PowerWash Simulator 2 Review

Were you left wondering what happened after the climax of PowerWash Simulator? You did read the text messages, and didn’t just shrug off the giant statue shooting a beam of light into the sky, right? Well, as PowerWash Simulator 2 begins, things have actually calmed down… until the gems producing the light beam are stolen. What does this mean for Muckingham and the wider Caldera County?

For whatever reason, between the end of the first game and the start of this one, you’ve gotten rid of most of your equipment, as you start with two hoses, a soap dispenser, and no extensions. Though it’s probably safe to assume the reason you sold stuff was to afford the brand-new scissor lift, hoist, and the state-of-the-art headquarters.

The big change to the first game is that you now have a base of operations, which you can eventually start filling with furniture. But don’t worry, you get to clean it before you can place it! There are two types of currency, one will buy you new hoses and attachments, the other is used to purchase the furniture as well as cosmetics for your suit and van. You get both currencies for doing jobs, so don’t worry about affording things.

From the text messages you receive while washing — you’re in the town-wide messaging group — it appears that you’ve been away for a while, so that’s how the town has gotten into a bit of a state. Don’t worry, the things that you cleaned before are still fine, but a whole lot of new places need your attention, including neighbouring towns.

That’s right, you have to get into your van and drive out to Washingham, Lubri City, and beyond. The 30-something jobs are scattered around Caldera County, with the usual mixture of big, small, short, tall, vehicles, and buildings. Having reviewed this game, I finally realised why you go from a huge thing to a tiny thing — too many big things in a row would be exhausting.

I played a chunk of PowerWash Simulator 2 in co-op (both online and split-screen), and while things were certainly faster, it sort of made the ones which I was doing solo drag in comparison. Thankfully, the new equipment meant that I never lost my flow, with the aforementioned hoist speeding up the uppy-downy bits, and the SwirlForce Surf Ace surface washer blasting through flat surfaces.

That new washer works really well — so long as the surface is relatively flat and you don’t move too quickly. Its main use is floors, but it can also tackle walls and low ceilings, doing a smashing job on doors and windows too. It’s powerful enough to shift the most stubborn dirt, which even the most powerful default hose can struggle with.

However, soap has been redesigned, to my great delight. You no longer have to buy soap suitable for specific surfaces, which will remove most of the dirt in a circle. Now, if you cover something in soap, then your weakest nozzle will clean anything. There were a few minutes where I thought that the “soap” mechanic was broken, but it just wasn’t explained by the game. It just stopped spraying at one point, and neither my co-op partner nor I could use any more. We continued washing, then later it worked again! It’s not that it runs out or needs to recharge; you can only have a certain amount of it sprayed at one time, so we just needed to get rid of some. It’s enough to cover a pretty large area, but still.

One of the upgrades compared to the first game that really impressed me are the levels which “open up” while you’re cleaning. You reach a certain point and something will happen which gives you more to clean! Some of them are more obvious than others, and there are only a handful of them, but it’s still extra fun.

The only downside of PowerWash Simulator 2, really, is the lack of audio. You’ve got the spraying of water and dinging of totally clean objects, sometimes there’s the sound of traffic trundling past or something activating… but that’s it. If you don’t have a podcast, audiobook, or your own music going, then the drone of the hose can send you to sleep.

There has been a graphical leap from the previous title, so the washers and outfits look nicer, and the water and soap “runs down” surfaces. It doesn’t actually, but the effect does make it look much better. You can also change the colour of the dirt highlight, which can definitely come in handy if a surface is too orange. Honestly, I prefer the red option.

You also get a marker pointing towards the closest unclean object as you reach about four-fifths completion. The old “dirt highlight” button has been changed to a list which keeps you from having to enter the menus to find out which specific objects are still dirty, in case you wanted to deactivate the marker.

PowerWash Simulator 2 is a great sequel, and given the interesting array of post-launch content the previous game received, I’m excited to see what the future holds for Caldera County.