The Onion King has been fiddling around with magic that must not be touched. The bread has risen… the Unbread! Horrible undead pieces of moldy bread are haunting the kingdom… at least, that’s what he says. It’s largely an informed problem that you’ll only witness a few actual times. Really, the plot is an excuse for you to go out there and cook like you’ve never cooked before!

Overcooked 2 is a game by Team17, where you and other players work together to prepare as many meals as possible within a time limit. This was on sale on the Nintendo eShop a month or so ago and because I’m a brain genius, I decided to get this game instead of the first one to play with my sister. Oh well, it’s not as if the plot actually matters.

Starting a level, players are given a recipe to create at the top of the screen. As you play on, more recipes get thrown on. Failing a recipe will deduct money, while succeeding at making one will also give you a tip based on how fast the players delivered the food. Players get raw ingredients from marked boxes around the level and prepare them. For example, you first start out with making salads, which all call for simple lettuce and tomatoes. You then have to bring those ingredients to cutting boards to chop them up and then you have to plate them to serve. Simple, right?

It gets harder from there. You’ll soon move up to burgers, where you then must chop up the meat and cook it in a skillet. If a piece of food is on a skillet for too long, a fire erupts, forcing you to put it out lest it ruins everything. Of course, burgers also have more intricate recipes. One could ask for just lettuce and tomato, one could ask for cheese, etc, so it’s easy to mess up and give the wrong burger. Recipes and methods of food preparation continue to escalate from there. Some of the hardest levels in the game are ones where you have to prepare both cakes and pancakes, because their ingredients are so largely similar that it becomes easy to put their batter in the wrong contraptions, wasting valuable time.

remembering our last second win #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/D1siq8UYzZ

— Dari (@scitydreamer) December 20, 2019

The real difficulty of Overcooked 2 doesn’t lie in the food you’re preparing however, but rather, the kitchen it’s being prepared in. As you proceed through the game, the kitchens become more intricate and complex to navigate. Initially, everything is within the same area. Soon, the ingredients are being placed far away from the cutting boards and cooking contraptions, so you’re either dashing between stations or dividing the work load.

Then, even if you divide the workload to cover space more efficiently (via throwing ingredients at each other), obstacles start getting introduced. You have to press switches to access things on conveyor belts, you have to walk across a busy street where getting run over resets your work, or you have to control a moving platform so that your partner can access things neither of you can, etc.

This is a co-op game where you’ll really have to work together with people. Level gimmicks will frequently separate players to separate stations, forcing cooperation via passing around plates and throwing food items. Overcooked 2 is a short game, but its value lies in being the best darn chefs possible. It’s a game that tests your ability to coordinate with others, because there’s no way you’re getting 3 stars with sloppy teamwork. Frequently, my sister and I only managed to win through one last order put through at the last second, only possible after mastering the level through multiple retries.

Thankfully, if you don’t have someone to play with, one of Overcooked 2‘s apparent improvements from the first game is the addition of online multiplayer! If you have an itch to play Overcooked but don’t have anyone to play with, Overcooked 2 is the way to go. It’s one of those games that shines when you’re playing with other people, and expanding the scope of people to play with helps seal the deal.

Overcooked 2 is a fun, frantic time that you can enjoy with your friends. If you’re up for chasing scores with someone close to you, Overcooked 2 is the way to go.

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Overcooked 2

$24.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Chaotic multiplayer fun.
• Challenging levels to overcome together.
• Throwing food at people is fun.

Cons

• If you're not into chasing scores, replayability really drops.