this fight is between him and Vincent. The shooting ends with both sides injured, unarmed and exhausted at the top of the roof. Seeing that one of their cannons falls nearby, both try to reach it, but only one can and shoots the other.

If Leo survives, he takes Vincent's letter of apology and gives it to Carol, then leaves the city with his family while Vincent's funeral takes place.

If Vincent survives, he informs Linda of Leo's death before returning to Carol, making peace to save her marriage and raising her daughter by revealing that she resigned from the police and proclaimed that it was over.