Moving Out Review

"Shoving and Pulling"

Campaign

May 6, 2020 at 4:10am
By Jason Stettner

This is Moving Out, where the goal is to simply do your job as one who helps folks move out. While the game presents a simple task, it’s actually got some interesting intricacies to it, and packs a lot of fun. There are multiple levels to play, with various distinctions between them. Work through more traditional homes, across rivers like in Frogger or even fend off ghosts. There’s a great variety, and a good number of these missions to play.

You can tackle these alone, or in a team of four players. Work with others locally only though, no online multiplayer which was somewhat disappointing. That aside, it’s a great local coop effort. While it might sound easier to be moving with others, it’s just as stressful as doing so alone. That was a shocker, and it was neat to get that extra challenge for sure.

Each mission pressures you by having you battle against a clock where if you fail you’ll have to restart the whole thing. Not a massive issue since the levels are about ten minutes or so, but still a good danger to battle against. You’ll get a medal based on your time, and that lends into a score system which was neat to have. I would normally make a note of wishing for additional modes, but the core game really has a good chunk of content to it and a number of hours of fun.

Gameplay

You’ll get a brief over scan of the area, and are then thrown right into the action. You’ll get a number of items highlighted to collect, and these are really different in their challenge. Some are just boxes that are easy to throw once you’re close to the truck, others require a lot of effort. In coop you may need to actually work together on the same item. If you’re alone and need help, there’s an assist mode that can provide just that.

Anyways, the objects you collect come in all sorts of shapes. There are regular things such as beds, but you will also be gathering farm animals or even solving swift puzzles to gather some items. It gets very creative, and mostly more complex as you progress in the town. Oh, you also drive from place to place in a little truck which was neat to have between the levels.

As I mentioned prior you’ll also be throwing items into a moving truck, this part is perhaps the most difficult of it all. You really have to be creative in how you stack items, since there’s a physics aspect to it. It can be difficult to get it right, and I’ve failed a few times right at the end because I just can’t quite get everything to squeeze in which is interesting. I’ll also note that the game has a fun character customizer, I was a toasting waffle head individual, that was fun to see in action during the big moves.

The game featured some bright, and really well done environments. The visual aesthetics were great, with a cartoon style that worked very well for it. It felt welcoming, and played into the concept perfectly. This definitely does feel like it sits right alongside Overcooked if you’ve tried those great coop titles previously. Certainly on brand and it would be neat to see if they can stretch this concept further as it clearly does work being enchanting in both situations.

The Conclusion

Moving Out is a generally great game that perfectly captures the spirit of this profession, while also making it a ton of fun for the whole local cooperative family experience. This is really great for those that locally want a good challenge, and time to enjoy. Work to get those packages, beds and other items into the truck safely as possible.

It’s not easy to do, and there really is a nice difficulty curve to this one. It’s not too difficult unless you want it to be, and it’s nice to have that aspect to the play. It’s vibrant, weird and feels very similar to Overcooked if you’re familiar with that franchise.

They have some neat physics based content in this one, and it’s always a funky time as you battle the clock for the best possible score. The journey really comes down to how well you think you can stack, shift and deliver the items from some of the strangest places you could imagine. Be wary of ghosts, that’s for sure.

Read our Curious Expedition Review
View our Game Hubs

Moving Out Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Team17

Rating Overall: 8.0