Heave Ho 2 Review: A Squared Verdict

I enjoyed the original Heave Ho just enough to be mildly excited about the sequel. This is a great party game to throw on whenever you have guests over, with simple enough controls that even if they don’t play video games, they’ll pick it up pretty quickly. I thought Heave Ho 2 would be more of the same. This is not the case. It’s more, and it builds on that simple concept in a way I didn’t expect at all.

How Heave Ho works

The Cartel

Let me quickly explain the concept of Heave Ho to those of you who are unfamiliar with it. It’s a cooperative puzzle game in which each player controls what is essentially a small head with long arms. All you can do with these characters is use the triggers to control what their hands grab, and the left stick to determine which direction they swing while you’re hanging on to something or someone.

The goal is to work as a team to make your way through each level, grabbing each other’s hands to form chains that function as bridges between platforms, swinging when you need to, and maybe even throwing your teammates if the next platform you’re trying to reach is just out of reach.

A relatively simple idea at heart, but it’s the way The Cartel has built on the foundations that makes Heave Ho 2 so impressive. The first steps are simple “point A to point B” levels to make it easier for you. However, as the game progresses and the themes change, the puzzles become more inventive and complex.

full preview of one of the culinary levels in Heave Ho 2.
The Cartel

For example, there is a set of culinary stages whose end goal is not a finish line, but a plate of food that must be assembled precisely in order to please Chef Heave Ho. There is also a set of levels that take place in space where you and your teammates must pilot a rocket between locations.

The levels have difficulty levels and, if you’re already a Heave Ho geek who doesn’t need familiarization, you can move on to the harder stuff.

Most of this game cannot be played alone

lift 2 characters inside a burning rocket.
The Cartel

The need for teamwork is the only area where Heave Ho 2 fails, as the game cannot be played alone, at least not its story mode. There is a tutorial that can be played solo – a great idea because it means you can learn the ropes without dragging someone who already knows how to play with you – but all the main missions require at least two people to operate. You can meet other people online, but my experience this way has usually ended in unorganized chaos, not the good kind that Heave Ho thrives on when he’s at his best.

While the inability to play the main modes alone is the biggest problem against Heave Ho 2, one of the best things about it is how much your strategies change depending on the number of players you have. I replayed levels with two, three, and four players, and the way we approached them had to change depending on how many people were involved. There are levels where you have to cross tiny gaps together, for example. Quick and easy when there’s just two of you, but things start to get a little stuck in these spaces when you invite a third player into the mix.

characters climbing across a chasm in Heave Ho 2.
The Cartel

Although the challenges become more complex as you progress, there is unlikely to be a point where even the most casual players feel overwhelmed. I played the entire game with a six-year-old, and while some stages took a little longer than with a full team of adults behind the wheel, we ultimately got through all the levels and had a lot of fun doing it.

The game will also send you optional helpers if you take too long to complete a stage.

Come for the campaign, stay for the confrontation

two characters lift ho 2 trying to pull a sword out of a stone.
The Cartel

Heave Ho 2’s other main mode, and the best in this sequel, can be played alone. Showdown is where you and your comrades become rivals, and that’s where online matchmaking shines. In Showdown, it doesn’t matter that you can’t cooperate with everyone, because you’re not supposed to. You must either race them to the finish, knock them off the screen, or be the first to pull the level handle, depending on what type of ride you’re thrown into.

Co-op is a lot of fun, but once it’s over, it’s Showdown that will keep you coming back. Levels are changed and thrown at you in random order to keep it feeling fresh, and the weapons available, in the levels that have them, are different each time so you can’t keep using the same strategies over and over again.

You can also unlock Heave Ho versions of characters from other games to use in his campaign and Showdown, including Dave the Diver, Ironclad from Slay the Spire, and the glass protagonist from Skate Story.

The original Heave Ho didn’t leave me wanting more. It was simply a game that, when introduced to friends who had never played it before, I had a blast at game nights. Heave Ho 2, however, left me feeling very different. After seeing more ideas from the developers of this series for this concept, I’m now hungry for more. Whether it’s DLC for the sequel or a whole new game, I hope this isn’t the last we see of Heave Ho.