Co-Optimus Feed for Co-Op videogame news for .A Way Out

30 Minutes of A Way Out Gameplay with Director

Jason Love

One of the aspects that Josef has emphasized throughout the reveal and subsequent showings of the game has been that the focus is on the cooperative gameplay and the story players will make as they play. The decisions you'll face as you play with a buddy (either on the couch or online) and they way you come to those decisions will shape and form your experience. While some of the action looks to be akin to "co-op doors," i.e., both players need to get to this one spot and hold a button to progress, the action itself appears to be a means to develop the relationships between the characters (and, in a way, the players). In other words, it's not always important what you're doing, but the fact that you're doing it with someone. Based on what Fares says during this video, it sounds like the game will take between 6 and 8 hours to complete, so you should be able to play it through multiple times with a few different friends and have some different experiences each time you do.

A Way Out Will Offer a Free Friend Trial at Launch

Jason Love

Based on what's said in the trailer (see below), it sounds like this trial will provide your co-op buddy of choice the ability to play through the entirety of the campaign with you online; no time limit or "play to certain point." When the title was debuted at this year's E3, Josef talked about how the entire thing has been designed to be a co-op experience that requires a second person to play it, ideally on the couch. If you don't have a local co-op buddy, then the free trial will provide an avenue for you to still enjoy it. One person buys the game, and your buddy can download the co-op trial to play through it with you. That's it.

[E3 2017] Early Impressions of A Way Out Highlight the Story Players Create

Jason Love

While the Co-Optimus crew wasn't able to make it to E3 this year to check out all the new and exciting games for ourselves, there are plenty of folks from other outlets that are sharing their impressions from the little bits they're allowed to play. In the case of A Way Out, it sounds like most folks are presented with a short segment in which the two main characters (Leo and Vincent) must rob a gas station. The way they go about this, i.e., who they talk to in the gas station, what kind of distraction they make, do they go all out or try to be more subtle, is unique to each one for each co-op pair gets to talk and decide for themselves how they want to do it, and then make adjustments on the fly when that goes wrong. Mike Williams from USGamer, James Davenport and Samuel Roberts from PC Gamer, and Nick Robinson from Polygon all got their hands on it and, in their own way, all described something that I haven't seen much of in co-op games of late: a story that's defined by the players.

[E3 2017] New Co-Op Only Adventure, A Way Out, From Tale of Two Sons Dev

Jason Love

The premise to A Way Out seems to, initially, be about two men breaking out of prison. After forging a friendship and making it out, they appear to go on some adventures and even engage in one another's backstories. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons was definitely a well-written game so there's a lot of promise here for some good shared experiences.