A Way Out Review: One Of The Best Stories Of The Generation
4. Gameplay
Even after finishing it though, it's difficult to define what kind of game A Way Out really is. Sometimes it plays out like a Telltale narrative-heavy release where choices matter or even a straight-up walking simulator, whereas other times it's a pretty good third-person shooter or a bombastic 2.5D beat-em-up. You rarely do anything twice and it's all solid enough, but there isn't one unifying gameplay style that runs through the game other than, perhaps, the vague and nebulous idea of "co-op".
Whatever mini-game you're playing through, it's always inextricably tied to the title's co-op mechanics. Every action is in service of a reaction from your partner, whether that's the two helping each other sneak into an area, or simply trying to outshine each other on a banjo (because yeah, Hazelight crammed every type of game into this), the cooperation allows the gameplay to be far more than the sum of its parts.
Although a lot of the action boils down to simply mashing square/x or holding the right trigger in sync with your partner, the constant reliance on each other creates not only a solid bond between the two characters, but the two people either playing together in real life. There are divergent ways to get through different levels too, depending on whether you side with Leo or Vincent on how to tackle a certain situation. These options aren't common and they don't split the narrative in any meaningful ways, but when the credits rolled I wanted to boot the game up straight away to see that I had missed.
However, although there's a lot to do in each of the 37 chapters in A Way Out, not all of it is cut from the same cloth. Each area usually has a handful of NPCs to talk to, and while it's interesting to see how Leo and Vincent both interact with these characters differently, it rarely adds anything substantial to the overall plot. Likewise, although a lot of the more "mundane" gameplay sections can offer a satisfying bit of downtime, for instance a moment where Leo and Vincent have to go fishing, other opportunities like being able to control power drills or chip away at blocks of wood only highlight just how throwaway a lot of these extraneous interactive moments are.
A lot of them don't really mesh with the urgency of the narrative either. At least two times during the campaign you're thrown into seemingly time-sensitive situations, yet the game allows you the freedom to explore and tinker with the environment until your heart's content. You can try on hats, play video games and drink a beer if you want, but while the interactions that come from doing all of these things are charming and build the characters, they do take something away from the narrative at hand.