Review for Moving Out. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 28/04/2020 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 12/05/2020
Who hasn't dreamed of being part of a moving company? all? nobody? Well whatever the answer, even in this case, video games come to our aid. In Moving Out we will play the role of a moving in a somewhat particular world. The title can be played completely in single player or co-op mode for up to four players, making Moving Out a great way to spend the day with family or friends.
Our moving company will operate entirely in the quirky town of PackMore River, a region where practically everyone is constantly moving, thus keeping our agenda always full. We will have well available 50 levels, which as anticipated can be played in single or co-op, without any penalty. What differentiates the two modes is in fact the weight of some heavy objects such as beds or sofas, which in co-op mode will have to be moved by multiple players while in single mode they can obviously be moved by only one player.
To cater for all types of players, the developers have also included one assisted mode, which allows you to choose some aids so as not to make the game too prohibitive. This is an option designed for the youngest gamers and families who just want to have fun and not think about the challenge level. For everyone else, just keep this option off to fully enjoy the game, as it was imagined.
The gameplay of Moving Out is very simple, we will have our own moving truck, and according to the level and the requests of the owner of the property we will have to fill it with certain objects. the goal is therefore not to completely empty the houses, but we will have to take only the items that are requested of us, loading them in the shortest time possible on our truck. Obviously we will have to be careful when loading, since each object takes up space so, especially in the more advanced levels, it will be essential to better fit the objects into the truck.
But what makes Packmore and its inhabitants so special? Well first of all the inhabitants, as well as the characters that we can choose, are extremely varied, in fact we have men, animals and anthropomorphic appliances with heads in the shape of a television, toaster and so on. All characters very colorful and with a strong sense of humor, which accompanies us in every level, managing very often to tear us more than a smile. This color and fun is also translated into game levels, all of which are well structured and never dull, especially due to the presence of some more or less nice subjects.
During our missions we will therefore have to move homes but also farms (including animals), factories and even space stations! To make our life more difficult there are some disturbing elements such as small animals that come after us or ghosts, as many homes appear to be haunted, and of course it will be up to us to clear them. The first few levels will all be very simple, almost always on one level, while moving forward we will find more and more houses with multiple floors and rooms, which can be reached by ramps, stairs or by lift.
Obviously the gameplay is never limited only to this, as we continue in our business we will learn many new mechanics, such as conveyor belts in factories, some buttons that, when pressed, activate doors, fans and much more. These are mechanics that are gradually integrated and then mixed in the various levels, making their completion very satisfying. Another important feature of Moving Out is the damage insurance, in fact our customers will all be insured so in summary we can take the items and throw them on the truck. This is a fundamental practice to unlock the gold medals in the various levels by obtaining a low time, in fact many rooms have windows that can be destroyed to throw our furniture and speed up the whole process.
There is therefore no limit to the imagination, you can tackle the levels in many different ways, the only goal is fill the truck as quickly as possible. However, there will be cases where some boxes will have the red color with the symbol "fragile", in that case we will obviously not be able to launch them but we will have to take them carefully to the truck. In case of breakage of the same or the loss of any other object, for example in a river, these will respawn in the point where they were initially, without penalizing our level.
The main map of Moving Out has the beautiful characteristic of being dynamic, that is, we, with our truck, will be able to move freely to reach the various homes to be moved. It is a very limited mechanic in fact it only allows us to move, as well as to destroy anything in our path, including cars and light poles. This map allows us to also keep track of our progress, in fact, we will be able to view the total number of coins and stars obtained, which will allow us to access exclusive content. In fact, to get the coins it will be necessary, in most cases, to repeat the levels at least a second time, this because the bonus challenges will be displayed only after completing the level a first time. These are three very varied and fun challenges to do ranging from the mundane "complete the level without breaking windows" to "make the basket".
With coins we will unlock gods mini-games, with which you can have fun directly in the arcade room present in Packmore and reachable with our truck. These are very fun games that diversify a lot and allow us to disconnect a little from what after a while can turn out to be a repetitive gameplay. One of Moving Out's flaws is just that, after 20/30 levels a certain repetitiveness begins to be felt, that although it may be slightly braked with new mechanics and regions, the base is still the same. We also found some bugs on PlayStation 4 that in three situations forced us to restart the level due to inability to move, but we are confident they will be resolved at launch or shortly after.
From a purely technical point of view, we were very satisfied, it is a game that it really weighs a few giga, has a gsimple but very colorful and pleasant graphics, the graphic engine (Unity) is well optimized and has never detected critical issues such as frame rate drops. We were also impressed from the point of view of physics management, you can interact with virtually any object, each of which has its own physics which, however, only partially reflects reality, obviously due to the need for gameplay.
Moving Out is a title aimed primarily at players who intend to take advantage of the co-op component that truly offers many hours of fun with family and friends. Thanks to the 50 levels available you can move houses, offices, farms and much more, all seasoned with a good dose of humor and color. Interesting gameplay mechanics that play all on physics and environmental interaction thanks to various systems such as buttons, rivers, cars and fans, which add something more to a game that does not have an extreme variety. Repetitiveness is perhaps the only negative of the production, which however comes to the surface only when you play alone, when you play in company everything takes a back seat as the games always end up being fun moments to spend with loved ones. . We were satisfied both by the technical sector and thanks to the Unity engine it guarantees good stability, a reduced weight of the files and a very pleasant cardboard graphics.
► Moving Out is a Simulation-indie game developed by SMG Studio and published by Team 17 for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 28/04/2020 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 12/05/2020
