As soon as I saw people streaming A Way Out, I knew I’d have a field day looking up their reactions to the game’s ending. Get ready to hear a lot of people screaming “what?!”
A Way Out’s ending made me scream out loud, and then cry. It looks like the game is having the same effect on other players.
Because I love to watch other people suffer, my new obsession is looking up the reactions of other players when they reach the game’s reveal that Vincent, Leo’s prison escape pal, is actually an undercover cop.
This video, from YouTuber Tyson playing with a buddy called Bes, is about as classic of a reaction to a twist ending as you can get. They simply cannot believe what they’re seeing. It’s best to turn your audio down.
Joe, who sounds pretty young, is clearly kind of upset by Vincent’s betrayal. I’m right there with you, buddy.
One of these dudes has his mind completely blown, and his partner uses the opportunity to fuck with him. “I played you like a fiddle, you dumb motherfucker.”
These two are rendered completely silent. For a while I thought the guy on the right had his video stream frozen, but it turns out he was just that shocked. After a minute or two he turns to his friend and says, “You’re a fucking narc.”
Players who took the role of Leo seem to take this twist pretty personally. I know I did. In this clip, the guy who played as Leo just yells “fucking bastard!” when it’s reveled that Vincent is a cop, while his friend points out that, you know, he couldn’t have actually done anything about that.
I like this reaction because streamer Ellajaz’s girlfriend guesses the twist just before it happens and is pretty proud of herself until she realizes that Vincent and Leo are going to have to fight each other.
Bloodyfaster does not seem to realize what is going on until she’s mid-flashback, and she’s speechless. By the time she can talk again, she’s talks shit about Vincent’s dumb cop mustache.
As cool as the first twist is, it’s also satisfying to watch players realize that yes, this game is going to end with Vincent and Leo fighting to the death. Before the health bars pop up on Aplfischer and Kedzen’s screens, they’d been joking around, saying, “Hey, 1v1 me.” And then, well, you know.
The last half hour of A Way Out takes you on a ride. I’ll never get to experience these reveals for the first time again, but it sure it satisfying to watch other people go through what I went through. My favorite example of this is in the streamer Summit’s playthrough. He pretty jovially beats his co-op partner as Leo in their firefight. Then, during the final moments of Vincent’s life, he goes silent, his jaw set and his face grim. When the split screen fades away, you can hear him sniffle into his mic. It’s kind of beautiful, so I’ll leave you on that.