DLC Review · Purchased October 12, 2024 · $12.31 CAD via PSN

The Setup

The fifth and final PowerWash Simulator crossover pack I bought in 2024, this one sends you scrubbing down the Swamp and other Far Far Away locations, complete with recognizable music cues from the films.

The Review

Of all five crossovers in my 2024 haul, this was the one the wider gaming community seemed most excited about before it even released, and playing it, the enthusiasm makes sense. There is something inherently funny and satisfying about power-washing an ogre’s swamp specifically, and the developers clearly understood the meme potential of the pairing, leaning into it with genuine care in the level design and audio rather than treating it as a cheap licensing grab. Closing out my year of PowerWash crossovers on this note felt appropriate, easily one of the two or three strongest packs in the entire line.

What I Liked

• Genuinely fun, meme-aware execution of the crossover concept
• Strong recognizable music and setting work
• A satisfying way to close out the year’s run of these packs

What I Didn’t

• Same short-content tradeoff as the rest of the line
• Appeal leans on already finding the Shrek and PowerWash pairing funny

The Verdict

Rating: 5/5

One of the more fun packs in the entire series, purely for the novelty of power-washing an ogre’s swamp, and a great note to end my year of these crossovers on.

Where to Buy

• Steam store page

DLC Review · Purchased September 6, 2024 · $11.20 CAD via PSN

The Setup

A digital upgrade purchased the same day as the physical copy of Astro Bot and the limited edition DualSense controller, unlocking extra cosmetics and bonus content tied to the game’s Deluxe tier.

The Review

Given how thoroughly Astro Bot earned its Game of the Year win (reviewed at length elsewhere in this series), an eleven-dollar add-on to an already excellent game is about as low-risk a purchase as exists in this entire spreadsheet. The extra cosmetics and bonus content are exactly what you would expect from a digital upgrade tier: nice to have, not remotely necessary to enjoy the core game, but a pleasant bit of extra flavour for a game I was already thrilled to be playing.

What I Liked

• Trivially cheap add-on to an outstanding base game
• Extra cosmetic content is a nice bonus rather than a cynical upsell

What I Didn’t

• Entirely unnecessary if you are budget-conscious, the base game does not need this to be excellent

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

As a cheap add-on to a Game of the Year-calibre title, this is easy to recommend, more because the base game earns it than because the upgrade itself is essential.

Where to Buy

• PlayStation Store listing
• Review of the base game

DLC Review · Purchased August 31, 2024 · $12.31 CAD via PSN

The Setup

Listed in my own records simply as “Alice in Wonderland,” this is officially PowerWash Simulator’s Alice’s Adventures crossover pack, sending you through a grime-covered version of Wonderland armed with nothing but a pressure washer.

The Review

Consistent with every other entry in this crossover line, the whimsical, slightly surreal aesthetic of Alice in Wonderland translates well into the game’s cleaning-focused gameplay loop, and the level design leans into the property’s most recognizable imagery in ways that reward familiarity with the source material without requiring it. By this point in the year, having bought several of these packs already, the consistency of quality across the whole line had become its own kind of reassurance, I no longer hesitated before buying a new one.

What I Liked

• Whimsical, well-realized Wonderland-themed levels
• Consistent quality with the rest of the crossover line
• Low price, low risk

What I Didn’t

• Same short-runtime tradeoff as every pack in the series
• Nothing here breaks new ground for the format at this point in the line’s history

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

On brand with the rest of this DLC line’s reliably good value. By this point in the year, PowerWash Simulator’s crossover team had fully earned my trust to just buy on release.

Where to Buy

• Steam store page

DLC Review · Purchased March 11, 2024 · $12.31 CAD via PSN

The Setup

On paper, this is the strangest pairing in PowerWash Simulator’s entire crossover catalogue: the grim, ultra-serious tone of Warhammer 40,000 meets a game about cheerfully spraying grime off objects with a pressure washer.

The Review

That tonal mismatch is exactly why this became one of the most talked-about packs in the game’s community. Cleaning centuries of grime and battle damage off Space Marines, Titans, and other iconic 40K hardware, rendered in PowerWash Simulator’s cheerful, low-stakes visual language, creates a genuinely funny contrast that the developers clearly leaned into rather than shying away from. It helps that the underlying level design and attention to the source material’s iconography is just as careful here as in the more conventionally “fun” crossovers like SpongeBob or Back to the Future.

What I Liked

• A genuinely inspired, funny tonal mismatch that works better than it has any right to
• Strong attention to Warhammer 40K’s distinctive iconography
• One of the most talked-about packs in the whole crossover line for good reason

What I Didn’t

• The joke and appeal depend heavily on knowing Warhammer 40K’s tone well enough to appreciate the contrast
• Same short runtime as every pack in this series

The Verdict

Rating: 5/5

Genuinely one of the standout packs in the whole PowerWash Simulator crossover line, and easily my favourite of the five I bought this year specifically because the concept should not work and absolutely does.

Where to Buy

• Steam store page

DLC Review · Purchased February 16, 2024 · $17.91 CAD via PSN

The Setup

A stealth-adventure VR experience set in a dinosaur-infested Jurassic Park facility, distinguished by a cel-shaded, comic-book art style rather than attempting photorealism, bundling both included episodes into one collection.

The Review

The art direction is genuinely the standout feature here: sneaking around a facility while avoiding raptors hits differently when the whole world looks like it stepped out of a graphic novel, and it holds up better over the course of the game than a more realistic art style might have on comparable hardware. Tension-building is well handled throughout, with a strong sense of danger even though the actual dinosaur encounters are more about evasion than direct confrontation. Where reviews (and my own experience) landed more critical was pacing across the back half of both included episodes, where the core stealth loop starts to feel a bit repetitive before the credits roll.

What I Liked

• Distinctive, well-executed cel-shaded art style
• Genuinely tense stealth gameplay in the front half
• Both episodes bundled together for a reasonable price

What I Didn’t

• Gameplay loop wears thin by the later stages
• Overall runtime is on the shorter side even with both episodes included

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

Reasonable at this price for a good tension-building VR experience, just do not expect a long campaign or a lot of mechanical variety across the runtime.

Where to Buy

• PlayStation Store listing
• Review

DLC Review · Purchased February 3, 2024 · $12.31 CAD via PSN

The Setup

Bought one day after the Back to the Future pack, this crossover sends you scrubbing down Bikini Bottom locations, the Krusty Krab included, using the same core PowerWash Simulator gameplay loop.

The Review

Of the five PowerWash crossover packs in my 2024 haul, this is the one I would call the most charming purely on aesthetic fit: SpongeBob’s exaggerated, colourful art style translates into the game’s cleaning mechanics in a way that feels almost purpose-built for it, grime and grease disappearing off cartoonishly oversized objects with the same satisfying visual payoff the base game is built around. The attention to specific, recognizable Bikini Bottom locations shows the same level of care the Back to the Future pack demonstrated a day earlier.

What I Liked

• Aesthetic and gameplay loop fit together unusually well
• Recognizable, well-realized Bikini Bottom locations
• Consistent quality with the rest of the crossover line

What I Didn’t

• Same short-content-for-the-price tradeoff as every other pack in this line
• Appeal is entirely tied to fondness for the source material

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

Cheap, short, and well made, consistent with everything else in this DLC line, and a personal favourite among the five packs I bought this year specifically for how well the visual style fits the gameplay.

Where to Buy

• Steam store page

DLC Review · Purchased February 2, 2024 · $12.31 CAD via PSN

The Setup

The first of five separate PowerWash Simulator crossover packs I bought across 2024, this one lets you scrub down the DeLorean and other Back to the Future locations using the base game’s signature power-washing gameplay loop.

The Review

PowerWash Simulator’s crossover packs have become a genuine phenomenon within the game’s community specifically because they are so consistently well produced: a handful of new levels built tightly around the licensed property, recognizable music cues and voice work where licensing allows, and level design that clearly understands what made each specific piece of media memorable in the first place. The Back to the Future pack nails the small details, cleaning grime off the DeLorean’s iconic panel lines feels specifically satisfying in a way a generic vehicle would not.

What I Liked

• Faithful, detail-oriented level design
• Short but genuinely well-crafted content
• Strong recognizable music and audio cues

What I Didn’t

• Very short additional playtime for the price if you are not already invested in the base game
• A pack you either want specifically for the license or can easily skip

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

If you already own the base game and like the property, these packs are short but polished, which turned out to be the norm across every single one I bought this year.

Where to Buy

• Steam store page

DLC Review · Purchased January 16, 2024 · $32.92 CAD via PSN

The Setup

The expansion pass covers Dead Island 2’s story-focused post-launch DLC, HAUS and SoLA, each a self-contained side story with new areas rather than extensions of the main campaign itself.

The Review

Both expansions deliver more of what the base game (reviewed separately in this series) does well: weighty, gory melee combat and a strong sense of place, this time in more contained, bespoke environments than the open-world districts of the main game. HAUS in particular leans into a stranger, more surreal art-house setting than the base game ever attempts, which was a genuinely interesting swing even if the actual mission content within it was fairly short. Community and critical reception on both expansions has landed in similar territory: fine, enjoyable extra content, but nothing either expansion does feels essential to the core Dead Island 2 experience.

What I Liked

• Distinct, well-realized bonus environments
• Consistent combat quality with the base game
• HAUS specifically takes an interesting stylistic swing

What I Didn’t

• Neither expansion feels essential
• Each runs shorter than the price might suggest on its own outside the bundle

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

Only makes sense if you are already committed to playing through both expansions specifically. On their own, this is a modest value add rather than a must-buy, and it makes far more financial sense bundled into the Deluxe Edition than purchased separately after the fact.

Where to Buy

• PlayStation Store listing
• Breakdown of contents