Memory Card: A Way Out

One of our writers tells us about the game that first got them into gaming...

Maddy Kendall
23rd October 2024
Image Source: YouTube, Electronic Arts
It’s 2018 and I remember moping in my bedroom mindlessly clicking through content on YouTube looking for something to do. My brother then barges into my room and after a few verses of verbal abuse he parades me downstairs to play, A Way Out. After reluctantly sitting next to him, thinking about how much of a waste of time this was, I got an hour through and fell in love.

A Way Out is an artistic take on the classic split screen co-op game, it utilises the mechanic of forcing the players to pick one character and allows the screen to show their story without ignoring the other character. You can choose either the more rough Leo, or the scheming Vincent. Although it’s easy enough to project your own personality onto the character, the characters themselves definitely do not play into the “everyman” trope. You follow the men as they go from prison life, to escaping, to witnessing their friendship and hardship outside of prison, to then a dramatic and heartbreaking ending. 

Without spoiling the end, the game's revenge-fuelled plot takes on the structure of an action movie, moving through flashbacks and slowly showing the story of Leo and Vincent until it catches up to them, then back to the title screen for the heartbreaking ending. You will spend most of the time with the controller down watching cutscenes, but you’re often free to walk around in those moments. It still manages to include big Uncharted-like action set pieces. Whether you like big action-heavy shootouts, driving sequences, or even more simple fist fights- there’s something for all gamers.

I look back on how we managed to drag a 7 hour game for weeks.

It’s a game that is bittersweetly short and only leaves you craving more. Normally when my brother and I played games it’d end in arguments, tears, screaming; not this game. I’m more surprised as to how quiet we were. We sat and took in the art and drama of the game and when it finished we even looked up the alternative endings and just sat and talked about what we liked and didn’t like. It’s a fond memory of us as I reminisce on times where we weren’t fighting in the garden or arguing over the TV; instead I look back on how we managed to drag a 7 hour game for weeks. Even now it slips into conversation as we think about the best game we’ve ever played.

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