Moving Out 2 review

I’ve moved house a lot in my life, and it’s something that is never, ever fun to do. But I’ve never hired removal companies or services, and have always handled it myself (with a little help from the in-laws, of course). Although, if the only available service was the guys, gals, and… erm alligators from Moving Out 2, you’d probably be better off just taking the stress anyway.

Not that it’s not an efficient company, of course. In fact they pride themselves on getting the job done fast above all other concerns. It’s more that they don’t have an awful lot of respect for what they’re carrying. Time is money, you see, and in Moving Out 2 they don’t like to waste either.

You play as a F.A.R.T (that’s Furniture Arrangement and Relocation Technician, obviously) tasked with getting the mover’s belongings on the removal truck as quickly as you can. If you’ve played Moving Out then you should already know what to expect here. There’s little deviation from the established formula beyond additional mechanics, but those mechanics add not only great replayability but also a hell of a lot of fun when playing with other people.

Where Moving Out 2 deviates from the established modus operandi is its selection of different modes and level types. At boots-on-carpet level it’s still a physics game based on moving articles of various sizes and shapes from one place to another. This part never changes, but it’s rarely a straightforward process.

Houses are built at different levels with different hazards and obstacles throughout. This will often necessitate throwing lighter items, smashing windows, maybe taking doors clean off their hinges. You sometimes get more points for avoiding wilful destruction of property but you’re not often harshly punished for it. There are sliding doors, one-way doors, doors on timers – and those are just the mundane obstacles.

See, Moving Out 2 has latched onto the multiverse craze, and sees portals open up all over the town of Packmore that lead to new dimensions. Luckily, these new dimensions are also in need of movers, so you just kind of do it there without breaking a step. No one is looking for context here, which is lucky as there isn’t any.

But these other dimensions have specific themes and their own puzzles. For example, there’s a medieval world that puts you in castles and wizard towers, where you’ll need to rotate the rooms or avoid magical hazards to get the job done. There’s a candy world, of course, and a futuristic cyberpunk world with flying cars. It means you never really know what you’re walking into until you’re there.

The animal levels return from the first game and, while certainly interesting, might be some of the most infuriating stages there are. You need to chuck cows, sheep, pigs, goats and chickens into their respective pens – but they’ll all try to escape, with the chickens being particularly slippery little bastards. You’re meant to play these levels in co-op maybe, which certainly makes them easier, but the whole game can be played solo.

What playing solo achieves beyond making it harder isn’t worth listing. Larger items must be dragged if there’s only one of you, though if there’re two you have the problem of trying to coordinate your spaghetti-armed characters. It’s funnier with two, though, as you get batted in the face by rakes and knocked into next week by charging goats. That said, there’s a ton of accessibility options that can change everything from the time limit to auto-completing a move if you fail more than once.

On top of the standard game mode there are Moving In missions where you need to get goods off the wagon into specific rooms. This was a DLC in the first game so it’s nice to see it here from minute-one. And finally there are special obstacle course levels unlocked hy finding hidden game cartridges for the Packmore Arcade. These see you moving things along routes rigged with hazards and traps and provide some of the best moments in Moving Out 2.

It’s hard to really criticise what this game is. Sometimes the physics are irritating and you’ll get stuck on the environment, or you’ll lose a package behind other furniture, but these are small complaints, a button highlights everything that needs moving, and it’s all by design anyway.

There’s a load of characters to unlock that give zero shit about realism. One has a toaster got a head, another is a sentient hotdog. There are people, too, but that’s boring. You will find crates dotted around that can unlock more characters and variants. Also, the option to have anyone use a wheelchair returns from the first game, which is just as lovely an inclusion here as it was there.

It’s likely you’ll have a better time with Moving Out 2 if you play it with a friend but it’s not mandatory. This is still a fun game on your own, despite some of the more frustrating elements. It looks pretty, the tongue-in-cheek humour is ever-present, and the accessibility options are great. It doesn’t deviate massively from formula, but manages to build on the original in a satisfying way.