If you are too hot, invite more people into the kitchen

If you are too hot, invite more people into the kitchen

Behold! The (un)holy Necronomnomicon

They say you should never mess around with the sacred recipes that are bestowed generation upon generation in the world of the cooking occult. But yet there are those who meddle with unsanctioned kitchen ware and bring forth a possible foodpocalypse of culinary proportions. And just like that the Onion Kingdom is in peril again. This time it is the fault of the Onion King himself! What a silly onion, why would he go reading aloud from the fabled Necronomnomicon. Now the kingdom faces an army of zombie baked goods called The Unbread! Surely if you do not intervene and feed the hungry horde everyone will be toast. So grab a buddy, get on your cooking gear and start prepping those meals in Overcooked!2

What is it?

Overcooked!2 is the long awaited sequel to the popular indie game Overcooked. It is an amazing and cute little game that takes place in a cute Mario-world like realm, you have to cook for different groups of people-and cook fast! The player (s) are taking control of puppet looking chefs that must cook meals for their customers. The beginning of the game opens up to a king, his dog, and two of his royal chefs. The king is talking to his dog, about how a book with special recipes would make him strong and powerful. Little does he know, he’s created the unbread! (yes, you heard me: unbread!) He sends his best chefs to get them under control! That’s when you get the chance to show your cooking prowess. You and one or more friends find yourself  in an enclosed cooking station. The game starts with a small tutorial to teach you how to pick up items, chop up ingredients, and how to give the final dishes to the awaiting customers.From there you are on your own, trying to stay in control of the chaos and make sure you serve as many happy customers as you can. 

THE UNBREAD ARE HERE!

Each level lasts a predetermined time, where you can earn a certain amount of points. Get enough points and you will be rewarded with up to 3 stars. And who does not want to eat at a 3 star restaurant? You earn points by serving the right dishes in the right order as the appear in the left top corner of the screen. The faster you get the orders to the customers, the more points you get.(and sometimes you get a nice tip too). Fail to deliver the meal in time and you will lose some of that reputation , and points. The limited time counting down puts on the pressure and only those that can keep their head cool will prevail. Overcooked 2 comes with a plethora of new features ensuring a fresh new experience for returning customers and value for all. There is up to four player coop , local and online. An all new throwing mechanic, interactive dynamic levels with built in hazards. An interactive overworld, Tons of new kitchens and recipes to try out and an army of cure little chefs for you to play with.

Gameplay

The controls in Overcooked!2 are simple enough to grasp. You move around with the stick, interact with X and sprint with B. The Y button lets you perform emoji's to let your team know how you feel about the situation at that time. If you are playing the campaign solo then the shoulder buttons let you switch between two characters on screen, on the fly. 

Each kitchen has a different workstation layout and new recipes that customers ask for.Not all layouts make good sense.To be honest most of the time they are not designed to the most efficient kitchen specifications. and it is up to you to figure out the most optimal route to chop, cook, platter and server the food. Off course do not let anything burn and wash the dishes while you are at it. 

A typical recipe can look like this: Cook rice, chop fish, add cooked rice to a plate, add fish , add seaweed , serve the sushi. Now it is not always necessary to cook all these in order, as long as you have all the ingredients on the plate. As you get more recipes to full fill , items start to stack, timing of cooking, cutting etc. starts to conflict with each other and you are forced to deal with more logistics in the kitchen. Do not let the rice burn, do not run out of clean plates, serve the food in time and get back for the next recipe while the mixer behind you needs some more flour. 

Do this with a group of people and now you also have  to make sure you are not in each others way. Does this sound complicated? Does this sound hectic? You have no idea!

Even though the game can be played solo, it does not thrive until you bring in a friend. The biggest drawback of solo play is the switching mechanic. It feels slow and asynchronous, in a fast paced game such as this, there is no room for this. You need those helping hands to work all at the same time. At first everything is chaos, but soon you start strategizing. Deciding who does what in each new level and things feel more in control, sort of. And this is where the game decides to pull all the stops and introduce crazy interactive levels, hazard will make moving around more difficult.Or the entire level keeps shifting, changing the layout. Such as when find yourself in a hot air balloon in the middle of a storm. Yet another time you cruise on two separate floats in a wild river and you have to toss each other the ingredients across the water. Each level needs a new understanding of the layout and hazards in its particular kitchen in order to achieve enough points to move on.As you play the game you notice that with each level a new variable is introduced, but with little explanation. Luckily everything requires the same to buttons. One button to grab and put down objects and another to do a process such as washing dishes or cutting ingredients. From the very beginning you realize just how important cooperation is in the game.

Presentation

Overcooked!2 is dripping with cuteness, from the colorful characters, interesting level designs and recipes. With a cute story mode and tons of unlockable chefs to choose from the game would already feel complete as you can invite your friends to play on the couch or online to join you in each adventure. But the game brings more. Besides the story mode there is also an arcade mode and a versus mode. The arcade more will offer you the opportunity to work together and get higher scores on some of the games wilder levels, where versus mode can pit chef vs chef, team vs team in order to see who does best in this iron chef marathon.

The music is over joyous, happy and at times down right frantic , urging you to move faster and work harder. Most levels are preceded by on-screen hints and recipe information before you start, allowing you to plan ahead a little before you see the kitchen layout. With a smooth frame rate and tight game play control overcooked might present itself as an adventure but is clearly a party game. It is the game for me that is finally getting me to buy some extra Switch controllers so I can boot up the game at the next party.

The game is a game for families, kids and adults and will bring any quiet room quickly into a pile of laughing screaming bunch of people.

Kat’s Recommendation

It is so cute! I love the cute and puppet-like characters. The art style also makes it easy to see what is what and what you’re doing. This game can be a challenge that requires good communication/teamwork, comprehension, and a level head.Though it starts pretty easy,the game quickly gets very fast paced and frantic, so little kids will definitely have trouble keeping up. It is also best to play with at least one other person because if you play by yourself, you are only able to do one thing at a time, and you need to be able to multitask. Multiple people lets you do that.

Parent Reccomendation

Rated E for everyone by the ESRB, Overcooked!2 is sure fire hit for any gaming family. Perhaps not at the dinner table though. It sucks you in and leaves you hungry for more. The cure overload is going to grab the kids, the gameplay will provide for the parents, and the cooperation aspect is phenomenal. The game can improve puzzle solving, definitely teach you to communication skills (a.k.a yell the loudest), and perhaps a little head to head versus mode can solve who is doing dishes that night. Sorry mom and dad. Who knows, maybe it can even lead to interest in actual cooking which in itself is a whole other level of fun family activity.

Overall Reccomendation

With quick gameplay, a ton of content and great multiplayer support , Overcooked!2 is sure to feel like great value for money. Not priced at the AAA tier of games, but a little more then the many indie games that have been released on recently this game nestles itself at a fair price point of  $29.99.

If you not able to play with a buddy and not in the mood to play the game online then the game might not offer as much value as it wont live up to its true potential.

Overcooked!2 is out August 7, 2018 on all platforms. Go check it out , now your are cooking with gas. Go check it out. And beware of those scary unbread! (maybe carbs are bad for you after all!! ) Arrrrrrgh

Game Information:

Title: Overcooked 2

Developer:  Ghost Town Games ltd.

Publisher: Team17

Release date: 7 August 2018

Platforms:   Nintendo Switch,  PlayStation 4,  Steam,  Xbox One

Version reviewed: Nintendo Switch

Official Site:  https://www.team17.com/games/overcooked-2/