History VideoGame / AWayOut

or Leo's child growing up without a father should one of them die]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Harvey is dead, killed by the two people he screwed over. But Vincent and Leo's friendship crumbles when Leo learns that Vincent used him and wants to put him back in jail again, which later leads to a fight to the death on the rooftops. It also leads to either Vincent or Leo's child growing up without a father should one of them die]].

* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Either Vincent or Leo, depending on who dies. In Leo's ending, Vincent dies smiling after Leo agrees to fulfill his dying request to give an apology letter to Vincent's wife. In Vincent's ending, Leo dies smiling after Vincent decides to stay by his side and hold his hand during his last moments to alleviate the pain from being shot in the stomach]].

* ThatPoorCat: In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_16pHHF0q8&t character trailer]], Josef Fares himself shows off two copies of ''A Way Out while explaining you have to play with a friend since it's a co-op game... before he says "F- that" and tosses the first one aside, after which a crashing sound and a cat screech can be heard. Then he reveals that [[AntiFrustrationFeatures only one copy is required to play]].

* SadisticChoice: [[spoiler:In the climax, it's the ''player'' who goes through this after Leo and Vincent engage in a brutal rooftop fight, only to see a gun and head for it. It's either Vincent or Leo, no third options available (though who reaches it depends on who did the best during the fight)]].

* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: After several tense fight scenes and prison breaks, there is a short scene where Vincent and Leo bond as they catch fish. There's also a quiet scene where the men meet their children.

* DuelingPlayerCharacters: [[spoiler:The ending of the game pits Leo and Vincent in a shootout against one another]].

** Later on, Leo discovers [[spoiler:Vincent was not a fellow convict, but an undercover cop who was using him to get to Harvey. What makes the "betrayal" more profound is that like Harvey, Vincent also used Leo, albeit for different reaesons]]. To return the favor, [[spoiler:Leo takes Vincent hostage to escape the police]].

* Irony:

* ItsPersonal: Leo wants to escape prison because someone else got him thrown into it in the first place. Vincent is also connected with this man, [[spoiler:Harvey, who killed Vincent's brother]], and is a key reason why they teamed up.

** In the final fight, an unhinged Harvey introduces himself on the top of a grand staircase wearing a suit and brandishing a grenade launcher. This is very similar to Tony Montana and his "Little Friend" in ''Film/Scarface1983''.
*** Harvey dies by falling over a railing and into a pool, exactly the same way Tony died.

* HotBlooded: Leo's profile in the character selection describes him as short-tempered. Playing as Leo, when shown by the trailers, presents more aggressive options. [[spoiler:It's eventually deconstructed; once Leo finds out about Vincent's deceit in the climax, he ''explodes'', and becomes set on killing him. This results in a rooftop battle that either results in Leo's death (if the player chooses to shoot him) or Leo actually killing Vincent and deeply regretting his actions afterwards (if the player decides to shoot Vincent)]].

** [[Despite hating Harvey (for killing his brother), Vincent essentially ends up doing ''the exact same thing'' that Harvey did to Leo. No wonder Leo felt so betrayed during TheReveal.

* SadisticChoice: [[spoiler:In the climax, it's the ''player'' who goes through this after Leo and Vincent engage in a brutal rooftop fight, only to see a gun and head for it. It's either Vincent or Leo, no third options available]].

* EtTuBrute: A heartbreaking case; Leo finds out that [[spoiler:Vincent was not a fellow convict, but an undercover cop who was using him to get to Harvey]]. To return the favor, [[spoiler:Leo takes Vincent hostage to escape the police]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The arm wrestling minigame requires both players to mash a button as quick as possible in order to beat the other. [[spoiler: Later in the game, both players will be having to smash the same button as quickly as possible in order to get a gun and shoot the other.]]
** [[spoiler: This troper in particular spent 20 minutes competitively arm wrestling with his friend only to lose, which only made the ending that much more intense and harsher.]]

* HellBentForLeather: Vincent wears a leather jacket when he first enters the prison.

** [[spoiler: This troper in particular spent 20 minutes competitively arm wrestling with his friend only to lose, which only made the ending that much intense and harsher.]]

* Foreshadowing: The arm wrestling minigame requires both players to mash a button as quick as possible in order to beat the other. [[spoiler: Later in the game, both players will be having to smash the same button as quickly as possible in order to get a gun and shoot the other.]]

** [[spoiler:If Vincent dies, Leo brings Carol Vincent's letter, but couldn't bring herself to tell her in person, so he rings her doorbell and leaves before she could spot him. He tries to take comfort in the fact that he can now be there for Linda and Alex, and moves the family away presumably out of state to start fresh, but it's clear that he deeply regrets his actions]].

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_way_out_smaller.jpg]]

''A Way Out'' is an action-adventure video game by Hazelight and published by Creator/ElectronicArts. It is directed by Creator/JosefFares, who was responsible for ''VideoGame/BrothersATaleOfTwoSons''.

It was released on March 23, 2018.

* MacGuffin: A massive diamond known as the Black Orlov is the motivation factor for multiple characters, including the police and Harvey. It's background is entirely unknown and one can at most infer that it is valuable, but it serves no other purpose other than being a motivation factor.

* MinigameZone: The farm is an area with lots of minigames, as a down time between the action before and after. The trailer park and the hospital also have a lot of minigames, both to break up the pacing and also to serve as time killer for the non-active player since both areas are story intensive and character specific, meaning that one player is left out of the other character's story and can kill time by playing minigames.

* [[spoiler: LonelyFuneral:]]

** In the final fight, an unhinged Harvey introduces himself wearing a suit and brandishing a grenade launcher. This is very similar to Tony Montana and his "Little Friend" in ''Film/Scarface1983''.

* {{Irony}}:
** Vincent's bio in the character selection lists murder as one of the crimes he was sent to prison for, which he didn't do. [[spoiler:Choosing to shoot Leo in the climax will make Vincent truly guilty of murder, and, if his [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone reaction]] is to go by, will have to live with the regret for the rest of his life]].
** Leo is quick to anger, and often uses violence, but never actually kills anyone. [[spoiler:In the climax, he loudly and repeatedly expresses his intent to kill Vincent for his betrayal, but once he actually does it (if the player chooses to shoot Vincent), he's left deeply shaken, even after he reunites with his wife and son]].

** [[spoiler:If Leo is shot, Vincent sees him suffering from the bullet wound in his stomach and, out of pity and respect towards their former friendship, decides to stay by Leo's side and hold his hand. [[GoOutWithASmile Leo passes away with a smile on his face]].

* {{Foil}}: Leo and Vincent, to each other. Vincent came from a stable background and was well on his way to a normal life, earning a degree, marrying his high school sweetheart, and becoming a banker, but he was lured into crime by promises of easy money. Leo was an orphan who, without proper guidance, turned to crime at an early age. While Leo had already been serving his prison sentence, Vincent is a newcomer. Their character profiles are also [[RedOniBlueOni complete opposites]] - Vincent is calmer and more rational compared to the confident and aggressive Leo.
* HeroicAmbidexterity: Both Leo and Vincent are ambidexterous, and switch between their left and right hands as dominant hands when doing different things or when interacting with different objects. This is partially out of pragmatism for animation recycling and also useful when the scene needs symmetry so their dominant hands need to be opposites.

* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Either Vincent or Leo, depending on who dies.]]

* HotBlooded: Leo's profile in the character selection describes him as short-tempered. Playing as Leo, when shown by the trailers, presents more aggressive options.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Both Leo and Vincent suffer this [[spoiler:if they kill the other. If Vincent dies, Leo brings Carol Vincent's letter, but couldn't bring herself to tell her in person, so he rings her doorbell and leaves. He tries to take comfort in the fact that he can now be there for Linda and Alex, but it's clear that he regrets his actions. If Leo dies, Vincent goes to inform Linda what happened, which results in Linda throwing him out of the trailer home. Vincent leaves, feeling deeply terrible for what he did, since he stayed with Leo until he died]].

* ParentalAbandonment: Leo's profile mentions that he was raised in an orphanage.

** [[spoiler: When the duo are chased by a hitman and barricades themselves in a room, the hitman initially tries to bash through the door but then finds a fire axe nearby and [[Film/TheShining starts hacking at the door]].]]

* WalkingSpoiler: [[spoiler: The dealer that was shot dead by Harvey in the flashback to the day Leo's diamond heist went wrong? That's Gary, Vincent's brother.]]

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Vincent and Leo barely know each other, and aren't even that fond of each other, but they must work together.