When looking at Hazelight Studios’ upcoming co-op title A Way Out, it’s easy to make comparisons to titles from Telltale Games (The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead) and Quantic Dream (Beyond: Two Souls, the upcoming Detroit: Become Human). After all, they’re both games that are highly cinematic and boil down to making choices that could have consequences later, right?
A Way Out creator Josef Fares doesn’t agree. Speaking to EDGE in its latest issue (via WCCFTech), he finds games from the above two studios to be “too passive for me.” “I would like to have more control. One could say that you control the story, but while you’re doing it and affecting it, in a sense you’re not, you know? A Way Out is not about that. I think the comparison is fine from a cinematic perspective, but not the way you choose your story. This is a hand-tailored story all the way.”
Regarding whether he wanted emotions to be elicited from those playing the game, which is something that David Cage’s games aim for, Fares said, “That’s not important for me. I just want to make people feel the game. If they cry or they laugh or they smile or they get angry, it doesn’t really matter.”
A Way Out focuses on Leo and Vincent, two prisoners aiming to escape and who must work together in the process. Gameplay is completely co-op, whether local or online, and this is reflected in scenarios where a player must accomplish one task (distract a guard) while his partner does another (sneaks by). It’s slated to release on March 23rd for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.