A Way Out Review

One unforgettable evening, and then it is over

Short verdict:A Way Out is a two-player-only prison break told entirely in split-screen, and it is one of the most memorable things two friends can do together in a single sitting. It is also strictly one playthrough, with almost no reason to return. With the Friend's Pass - only one of you buys it - that trade is easy to accept. Paying twice for it would not be.

We name it as the pick to skip on our split-screen page, and it is only fair to explain that properly rather than leaving it as a one-line dismissal. The short version: it is a genuinely excellent game with one specific shape, and it is the wrong purchase for anyone shopping on hours-per-pound.

The split screen is the story, not a display option

Most co-op games split the screen because two people need to look at different places. A Way Out splits it because the game wants you watching what your partner is doing while you do something else - one of you distracting a guard while the other steals a tool, one of you in a cutscene while the other is still playing.

That design holds even when the two of you are in different houses. The frame stays divided online, which is unusual and slightly disorienting the first time, and it is the single most distinctive thing about the game. Our split-screen and online page covers the small group of games that work this way.

The Friend's Pass is what makes the maths work

One person buys A Way Out and a second player can join for free from their own machine. That is not a trial or a time limit - it is the whole game, and it is the studio's standard model across its titles.

It changes the calculation entirely. A one-playthrough game at full price for two people is poor value; the same game split between two people is one of the cheapest good evenings on this site. Our one copy, two players guidelists every legitimate way to do this, and the Friend's Pass is the cleanest of them.

Same platform only

The catch that catches people: A Way Out has no crossplay. The Friend's Pass covers the cost but not the platform, so both of you need to be on the same platform family. People reasonably assume that a game generous enough to give away a second copy would also bridge consoles, and it does not.

If your pair is split across a PS5 and a PC, Split Fictionis the direct answer - same studio, same Friend's Pass, and crossplay included. Our games without crossplay page lists the other titles that trip mixed pairs up.

Who it is genuinely great for

Two friends who have one evening. That is the ideal audience. It is paced like a film, it has a clear ending, and finishing it in one or two sittings is the intended experience rather than a rush.

A pair where only one person buys games.The Friend's Pass makes this frictionless, and the second player does not need to have any history with games at all - the controls are simple and the game is generous.

People who want a story rather than a challenge. There is very little difficulty here. The interest is in what happens next and in the two of you doing different jobs at the same moment. For a group that wants to be tested, this is the wrong genre entirely - our co-op shooters and co-op RPGs pages are the right lists.

How it compares to the other Hazelight games

It Takes Twois the better game and the easier recommendation - longer, far more varied, and constantly introducing and discarding new mechanics rather than settling into one. It has the same Friend's Pass and the same lack of crossplay. Our review and the direct comparison both cover which to play first, and the answer is usually It Takes Two.

Split Fiction is the newest of the three and the only one with crossplay, which for a mixed-platform pair makes it the default.

Portal 2 is the value pick from outside that studio: a separate two-player campaign, split-screen or online, for a few dollars, with a communication system so good that two players can complete it without speaking. Our review makes the case.

Verdict

A Way Out earns its place. It does something no other co-op game does, the split-screen design is genuinely clever, and with the Friend's Pass two people can experience all of it for one purchase.

We keep flagging it as a skip on our roundups because those pages are answering "what should we buy?" and the honest answer for most pairs is It Takes Two or Portal 2 first. Come back for A Way Out afterwards, on a night when you want one complete story rather than something to keep returning to - it is a much better experience when that is what you were looking for.

The wider two-player list is on our two-player page, and co-op campaigns covers the games with a real ending.