PLATFORM: PC, PS5, SWITCH 2, XBOX SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
After the exhausting events of 2022’s Powerwash Simulator, in which our unnamed hero (that’s you) found themself knee-deep in not just soapy water but also a mystery involving missing cats, an ancient civilization, an erupting volcano and a colossal statue with a laser beam shining out of its head (there’s the sci-fi / fantasy link that ticks the box in Starburst‘s requirements for covering a game!), you’ve now settled down to a new life in Caldera County. From your shiny new home base in this seemingly sleepy part of the world, you’ll head out across the county to tackle all kinds of mucky jobs both big and small, from cars and trucks to entire buildings. But when the statue’s gems are stolen, a new mystery unfolds – what exactly was that laser beam in the sky, where are those mysterious mining trucks heading, and what on earth is the Mayor up to with his sudden obsession with a “Town of the Year” initiative?
To find out, you’ll have to get scrubbing, as the story is told through messages sent by clients during gameplay, as well as news articles and other clues that appear on the pinboard in your office after completing levels. For the uninitiated, Powerwash Simulator is exactly what you’d expect it to be – you’re dropped in front of an object or building covered in muck, and you simply need to clean it all off with a range of pressure washers, nozzles, extensions and other equipment. That last sentence will likely have immediately helped you to decide whether this is going to be your sort of game or not – if the premise sounds appealing, you’ll love it, but if not, no amount of explanation will convince you otherwise!
PWS2 wisely doesn’t make too many changes to the formula that made its predecessor so successful, opting for quality of life improvements and a handful of new mechanics to enhance the original’s gameplay. An additional five washers (making nine in total) are available, including the impressive Double Turbo and fan-favourite Trident, all with a range of nozzles that change the power and width of the spray, and a surface cleaner has been added to help washers scrub floors with ease. Soap works differently than before, with a single soap attachment (no more buying surface-specific soaps from the shop) that sticks to dirty areas, helping you to clean stubborn stains quickly, and there are a few traversal additions that allow you to access those hard-to-reach areas – a scissor lift, mid-sized step ladder, improved scaffolding (there’s a ladder on the side so you can get to the top quickly), and a super fun abseiling kit that allows you to smoothly move across vertical surfaces.
Elsewhere, the changes are a bit more minor but still very welcome. The colour of the dirt finder, which highlights any unwashed filth, can now be changed, making it easier to see, and there are plenty of customisation options to change the look of your character, overalls and equipment. There are quite a few moveable objects and multi-stage tasks, leading to some fun surprises across the game’s 38 jobs, and your new home base can also be customised with unlockable furniture, which naturally needs to be cleaned before you can place it in your office, adding a further 30 smaller jobs that need doing, and a range of graphical upgrades means that everything you do looks more realistic and satisfying than before. With the promise of free and paid DLC to bolster the already impressive job list (PWS1‘s DLC included vehicles and locations taken from Back To The Future, Tomb Raider and Warhammer, amongst others, so it’s quite likely that we’ll visit some similar genre locations this time around), Powerwash Simulator 2 is a tremendous follow-up to one of the silliest, but also most relaxing and addictive, games of recent years.
