A Way Out has no single-player mode. Josef Fares directed it for Hazelight Studios, Electronic Arts published it, and it arrived March 23, 2018, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. Two screens sit side by side, local or online, and both players have to cooperate to get anywhere.
Leo and Vincent, Two Screens at Once
The story follows Leo Caruso (Fares Fares) and Vincent Moretti (Eric Krogh) out of a 1972 prison and across the run that follows. Vincent is inside for fraud and murder; Leo has been there six months for grand theft, assault and armed robbery. A thug sent by crime boss Harvey tries to kill Leo in the cafeteria, and Vincent steps in. Both men land in the infirmary.
That scene sets the rule the whole game runs on. The two stories are told at once, but they do not move at the same speed — one player may be controlling their character while the other watches a cutscene. Early on, Vincent’s player distracts a nurse and a guard so Leo’s player can steal a chisel. Those roles are not fixed, so a second playthrough can swap them.
Grenade Brothers and the Trailer Park
A Way Out is not all pressure. It fills the world with side activities: an arcade game called Grenade Brothers, arm wrestling, banjo and piano duet, baseball, basketball, bottle shooting, Connect Four, darts, horseshoes, spearfishing, wheelchair wheelies. There are exercises too — chin-ups, dips, push-ups, sit-ups, bench presses — and dialogue options with non-playable characters.
The escape moves fast. The two steal sheets for a rope and smuggle a wrench to open a grating, then get out on a rainy night. They evade police in the wilderness, fish at an empty camp, and steal clothes, a shotgun and a truck from an old couple’s house. After a crash they take a rowboat, survive a waterfall, and reach civilization. There Leo reveals the Black Orlov gem and Harvey’s betrayal. Vincent’s story comes out earlier: he was a banker, Harvey had him launder money, then murdered his brother as a warning and framed Vincent for it.
The Free Online Model
The smartest piece of design here is not a set piece. A player can join an online session hosted by a friend whether or not the joining player owns the game. That one choice removes the barrier that kills most co-op games at launch, because it no longer matters whether the second person has already bought in.
What the Split Screen Costs
The forced cooperation is the point, and it mostly earns its keep. The game sold over 13 million units by April 2026, which suggests the model worked. But the split screen is also a limit. A Way Out cannot be played alone, and it cannot be played with a stranger who wanders off. It needs a second person in the room or on the line, and the story stops dead when they do.
That is a real cost. It is also why the game is easier to admire than to recommend without a caveat.
What A Way Out gets right is smaller and stranger than its premise. The best moments are the ones where nothing is at stake — the arcade cabinet, the arm wrestling, the duet. Those scenes only exist because two people are present, and they are the reason the game lingers after the escape is over. The prison break is the hook; the idle time is the argument.
It is specifically designed for split-screen cooperative multiplayer, which means that it must be played with another player through either local or online play while both players’ screens are displayed next to each other.
Key facts
– Release date: March 23, 2018
– Platforms: PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One
– Developer: Hazelight Studios; Publisher: Electronic Arts
– Director: Josef Fares
– Modes: two-player co-op only, local or online split screen
– Units sold: over 13 million by April 2026
– Score: 7.5/10
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