What's the most unique game you've ever played in the last five years? This short and short question may seem simple, but enough to make your brain spin hard to find the answer. Why is that? Believe it or not, most of the games you taste and end your loved ones are a refinement of a genre that actually existed for so long. That you find is a reissue of a well-defined formula, which is then peppered with more advanced content and feature density, which in turn enhances the overall quality. But it must be admitted, it all revolves around a similar formula that has been implemented since a few generations ago. Sometimes, you'll find one or two different and unique games that deserve attention.
If you include gamers who are looking for a different gaming sensation, then you do not seem familiar with the game title - A Way Out. Directed by Hazelight, the studio developer led by Josef Fares who in fact is also a filmmaker, A Way Out who stands under the banner of EA as this publisher has attracted attention since he was introduced for the first time. What is article? Due to the variety of policies he injects, beyond the story that is claimed to be one of the main forces. One of the highlights is the fact that it has to be played in multiplayer. You can not play it by yourself, nor does it support AI features, you have to play it along with one of your other friends, how ever. A risky approach that can make A Way Out appear mesmerizing, or vice versa, falling apart. The good news? Fortunately, the first word dominantly adorns what we feel when we taste it.
So what exactly does A Way Out offer? Why do we call it a multiplayer game that is second to none? This review will discuss it more deeply for you.
So as we talked about before, considering its status as a two-person cooperative multiplayer game, then the two characters are also positioned as the main characters in this A Way Out. And based on mutual agreement, any player is free to choose which characters to use.
On one side, you meet Leo Caruso - an Italian criminal who has to "enjoy" a prison term for 8 years in prison. He was caught when a sale of a high-value diamond he did end up worse. While on the other hand, there is Vincent Moretti who is ready to start his 14-year prison term. He was jailed for involvement in money laundering cases. Leo himself was already in custody, when Vincent entered for the first time. In a short time, with a fate that seemed to make them both tied to one another, Leo and Vincent had to work hand in hand to survive in a hard prison.
But everything changed when Leo was already preparing a plan well enough while showing the urgency to get out of prison. The plan that Vincent finally discovered, which was also automatically involved. Gathering everything they needed to move through the prison walls that turned out to be the way for it, the two began to act. Strangely again? The motivation of both to get out of prison was encouraged by one similar movement. Neither Leo nor Vincent turns a man named Harvey into a target. For Leo, Harvey was a partner who betrayed him, while for Vincent, he was the hand behind a bullet that pierced the head of his beloved sister.
So the attempt to get out of prison is no longer a matter of escape, but an attempt to bring justice immediately to what Harvey has done to both. The attempt to no longer serve as a father or husband to their respective families, but a pair of life-threatening angels ready to fly across the country to find the brains behind their prison life.
Then how will Leo and Vincent's adventure end? Who is Harvey? Can they both take revenge? The answer to that question of course you can get by playing A Way Out this.
Although standing under the banner of EA as a publisher, A Way Out does not necessarily use Dice - Frostbite Engine's technological technology that is visually stunning. Still a third developer, the developer has finally dropped the option on Unreal Engine 4 as the basis for creating a game whose approach is geared towards this one - creating the most cinematic experience they can offer to the surface.
Because different from most games that only have to think of only one point of view, this multiplayer game must handle two characters simultaneously. A Way Out handled it pretty well. Moving in real-time by reading the movement of every character that exists, most gameplay will indeed be enjoyed in split-screen format. It is presented in a vertical or horizontal format, depending on what kind of gameplay sequences you are enjoying. Which are interesting? Despite the fact that your attention will always be divided, he executes it very sweetly. Audio only slid from an essential part of the story with more dominant dialogue, important scenes sometimes grabbed full screen portions, shared combat action is used with a join screen, and it also opens up a creative space for camera displacement procedures that are implemented sweetly in one part of the story. No complaints here.
But it must also be admitted, as the latest generation games, the quality of A Way Out visualization is not something that deserves to invite click amazed. It is enough to bring a character that you can trust with appropriate voice acts to thumbs up, but on the other hand, not exactly charming. Even at some point of the game, especially when the side of the action where Leo or Vincent should take up arms and shoot, either in the vehicle or during third person shooter action, the animation is still rigid and uncomfortable. In addition, there are some actions and effects that seem to imply strong Hazelight position as a developer with a budget that is not large. But of course, despite all the flaws, your experience of tasting A Way Out will not necessarily be injured.
One thing we found interesting is how this game takes reference from some popular movie as an easter egg, or as an inspiration, regardless of whether it was intentional or unintentional. As an example? When their scene coats the roof of a prison with oil that for gamers who had time to watch Shawshank Redemption, will feel so familiar. Especially when Leo suddenly talked about cold beer that he called will brighten the day of the prisoners, which incidentally also occurred in Shawshank. Or when the process of camera change in one of the scenes that ends Leo must now act in the form of side-scrolling, while fighting, from left and right. For those who have time to enjoy Oldboy, the reference seems clear, regardless whether he was intentional or not. Seeing so many easter eggs or homage on these popular films is certainly not surprising considering Josef Farez - the brain behind A Way Out is, indeed a film director.
With an above-average visualization quality but not overly mesmerizing, the quality of voice acting worthy of thumbs up, and the easter egg scene of popular movies, A Way Out also comes with a camera position that makes it always cinematic in a variety of the scene is there, either just explorations, stories, to action. Quality is even enough to make you remember what Naughty Dog is trying to do in their last titles. Everything is fixed, in split-screen format.
Multiplayer No Two
As we discussed earlier, Hazelight injects a unique mechanism in A Way Out. That the only way to enjoy this game, is you have to play it along with your friends. There's no AI here, no match-making process, you have to play it along with people you know before, either offline or online. EA also offers another strategy that we will discuss later on, which in our eyes, strengthens the selling value of A Way Out itself.
So with one controller playing Leo and the other one playing Vincent, you are faced with a multiplayer game that will ask you to rely on each other, to achieve the same objective. Unlike cooperative games that always end up offering puzzles to maximize this feature, A Way Out implements them across all sectors, including exploration, story, and action.
For the action series itself, it does not seem difficult to imagine a third person co-op shooter game that you can easily find in the latest games. As for the puzzle? As predicted, it forces you to work hand in hand to deal with a similar problem. Then you will be asked to keep watch over the guard while unpacking the prison toilet during escape, climbing the gap with your back to each other with the need to push the button in the right timing, to simply collaborate to catch the fish with a spear. There are puzzles that require precision press buttons, puzzles that offer tension over limited time, to simply look for alternate paths to distract jailers, for example. Everything is executed by simply pressing the simple buttons.
What is interesting, is the fact that this concept also brought A Way Out to the exploration side anyway. When a mission asks you to search for someone or collect information for example, you can split up to ensure a wider search area. There is no compulsion or coercion that you should be "locked in" together and end up doing the same. Interesting to see how you should communicate with each other to make sure you are not interrogating the same person, twice for example. This unique concept is also implemented on the story side as well. Instead of cutting the cut-scene and focusing on just one character, some of the story flows while retaining the split-screen format. If one character has a bundle of stories to be triggered, then other characters are usually free to do whatever they want. A cool and unique approach, feels so natural.
So slowly but surely you will begin to realize why Josef Fares and Hazelight "force" A Way Out to be available only in multiplayer format only. Because slowly but surely, the interaction between two players who must actively communicate to complete a particular mission, will also add a layer of depths of friendship between Vincent and Leo itself. And the execution ended fantastically in some scenes. Our favorite? When Leo and Vincent had to rob a gas station to finance their trip they chased Harvey. With one friend who has to threaten the cashier, one other user must also keep puncturing to ensure customers at the same gas station do not grow into new threats. Everything should be done while looking for a safe full of money that is also, locked using a certain password. What's born is a dynamic that takes you in a "cliches" robbery scene you've often found in movies, but in a more interactive format. Believe it or not, it's exciting. Hazelight also ensures that the design of the collaborative mission you have to travel from start to finish will have so many variations that no one feels repetitive or monotonous.
To ensure you communicate effectively, they also implement a system of preferred solution methods for almost any major conflicts. In accordance with their different personalities, Leo or Vincent will usually offer a solution method that has a unique approach to the variety of situations. Like when they need a car and happen to pass a house owned by an elderly couple for example. Leo is more interested in ambushing the two and tying them up, while Vincent is more interested in choosing a distraction method to infiltrate. Each time this situation occurs, the method will be selected once both users end up selecting the same option. Discussions will be easier to emerge in situations like this.
Fortunately, regardless of the seriousness of the theme you get, A Way Out still provides space for fun on almost any side of the trip. There will be so many mini-games available for you to play with one purpose - compete with your friends. From just playing baseball, playing an old-fashioned arcade game, playing darts, to testing the strength and speed of your fingers pressing the buttons on panco. Although there is no clear reward earned for the story, it provides the space to simply unwind and have fun for a game built on a fairly serious foundation.
So, why we call it a multiplayer game no two? For the first reason, all the things we talked about above. How an action game mixes with such a heavy story results in a unique and different playing experience when you are forced to play along with others, resulting in a dynamic that you will not find in games with AI or matchmaking. The second reason? For the last part of the game better, we're not talking here and you'll find out for yourself. A risky approach that Hazelight takes to define what is multiplayer, and must be a fantastic ending.
We ourselves only came up with one suggestion. That the best way to enjoy A Way Out is to come with your eyes closed and without any prior knowledge. The pleasure is in the surprises and choices that are of course more enjoyable if you do not come with spoilers or knowledge you've got from Youtube before. Dive without any knowledge related to this game, and you will enjoy every second of multiplayer system that he usung. Of course, you need a playmate who, too, is exciting
Friends Pass
The thumbs up deserve to be directed at Josef Fares and Hazelight's uncompromising attitude that ultimately enables the so-called EA as a single focus to implement a system called "Friends Pass" in A Way Out. This makes A Way Out into a more relevant and lively title. Why? Because the necessity to be played as a multiplayer game without a match-making process does not necessarily make you confused to find a playmate. All thanks to this system.
Like the Far Cry 4 multiplayer system implemented by Ubisoft in the past, the essence of Friends Pass Online that is also injected Hazelight in A Way Out is allowing you to invite your friends to play it together by using only one original chip. That's right, you do not need two pieces of original A Way Out game to enjoy it, just one. More cool? This invitation to your friends does not end up being a sickening feature like a streaming system or the like, but a data downloading system which is then connected via the internet. Such a system of course supports a smoother game, just like an online multiplayer game should be.
So how does it work? Very simple. On Playstation 4 for example, gamers who have original pieces of A Way Out (physical or digital), just need to send invitations to other gamers who are already in his Friend List. Gamers who get the invitation will automatically get a new game in their library with the title "A Way Out Free Trial" which also asks them to download the amount of data that should be. The rest? Play it like a multiplayer game in general. Gamers who have original pieces just need to invite back users who have downloaded and installed the game on their machine, and the rest, have fun. Connection required, at least in the version of Playstation 4 that we jajal, also did not demand much.
Such a system of course has the potential to make and ensure that any A Way Out gamers who have purchased the original version will always have the option of enjoying it with their chosen friends. Another positive thing that can be obtained from this system? You can plan with one specific friend to buy this game with mutual funds to lighten it. In our eyes, the charm of A Way Out will be much less if such a system is never implemented. It reinforces the impression that Hazelight is already thinking about what problems and conflicts might happen to gamers who are already interested in trying out this game, and overcoming it from day one.