Heave Ho 2 Reviews
This silly budget-friendly sequel preserves the winning formula of the original, while peppering in some new elements to add to the challenge and fun
Heave Ho 2 knows exactly where its strength lies. The simple controls, creative co-op levels, and constant stream of hilarious situations make this an excellent party game for four players. Especially for a price of around ten euros, you are served a huge amount of content, with dozens of levels and enough optional challenges to ensure you get a lot of enjoyment out of the game for a long time. However, it is a shame that the developers opted so emphatically for multiplayer and that playing solo has even become impossible. Fans of the first game who enjoyed playing alone feel somewhat forgotten as a result. The battle mode is also a bit disappointing and clearly falls short of the fantastic co-op experience. However, if you are looking for a chaotic multiplayer game where communication, cooperation, and above all, lots of laughter take center stage, then Heave Ho 2 is absolutely recommended.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Heave Ho 2 is a smart, creative multiplayer party experience that rewards creativity and patience. It won’t grab everyone immediately, but if you enjoy the party-game genre and are interested in a new approach that relies heavily on those playing with you, there’s something genuinely compelling here.
Seven years after its predecessor, Heave Ho 2 improves its cooperative formula but sacrifices the single-player mode in favor of multiplayer, further encouraged by the GameShare feature on Switch. A fluid technical performance and the introduction of unpredictable mechanics make it an excellent product in its genre. It is highly recommended to play privately with people you know well, because playing with randoms in public lobbies makes the game lose most of its magic.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Heave Ho 2 delivers exactly what you'd expect from a couch co-op game: chaotic fun and plenty of laughs with friends. The controls take a little time to get used to and continue to provide a satisfying challenge throughout the game. Rather than being a drawback, we think this is an essential part of what makes the game so enjoyable. The different worlds each introduce their own gameplay focus, offering enough variety to keep things fresh from start to finish. We also really liked the visuals, and the soundtrack in particular fits the game's lighthearted style perfectly. The addition of online multiplayer for the first time makes Heave Ho 2 much more accessible than its predecessor. Minor issues, such as the almost unavoidable lifebuoy mechanic triggered by the hard-to-avoid cat, only slightly detract from the overall experience. At a price of just €9.99, there's little reason not to pick it up if you have a group of friends to play with.
Review in German | Read full review
With intriguing minimalist visuals, eye-catching colors, a pleasant soundtrack, and extremely chaotic, fun gameplay, Heave Ho 2 is an experience that caught me off guard in the best possible way—a surprise I very likely wouldn't have enjoyed had I not been writing this piece.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
At its core, Heave Ho 2 is more of what made the original so addictive and hilarious, but this came at a painful cost. Making it multiplayer-only, with no way to enjoy solo levels or bot support, makes this particular PC version a lot less enticing. Simply put, it has a major disadvantage compared to a Switch version with detachable joycons. You either have to hope for online support to be steady (and if so, it works like a charm) or just stick to the original. The introduction of online play is awesome, but I don’t like how more limited this game is in terms of how you can play it.
Heave Ho 2 is a wonderfully silly multiplayer game, with plenty laugh out loud moments guaranteed while swinging around with your buds.
Heave Ho 2 is a triumphant return for one of the best cooperative games ever made. By introducing creative level themes, smart quality-of-life additions, and even more chaotic ways to play with up to four players, it refines its brilliant physics formula into an indispensable, laugh-filled multiplayer masterpiece.
Review in Spanish | Read full review