The Nintendo Switch has seen an assortment of great multiplayer titles, but the ones that appeal most to me have been the ones that offer manic co-operative action. Perhaps it’s due to not wanting to start arguments with my wife, but games that have you working as a team against the game itself just tend to feel more fun to me overall. Whether it’s Overcooked or Super Mario Party, it’s nice to have social gaming from time to time.
One game that we had never tried was Team17’s Moving Out: a furniture removal game in the vein of Overcooked albeit with cabinets instead of cakes. Moving stuff from A-B just didn’t really seem like all that much fun, to be honest.
Boy, were we wrong.
Many thanks to Team17 for the review code.
I LIKE TO MOVE IT, MOVE IT
For those unfamiliar with the plot of the series, you’ll be pleased to know that there essentially isn’t one. You control a F.A.R.T.; that’s the Furniture Arrangement and Relocation Technician, as they move from house to house moving furniture from house to truck. Except sometimes it’s truck to house. Or animal to pen. Look, it’s not important, ok?
In fact the narrative is so irrelevant to the game that you can skip the opening cutscene altogether and get going just fine. Sure, it’s beautifully animated and shows off just how preposterous the world of Packmore is, but you really aren’t going to miss anything. Speaking of the game’s peculiarity, F.A.R.T. really isn’t a service where their movers take any kind of care with your belongings: this is a world where movers are humanoids with objects for heads and gnomes pour out of interdimensional portals. It’s a game that embraces in silliness, and that adds to the overall charm.
The aim of the game is for you and up to three other players (both online and offline, thankfully!) to grab objects of varying sizes and place them in the removal truck before the allotted time expires. Some items, such as a Chaise Longue or fridge, may require more than one person to shift and such objects will need to be manoeuvred around the environment carefully and slotted into the moving truck.
Of course, this is where the fun truly lies as you work with your partner(s) trying to shift stuff around the environment; whether it be a corner that just seems too tight, a sliding door that you need to manually open, or just a crab that wants to get in your way, there’s enough stuff to make things chaotic. The ability to throw items becomes particularly useful as you lob someone’s bed out of the upstair’s window to save on time – but you should be careful with your throw, as messing up could see it in the swimming pool instead.
If that was all the game was, it’d still be a lot of fun (and I believe that is essentially how the original was); however, those aforementioned interdimensional portals are what helps to make the game even more exciting. After an opening section in the town of Packmore, three dimensional gateways open up leading to a futuristic world, a medieval world, and a candy world; all of which offer their own unique gimmicks that help make them stand out. The futuristic world, which has fans, moving platforms, and other technological gimmicks, proved to be my particular favourite, but they’re all unique and have a ton of levels for you to conquer.
Whilst the experience is consistently enjoyable when played with other, not every stage can be considered a winner as there are certainly some mechanics that make things a little bit more frustrating than fun at times. Those candy stages in particular proved annoying with a wrecking ball mechanic that seemed a little bit too wonky to use at times, and don’t get me started on the farmyard levels where the animals have a tendency to escape the pen. thus forcing you to collect them all over again.
That being said, the great levels certainly outweigh the bad and the accessibility system ensures that you’re never unable to progress. With assist mode activated, you can toggle a wide variety of options to help give you a better chance; whether it be extending the time limit, making delivered items disappear, or simply making the game autocomplete the level upon failure, there are plenty of options to ensure that you’ll never get stuck.
These options are particularly useful later on for those wishing to overcome the game’s progress blocking gateway with ease. Each of the three portals have an assortment of levels for you to access, and many of the tougher ones are blocked behind gates that require a certain star rating. Whilst this approach allows for a more non-linear game as you choose from the available levels, some may despair at having to replay stages due to the star system itself being a bit of a chore. You see, each stage has a multitude of stars that you can earn with two being time-based and the rest requiring you to do certain special tasks for that particular level. The problem is that you don’t see any of these requirements until after you beat it, meaning that you’ll probably have to redo stages multiple times to help get your star rating up to where it needs to be.
Aside from unlocking stars, you can also obtain additional characters and costumes for you to adorn and they’re all absolutely delightful. Whilst I personally stuck with one that reminded me of Bob the Killer Goldfish from the Earthworm Jim series, I certainly looked forward to seeing what ridiculous monstrosity I’d unlock next.
The best unlockables, however, are the cartridges for the game’s arcade mode. Hidden away in rather devious locations, obtaining them will allow you to play one of the game’s special stages where the goal is to take your single piece of furniture to the moving van at the end. The problem is that the route is a dangerous gauntlet of traps where one wrong step will send you to your doom. It’s a great test of your teamwork skills and my particular highlight of the game.
All in all, Moving Out 2 is a great package with a ton of content on offer. If there’s any real issue is that there’s not really much here for the lone player. Those lacking fellow movers (or those who prefer to play alone) will probably find the game just doesn’t offer that same sense of fun. The game’s scaling means that it is playable with just a single person, but I really wouldn’t advise it as it does run counter to the whole point of the game. This second entry does allow for online-play, which makes it a little easier to play with friends – but the Switch’s lack of online chat also means you’ll be forced to find your own way to communicate with each other.
VERDICT
Moving Out 2 is a chaotically fun time as you struggle to convey simple instructions whilst shifting a Chaise Longue with family or friends. Playing alone can result in a lot of the charm feeling lost, but if you are looking for a great co-op experience then consider this a must purchase.
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