The first level of PowerWash Simulator 2 is cleaning the van that has just brought you to your fancy recent office. “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” say the creators of FuturLab, looking at the map wall where you can choose levels in the expanded world of PowerWash, an open storage space where you can place purchased and cleaned furniture. The second level is cleaning a up-to-date public toilet.
This is very amusing. FuturLab realizes that they can’t really push you that far; as far as metaphor goes, we’re probably in Colorado. That’s okay. Both it and the game have nice scenery. And as intelligent as I am, there are a lot of little changes that add up to a noticeable improvement. They’re probably only noticeable if you’ve already been Washmaxxed and spent over a hundred hours in the first game.
If this is you, you already know the delight of the constant white noise coming from your washing machine, the click-click-clack as you switch between different nozzles and ting after completing part of the level. You are a modern-day Hercules, clearing the parade of Augean stables of years of dried feces, basking in the glow of an illusory job well done even as the actual, real dirt dries on the unwashed bowl of soup in your sink. If that’s not you, welcome to an FPS game where you shoot high-pressure water with a gun at a series of sullied buildings and vehicles.
PowerWash Simulator 2 does this, but morein the great tradition of sequels. The most noticeable additions are two recent types of pads. You still have the trusty Prime Vista from the original game, but now there’s the Urban X, which has increased power but a smaller area of effect, and the Swirlforce Surf Ace, which has a vast, flat head for cleaning vast, flat surfaces. You can buy upgrades and add-ons with the amount you earn at each level – think more powerful nozzles and different length extenders to boost range – but you’ll probably operate the recent Urban X the most. As even winked at in one of the PWS2 trailers, they all basically do the same thing.
There’s also a recent ladder, the scissor lift is taller, and for larger structures there’s now a harness and swing of the type used by more Tom Cruise the Window Cleaner. Zipping them up is really nippy, but in all things gear-related, the changes I felt the most were the smallest ones.
The multi-story scaffold now has a ladder on the outside, so you can climb straight to the top instead of having to climb all the stairs! There is a recent nozzle that allows you to manually select your desired spray width! Say goodbye to different types of soaps for different surfaces, which you had to buy in the store every time; Hello, one universal soap with confined supply for each level! The controls have been redesigned so you can switch between all elements in a polished, professional manner that is sure to impress your customers if they were watching or actually there. These are all intelligent changes that feel like the developers were watching how people played the first game, and I applaud them.
In contrast, the brand recent office and furniture made me feel almost nothing at all, except for the occasional irritation. I appreciate the idea, but the currency you operate to buy cosmetics (which includes not only the gothic/retro/futuristic shelf assortment, but also clothes and van stickers) is capped at 2k, and you’ll run out of things to spend it on long before you start getting annoyed by the “You’ve reached your PowerWash points limit!” messages flashing on the screen. The collision boxes on strange coffee tables and Dali-style lamps are huge and capricious, so you can’t put a table on a carpet, for example. Your warehouse ends up looking like a less fun IKEA, and I didn’t feel motivated to head to my home base between levels.
Which is a shame, because beyond the pile of used furniture in your office is a cork board that collects newspaper clippings that further explain events at each level (the moon is spinning, but you probably don’t worry about it!). In addition to the city map, there is a shelf of thumbnails showing completed quests, which… well, serves the same purpose as the map in that it allows you to select levels to repeat. But in a more visual way. Plus, the miniatures are really cute.
This is an senior man’s scooter that got muddy when he was lost in the forest for several days. And a motel with a cactus motif. And there’s a moving planetarium! Overall, the levels are a good mix of smaller designs (the corrupt former mayor’s double leopard-print limousine) and larger designs (a theater covered in trash), all of them tending to get a bit fanciful, but some more so than others (a teapot in the forest). There are several there that feel like you’re given vast, flat surfaces to keep you busy, with a “Clean it, wash pig” vibe, including a giant blimp and a barn with an accompanying grain silo. That aside, you’re in for some billboard time, especially at the level where you’re clearing a literal billboard.
There are compact improvements here too. There’s a bit of physics involved, so the hanging signs will sway as you start washing them, which is great for an amusement park shooting range where hitting a target causes the scenery to change. The fair levels are great overall, including an amusement park with lots of moving parts, one of my favorite levels. New, more diverse types of dirt also appear. For example, the hated barn is covered in places with senior hay. The mountainside spa is covered with snow carcasses that shimmer gently as you walk, and ice with variable reflections. Sometimes you may be delighted to pristine your window and find that there was something on the other side.
All this without going too much into the plot. I was surprised that the first PowerWash simulator was a sci-fi game when I halfway through cleared the flying saucer and magical mermaid monolith (let’s say three times as brisk). There isn’t nothing time travel and saving the world in the sequel – many of the iconic characters who send you strange text messages as you work come together in the last few levels to uncover the conspiracy and save the world again, like an off-screen version of the Riders of Rohan – but there’s less of it.
More often than not, you’ll be gently rigged by levels that hark back to the first game. Said shooting range targets include images of a flying saucer, a monolith, and the short-lived volcanic eruption from which you and the others rescued Muckingham. I really enjoyed it, but I can imagine it will be less profitable if you haven’t played the first game. The same goes for all the little changes that I liked. But at the same time, if you haven’t played PowerWash Simulator, you’re just going to come across PowerWash Simulator 2 as the best damn version of a leisurely toilet flushing game you’ve ever seen. There’s not much to complain about there.
