Over the years, I have heard a lot about Overcooked and how fun it could get playing with friends or family; however my knowledge of it was only second-hand thus far. With a piqued interest and need for something to play with my youngest brother I decided to finally give Overcooked 2 a go and see if it was just as charming as people had made it out to be.
Charming is perhaps the correct word to describe a game such as this, as from the cut-scene presentation to the cute low-poly models, everything looks and sounds absolutely amusing due to its simplicity, something that seeps over to the controls and gameplay as well.
The game is very approachable and does not come with a steep learning curve. You simply move your character, pick up recipe ingredients and bring it to different stations depending on whether you want to chop, cook, steam or serve them. Once the required action is done, you then pick it up again and dump it on a plate, finally serving it to your customers. Other than that you have buttons such as throw or rush which help speed up this process. I believe the throw button was not available in the previous game but this time it is, and you can just throw things into pots or cooking boards which is really fun and time saving!
The UI is intuitive as well where there isn’t a lot of clutter of information and the required dishes are clearly shown on the top, as well as the ingredients they require. As you complete the dishes, the orders begin to clear. Each level is set to a time limit, in which you have to cook and serve as many dishes as you can and based on your performance are graded up to 3 stars.
The story itself is quite simple where the king unknowingly awakens the “Unbread“! Yes you read that right; these are the dead baked goods that have been accidentally bought to life. You along with who you may be playing, have to travel in order to learn and improve your cooking to ultimately return, all ready to sate the undead walking breads’ monstrous appetite. As I have said it is a simple premise but one that is really creative.
The game can be played either alone or in co-op, but is best enjoyed with friends or families as the kitchen can get hectic at times when more recipes and ingredients start coming into the fold. When playing alone, as you will be required to do everything yourself, you can switch between different characters which adds tactical possibility as at times when one cook is focusing on chopping the vegetables you can take control of the other and prepare a different part of the dish. Like cooking in a real restaurant, you truly have to multi-task. However unlike a real restaurant, due to simple recipes and clearly labelled ingredients as well as this being a game, it isn’t as frustrating.
The real challenge comes when you start playing with another player, as at times the game splits up the map with barriers where each player is bound to different stations. So, one player may only have access to cutting boards and some ingredients, whilst the other has access to different ingredients and cooking stations. This method of splitting players up is really ingenious as it prompts clear communication between players, where each can focus on different duties. So, it is definitely easy to learn but hard to master like all good games should be.
One of the best things about mastering this is, once you and your partner may start thinking that you have the flow nailed down, another mechanic or environment comes along to prove you wrong. For example, initially, you have linear levels where you just have to dump food onto available dishes before serving it, but down the line you are required to wash certain plates as well which takes time, not to mention fires can start breaking out as well with certain levels taking place in odd locations like the sky, trapping different players between platforms, prompting you to throw the items to each other.
The only main issue I have faced with the game is how it can get repetitive after a good while of continuously playing since fundamentally everything boils down to just a few different actions that you are completing against the clock. Luckily however, the game’s couch and arcade modes as well as the ever changing locations and obstacles make up for this fact as the game is always ready to mix things up. Not to mention, since it is simple to learn you can always jump off when you are bored and jump in when ready to play more.
Overall, with the right people, the game can be immensely enjoyable, especially when the clock starts ticking and chaos breaks out. There is definitely a lot of fun and laughter to be had with kids as well, since I played this with my youngest brother who really enjoyed it even though his taste is usually catered to by sensational games like Fortnite. The game is less than £20 at the moment, and is bound to be on sale down the line so it is definitely recommended that you pick it up, especially if you are a parent looking for something to play with their young kids.