Moving Out 2 PlayStation 5 Indie Video Game Review

When you think of video game premises, moving is not something that generally comes to mind. Despite the weird premise, the original Moving Out came out in 2020 and proved that moving could make a good video game. In fact it was one of the best Overcooked style co-op games that I had played in the last couple of years. That is why I was really excited when I first heard that the game was getting a sequel. I am always excited to play a good co-op game. I was intrigued to see what the game would do in a sequel. Moving Out 2 delivers everything that I enjoyed about the original game, and is arguably a better game in several ways.

Moving Out 2 continues the journey of Smart Moves. You and up to three or your friends don the uniform and get to work serving the customers of Packmore with all of their moving needs. Shortly after starting your job inter-dimensional portals open up all over Packmore. With new dimensions to explore, you have more clients who are in need of your services.

At its core Moving Out 2’s gameplay is very similar to the original game. The objective of most of the levels is to take the required objects out of a house and move them into your truck. Press a button and an icon appears above each object that you need to move. One button allows you to grab an object and you can then start moving it. Some objects are heavy/unwieldy requiring help from another player to move the object efficiently. You can get the objects to your truck however you want. This includes throwing the objects through windows or over gaps for faster deliveries.

Things are not as simple as they first appear though. Your first couple of moves are pretty straightforward, but things change pretty quickly. Various obstacles and other challenges will get in your way in order to make delivering the objects more difficult. More on these obstacles later as they are one of the biggest additions to Moving Out 2.

The objective of most levels of Moving Out 2 is to get all of the objects to your truck. There is a time limit to complete the task though in order to unlock the next level. Each level has a faster time as well as additional objectives to complete in order to unlock additional stars. These additional objectives can range from delivering the objects in a unique way, interacting with the environment in a specific way, and finding hidden costume crates or game cartridges which unlock additional arcade levels.

The controls of Moving Out 2 are basically exactly the same as the original game. If you played the original Moving Out, I think you could jump right into the sequel. Basically you all need to work well together to divvy up the small objects that need to be delivered. Some of the heavy objects require players to work well together in order to get them to the truck.

Moving Out 2 is meant to be a silly game that the whole family can enjoy. The game supports this with simple controls. The game is really straightforward with only a couple different buttons. There are buttons to grab objects, jump, slap, and throw objects. The controls are generally quite good. Occasionally the controls will be a little off where you will drop objects when you don’t think you should have.

The game’s simplicity is really beneficial since it is meant to be played with others. The game is technically playable with one player. I wouldn’t recommend it though. It works fine, but I don’t know how much fun it would be. The game is built around cooperation which is gone if you are only playing the game by yourself. If you don’t like these type of co-op games, Moving Out 2 is not going to be for you.

Moving Out 2’s greatest strength is the fact that it is a fantastic co-op game. You can move a lot of the objects by yourself. You need to work well with your teammates though if you want any chance of completing the level within a reasonable time. Some of the objects are too large where you move them way too slowly by yourself. Other objects are curved which are too hard to get around corners with just one player. To deal with a lot of the obstructions you also need to work with your teammates.

While it can sometimes be frustrating when you and your teammate aren’t on the same page, when you are you won’t find many better co-op games. Fans of games like Overcooked should love the game. In fact if you never played the original Moving Out, I would also highly recommend checking that game out as well. The idea of moving furniture might not sound all that interesting, but it works really well for a co-op game. I can’t quite explain why, but it is really satisfying when you do a great job working with your teammates to complete the job quickly.

Simply put I would highly recommend trying to play Moving Out 2 with another player if possible. The good news is that Moving Out 2 has online multiplayer unlike the previous game. That should make it a little easier to find someone else to play with. I ended up playing the game local co-op so I can’t comment on how well the online multiplayer works. I appreciate the addition though as it will make the game more accessible to those who don’t have someone else they can play the game with locally.

Basically Moving Out 2 has everything that I enjoyed about the original game. The good news is that the sequel expands on what made the original game so fun making it even more enjoyable. I attribute a lot of this to the addition of new mechanics. Your first couple of moves will be basic where you just need to get the objects to the truck. Soon things become a little more difficult especially once the other dimensions are introduced. There are four different dimensions to explore including a futuristic world, a fantasy/magic world, a world made of candy, and a world that is a combination of the other three worlds. Each world introduces its own new mechanics to tweak the gameplay. Every couple of levels a new mechanic is introduced which becomes a focal point for the next couple of levels.

I was genuinely surprised by the amount of variety in Moving Out 2. The basic gameplay stays mostly the same throughout the game. You will still mostly be moving furniture around. These new mechanics keep the gameplay fresh though. While I think the core gameplay is fun enough on its own, every few levels it is tweaked enough where things play a little differently. This really keeps the game interesting throughout as you eagerly anticipate what the next mechanic will be. Some of these new mechanics include:

• Levels where you have to move items from your truck into the house.
• One way and sliding doors.
• Using drones that you control to destroy things or open up new paths.
• Portals that teleport you to different areas of the level.
• Conveyor belts that you need to use to move objects.
• You occasionally have to deliver animals that don’t want to stay where you put them.
• Some levels will fill with fog/clouds over time. You need to use a vacuum in order to suck up the clouds to see where you are going.
• There are giant batteries that you need to insert into sockets in order to open doors. They only stay in place for a short period before they pop out closing the door.
• Controlling a train that you load items on and then move them to a new location.
• Using a giant slingshot to shoot objects around the stage.

This is just a sample of some of the new mechanics that you will encounter in the game. Some of the mechanics are obviously more enjoyable than others. In particular I can’t say that I was a huge fan of the cloud vacuums. Most of the mechanics are quite fun though and really change up the gameplay. They also introduce new ways that players need to work together. Some might feel like gimmicks, but most feel like genuinely good additions to the game. They might make the game a little silly at times, but they add quite a bit to the experience. They are probably the main reason why I think Moving Out 2 is better than the original game.

While playing Moving Out 2 it felt quite a bit longer than the first game. Moving Out 2 has approximately 50 levels along with a number of arcade levels. The original game had around 30 levels. Each of the levels are pretty short as you can usually finish them within 3-10 minutes. If you just want to speed through the levels without trying for the best times or additional objectives, the game will obviously take quite a bit less time. I would highly recommend going for the better times and additional objectives though. Getting everything in a level will usually take between two and five attempts. As long as you don’t rush through the game, I think you will easily get your money’s worth out of Moving Out 2.

Let’s move onto the game’s difficulty. I will preface this by saying that I play a lot of games in this genre as it is one of my favorites. Having said that, I would say that the game is on the easy to moderately difficult side. Getting a good enough time to beat each level is fairly easy. As long as you have some cooperation with your teammates, you should get at least the slower time on your first attempt. Getting the better time and all of the secret objectives adds some difficulty. Some can be pretty difficult, but I didn’t find most of those to be that challenging either. I do play a lot of games in this genre though. If you don’t or are playing with someone who doesn’t play a lot of video games, it may be quite a bit more challenging. Good teamwork is also necessary.

With how much I enjoyed the original Moving Out, I was excited to see what the sequel had to offer. Moving Out 2 pretty much offers everything that you would want from a sequel. The main gameplay is mostly untouched. It is still really fun working with your teammates to load up the truck as quickly as possible. The gameplay is also really easy to pick up and play. If you are looking for a fun co-op game, Moving Out 2 is it. What makes it better than the original is that it builds on the previous game by including a bunch of fun new mechanics. The levels are quite varied where every couple levels you get a new mechanic to play with. This keeps the game fresh and most of the new mechanics are really fun.

There isn’t much to complain about when it comes to Moving Out 2. It is built as a co-op game to its very core. While you can play the game by yourself, I would recommend against it. If you don’t generally enjoy these types of games either, it probably won’t be for you. Otherwise I found the game to be a little on the easy side, but that might be because I play a lot of games from this genre.

My recommendation for Moving Out 2 is quite simple. If you didn’t like the original game or don’t generally like co-op games, it likely won’t be for you. If you liked the original game or generally like co-op games I would highly recommend checking it out. I think you will have a blast with the game like I did.