PowerWash Simulator – Review
Follow Genre: Simulation
Developer: FuturLab
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PC

PowerWash Simulator – Review

Site Score
8.8
Good: Relaxing, Polished, Simple fun for everyone
Bad: Needs a few more goals to work towards
User Score
9.0
(1 votes)
Click to vote
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Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Over the years we have seen many simulator games being released, ranging from the ludicrous Goat Simulator to the realistic Lawn Mowing Simulator. These ‘sim’ games have been quite popular for some time now, and while we don’t enjoy every single release, we do see the appeal of many of them. Now, we were able to play through what PowerWash Simulator had to offer. This no-pressure simulator had us hooked from the very beginning.

Story

PowerWash Simulator comes with no actual story value. The only notion of a story is the fact that you are starting your own cleaning business and that you will get increasingly harder and bigger jobs. During the actual jobs, you’ll get text messages from your clients, who often give you a bit more information about the vehicle or building you’re cleaning, but other than that, there isn’t a grand story to uncover. While it would have been fun to have a bigger underlying story, it isn’t exactly missed either.

Graphics

Graphically PowerWash Simulator is a cute and colorful game. The game presents you with many different vehicles and buildings to clean, and these all look decently designed. We do have to say that there is a clear difference between the surfaces you’re cleaning, as vehicles will look a lot glossier when cleaned compared to brick buildings. As a whole, the game looks good, but some of the buildings and textures do look a bit simplistic. We would have also loved to see more water run down the walls or other surfaces when cleaning them.

Sound

The sound design is fairly basic, but this is also quite understandable. During the jobs, there won’t be any real background music, and you’ll just have to make do with environmental sounds such as barking dogs, the rustling of leaves, and so on. Other than that, you’ll hear the occasional notification from your tablet and the constant noise that comes from your pressure washer. If you find certain sounds a bit too annoying, you can finetune the settings in the menu.

Gameplay

PowerWash Simulator is a simulation game in which you clean a lot of different vehicles, buildings, objects, and sceneries with your pressure washer. The game is extremely straightforward, as you just have to use your power washer to clean the aforementioned items, as you play through the different levels. The more you clean, the more money you earn and the better your rating becomes. The further you progress, the better equipment you can purchase. Keep in mind that you’ll have to be quite thorough, as otherwise, you might find yourself looking for that tiny little spot you may have missed.

The game does help you to find every possible piece of dirt you have left on a surface, as you can press the TAB button in order to see the dirty spots light up. Sometimes, however, this isn’t extremely clear depending on the type of surface and the lighting. Other than that, you’ll be able to buy more powerful pressure washers, extensions, and nozzles. These tools will help you clean surfaces quicker, as you can also add cleaning products to the mix. Extensions can help you reach places that are just out of reach.

Overall, the controls are a bit floaty when it comes to general movement, but aiming your pressure washer is basically the same as aiming a gun in an FPS game. You can place stools, ladders, and gantries in order to reach higher spots as well. The fixed positions for the ladders felt a bit awkward at times, but as a whole, we loved just washing away the grime and dirt. We can only say that the game is a very relaxing experience.

You can also invite several friends to join the fun (if they own a copy of the game) to clear levels together. Co-op brings nothing special to the table, except for the fact that you can clear levels a lot quicker and that it’s just simple good old-fashioned fun when you’re able to work together. We do hope that some dedicated co-op modes are added in the future.

Conclusion

PowerWash Simulator is a surprisingly fun and relaxing game. It’s sometimes odd to admit that these types of games have a lot of charm, especially considering they often revolve around tasks you wouldn’t want to do in real life. Nonetheless, we spent quite a few hours ‘power washing’ the items the game presented us with. This game is easy to recommend, be it for those looking for something to wind down with, or friends who want to play together and don’t want to play another generic shooter or another type of action game. We hope some extra multiplayer content is thrown in the mix in the future, but even so, we can easily recommend this zen-like cleaning sim.

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
PowerWash Simulator - Review, 9.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating
Ibuki


Aspiring ninja.

1 Comment

  1. […] PowerWash Simulator has been going strong ever since its release and seems particularly fond of adding special DLC that is themed after other popular properties. After their Final Fantasy inspired pack earlier this year, it’s now time for a hilarious sci-fi classic to be added to the mix. With the Back to The Future pack, you’ll get a chance to clean up famous locations and objects out of the game. And yes, that includes the famous DeLorean. The levels are packed full of details and easter eggs so fans can rejoice. This pack is available now on PC and all consoles for a small price of € 7,99. […]

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