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A Way Out.... What am I playing?

Bruceleeroy

Bruceleeroy

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,381
Orange County
My wife's brother knowing we play a lot of Co-Op tells me earlier this week - YOU HAVE GOT TO PLAY A WAY OUT!! ITS ONE OF THE BEST CO-OP GAMES EVER.

We started it this morning and just got to a gas station and my wife turned to me and said. You know I'm really proud that I've played enough games now to realize when I'm playing a bad one. I think I'm done. I had to agree. Outside of some interesting ideas with the split screen the game doesn't really succeed at anything it attempts. Narrative is lazy. The characters are cheesy and the gameplay is pretty nonexistent. It's the first game in a really long time I've just stopped playing. What was the reception on the forum when this came out?
 
shancake

shancake

Managing Editor ‑ Press Start
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
485
Game is fantastic as an experience that you have with someone else. You really need to get to the end to understand why tbh.
 
painey

painey

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,617
You're right, OP. It's a really boring game. My friend and I considered it 6 hours wasted that we could have been playing Cuphead
 
TheDanimal

TheDanimal

победитель победитель куриный ужин
Member
Oct 25, 2017
855
You have to embrace the cheese and understand you should laugh at the game. It's a really fun experience!
 
FrsDvl

FrsDvl

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,118
Honestly this was one of my favorite gaming experiences with my fiance, it was the first game she played with me and finished. Sure it isn't a great game, but the co-op experience is very unique.
 
C.Mongler

C.Mongler

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
3,881
Washington, DC
Eh, yeah, I found most of the game to be kind of an uninteresting slog, though the final hour made me say "woah, neat" for whatever that's worth.
 
OP
OP
Bruceleeroy

Bruceleeroy

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,381
Orange County
FrsDvl said:
Honestly this was one of my favorite gaming experiences with my fiance, it was the first game she played with me and finished. Sure it isn't a great game, but the co-op experience is very unique.
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I could see if it was my wife's very first gaming experience it would be a completely different takeaway but I got this girl into co-op through Halo, Gears, Uncharted, Destiny, and Wastelands 3 (THE BEST) so she had pretty high standards these days
 
Eggiem

Eggiem

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,778
Very unique gameplay and story twist at the end. Me and my buddy beat it in one sitting.

If both players enjoy TLOU, they will enjoy this too.
 

kingPaPi

Member
Mar 28, 2018
433
Nyc/LA
Bought the game when it came out, because my side chick at the time wanted something we could play together.

played a few hours and had buyers remorse
 
Z-Beat

Z-Beat

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,848
I bet your wife watches THE OSCARS!

Joking aside this seems like a game where a lot of your enjoyment comes from the other person playing, and if neither of you are into it then it won't be as fun. That said the idea itself was very solid
 

Deleted member 15973

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,172
Just skip it. Maybe it's a game that plays better with a brother or close mate. You should check out their next game.
 
Wil Grieve

Wil Grieve

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,075
Whoa. Didn't expect all the negativity. My roommate and I played it right after my XSX came in (Gamepass whoo) and we both loved it. It was super fun to play co-op.
 
TechnicPuppet

TechnicPuppet

Member
Oct 28, 2017
10,834
Bruceleeroy said:
It's co-op on Xbox and it's free on Gamepass
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Dakkon said:
I don't understand what you mean.

The game is ONLY co-op, there is no way to play it non-co-op.
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alexbull_uk said:
It's a game you have to play co-op lol
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C.Mongler said:
Not sure what game you're actually thinking of but A Way Out is both not on Switch and its co-op (either local or online) is mandatory on any platform you play it on.
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Don't drink and reply folks. Sorry for the derail. I'm thinking of Brothers a tale of two sons. Funnily I've always got those games mixed up. I'll forget this in a few weeks and mix them up again in my head.
 
OP
OP
Bruceleeroy

Bruceleeroy

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,381
Orange County
Wil Grieve said:
Whoa. Didn't expect all the negativity. My roommate and I played it right after my XSX came in (Gamepass whoo) and we both loved it. It was super fun to play co-op.
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But the co-op isn't all that interesting. I mean opening doors together or moving an object for someone was done in the first Gears but you also had the benefit of it being an awesome shooter. I will say the only mechanic I thought was clever was the river
 
CannonFodder52

CannonFodder52

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,007
Canada
I enjoyed it. It's not a prestige game though, you should be enjoying the silly moments. I fondly remember breaking into a farm house and poking around finding all these silly little minigames, playing banjo, trying on hats and playing connect 4. I feel like that stuff was the highlight of the game.
 
OsramTaleka

OsramTaleka

Member
Nov 25, 2020
440
The writing is insufferable. My partner and I stopped once we realized we were laughing at how bad all of the dialogue was.
 

Deleted member 54073

User requested account closure
Banned
Feb 22, 2019
3,983
Me and my best mate played it and it was pretty meh. Hated the last hour as we both ended up disliking the same character so it all felt a bit anti climactic.
 
shancake

shancake

Managing Editor ‑ Press Start
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
485
Bruceleeroy said:
I'm in line with a lot of Press Starts reviews so I'll push her to keep going but it would have to be a pretty dramatic flip because right now I can't think of anything I enjoy about the game.
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Don't get me wrong. It's not GOTY, but there's no other experience like it. The narrative and characters could have been stronger for sure.
 
Wigdogger

Wigdogger

Member
Oct 27, 2017
513
I'm in the "thumbs down" camp as well. I loved Brothers, as that had varied locations, a fun fable storytelling structure and some legitimately poignant stuff near the endgame. Not perfect, but really interesting as an experience. And it didn't repeat itself. But also note the game basically had no dialogue.

A Way Out is an excellent game on paper. Adding co-op to, more or less, the formula above seemed promising, but there were only fleeting moments where it felt genuinely interesting in execution. The shooting sequences were bad when compared to other shooters. The driving was the same. A few neat moments that work (the prison breakout, etc), but overall, the game is just plain cheese. Bad dialogue, bad story, characters that aren't memorable.

It makes it fun to kind of laugh at, but it's impossible to take seriously when Josef is just casting his brother in the game and other voice actors who ruin the immersion. The story beats are just plain lazy and boilerplate. Nothing really feels fresh or unpredictable. And the gameplay that is there is generally slow and uninspired.

I think It Takes Two looks like a way more interesting application of this formula, but my bullshit detector is out on Fares' writing at this point. And I'm kind of done with his "rockstar indie developer / Tommy Wiseau" routine.
 
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Mugen X

Mugen X

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,744
Colorado
As a coop experience I really enjoyed it, but I also don't look for these games to be incredible. I mean, when's the last time we got a truly magnificent coop game?
 
godofcookery

godofcookery

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
949
I had the same experience when a friend and I tried it. The writing was completely uninteresting, as were the scenarios. The characters felt like they were written in an hour or two.
 
evrythngwastakn

evrythngwastakn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,537
Friend and I tried to co op it. Found it fucking awful. Bad writing. Didn't like the characters. Gameplay was boring. Cool idea that sucked shit.
 
LilScooby77

LilScooby77

Member
Dec 11, 2019
11,111
It's great fun with friends but it isn't for people that only care about gameplay as the main focus of a game.
 
Net_Wrecker

Net_Wrecker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,734
You have to be and play with someone who loves riffing on videogame stupidity to get the most out of A Way Out. If you're just sitting there waiting for all time co-op greatness and genius design, it won't come. A Way Out needs a dash of buffoonery.
 
Soulsis

Soulsis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,564
I'm with you OP. I tried this with my fiancé last month and we couldn't made it about 30 minutes. We hated the characters and the writing was so clumsy. I appreciate cheesy if it's endearing, but this really wasn't. More importantly it just wasn't fun. :(
 
Liam Allen-Miller

Liam Allen-Miller

Member
Nov 2, 2017
6,811
Shibuya
My girlfriend and I just finished it two days ago and we thought it was really great. I agree that the characters are simple but I don't agree that the writing is bad (nor do I agree with the posts encouraging laughing at it/riffing on it to enjoy it better, which is a weird sentiment to me). We liked how much gameplay variety there was, and all the cool little extra interactions peppered through the levels. The final chapter was really awesome, and it really surprised us. Took me back to my childhood when my dad and I hit the end of Streets of Rage together. Super pumped for It Takes Two now.

As an aside I'm a bit surprised to see how many folks in this thread don't like it! Among my friends (game industry folk admittedly) it was really well regarded and the Metacritic critic and user scores show a lot of positivity!
 
AlexBasch

AlexBasch

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,310
Didn't like it either, was a very boring slog in which I flat out said "let's watch something in Netflix instead".
 
Zips

Zips

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,913
Sorry OP, can't say that I agree. My friend and I had a great time playing through it in a sitting (or maybe two?).
 
KORNdog

KORNdog

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
8,001
The writing isn't the best. But there are far worse games out there for cheese. And I liked that it took a David Cage approach to gameplay, where each scene was its own little experience. Usually unique in its actions, with each player typically taking on entirely different tasks. Some may say a lot of those scenes were too mundane. But I actually like those moments.

It's not the greatest co-op game ever. But it's gotten me pretty excited for his next co-op game (it takes two) which seems to be taking that same "make every scenario different" approach and really running with it.
 
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