Time to Beat the Main Game and Two Expansions: 9 Hours
The genre of multiplayer games that can
be played on a single screen has steadily shrunk over past two
decades. These games fall into two categories. One is the split
screen, where the computer (or TV) screen is separated into one or
more distinct views. The other is the shared screen, where all
players use the entirety of the screen. The former is popular in
first person shooting and racing games where everyone needs their own
perspective. The latter is used in adventure or party games where
the entire team can be forced to stay together and views their
character from a top down, or side view. Many games that could be
split screen are no longer are produced that way, even as the size of
screens have expanded significantly from the 1990s. Developers can
make more money if they force each player to buy their own copy of
the game.
Overcooked, developed and
released in 2016 by Ghost Town Games, is a shared screen cooking
game. Each player, controlling a chef, moves about a kitchen
preparing meals.
The chefs begin their journey at the
end of the world, as a giant Spaghetti Monster bears down on an
unnamed city. Flaming meatballs smash into towers, covering them in
sauce and flames! After this introductory level, the Onion King
sends the heroes back in time to learn the proper cooking techniques.
Overcooked includes six regions,
each with a different number of levels. Each region has a distinct
theme, though the differences are less about gameplay and more about
aesthetics. There's the regular, fire, ice, desert, and space.
Including the tutorial and final boss, Overcooked contains
thirty levels to enjoy. To advance from level to level players need
to meet two requirements. The player's success in each level is
graded on a three star metric. After selecting a level, but before
it begins, a screen displays the points needed to earn one, two, or
three stars. During a level each served meal is worth twenty points,
plus a tip between zero to ten points, depending on the speed of
delivery. Each missed meal is minus ten points. Earning one star
opens up the next level, but it doesn't necessarily mean the player
can advance. Each level also has a star requirement. For instance,
the sixth level requires eight stars to unlock. That means in the
first five levels the players had to earn 1.6 stars for level, or the
five stars of beating five levels, but also three additional stars.
To progress to the final boss the player needs an average of 2.7
across twenty-seven levels. Though this may sound difficult, since
it implies the player needs an average close to thee, it isn't too
hard.
After a decade of marriage I finally
convinced my wife to play some video games in the past six months.
The coronavirus lockdown probably contributed to her willingness to
try them. Aside from Overcooked, the only other game she has
played is Stardew Valley, and in both she performed
well. Though I would say I did slightly more of the work in
Overcooked, she shouldered her end well, and we beat it in a
reasonable span of time. The only frustrating part was the final
boss, because unlike most levels which are five minutes, his was
twelve, and required five attempts. This is fine. A final boss
demands a mild challenge at minimum.
Each kitchen feels distinct enough
without being too unique. Each has something that sets it apart, but
some obstacles are repeated in other kitchens. The players receive
orders on the top left of the screen. More orders appear as players
serve them. The base game includes only five types of food. Soups
are composed of three of one type of vegetable. There's mushroom,
tomato, and onion soups. There is no mixing of these, each soup is a
single flavor. There's salads, chopped lettuce and tomato. There's
hamburgers; a bun, a beef patty, and sometimes lettuce and/or tomato.
Pizzas are made with chopped (kneaded) dough, cheese, tomato, and
sometimes mushroom or sausage. Finally, the player cooks fish and
chips, chopped fish and potatoes, deep fried.
The chef's actions are pick up object,
chop (which is used on everything from dough, to fish, to cheese),
cook, plate, serve, wash, and use the fire extinguisher. Sometimes
in the frantic bustle to complete orders a pot or pan is left too
long on the stove. A beeping sound warns the player. If not
resolved, the sound crescendos, and eventually the dish bursts into
flame. If not put out flames spread along countertops and stoves.
Rather than use the fire extinguisher to put out fires, it's better
to restart the level. The time needed to put out a fire is so
debilitating that beginning again is a better choice. The exception
would be if the level is nearly over. Therefore, fire extinguishers
are useless, except in the final battle where the Boss drops flaming
food on the kitchen.
The hectic atmosphere is enhanced by
the obstacles. Almost every level has one. Overcooked
includes earthquakes, mice, conveyor belts, cannons, pirate ships,
lava, slippery ice, and moving platforms. In some levels the player
is in control of the obstacle, such as buttons that open one door,
but close another. Levels are designed with distinct layouts to
force the player into different playstyles. Some levels allow (and
necessitate) the production of many dishes, while others inhibit
cooking speed. These are reflected in the scores needed for stars,
but I preferred the kitchens where Overcooked required 400
points over those levels that need only 120 points to earn three
stars. Some of the kitchens demand cooperation to produce meals,
while others only require the players to avoid getting in each
other's way.
The story is very minimal, but
Overcooked still
creates a sense of progression. Food items, obstacles, and
techniques are introduced gradually. The player is allowed to learn
them, and then a new twist increases the difficulty, forcing the
player to master them. This is not true of the two expansions, The
Last Morsel and The Festive Seasoning.
The former only adds six levels, no new recipes, and no story. It
isn't worth buying. The Festive Seasoning is
better, but shares similar issues. It has no story. Even though the
player is graded on stars, levels don't need a particular number for
the player to advance. Both expansions can be beaten by earning
just one star on each level. But the Festive Seasoning
adds eight levels and two new recipes. Stews replace soups. A stew
is still a three ingredient meal cooked in a pot, but is a
combination of beef, carrots, potatoes, and onions. For example, a
Stew might need three chopped steaks, or one steak, one carrot, and
one onion. The second expansion also introduces turkey dinners.
Instead of being cooked in a frying pan, pot, or oven, the player
wields a flame thrower to roast the turkey (and chopped potatoes
and/or carrots). These additions make The Festive
Seasoning a worthy expansion if one is looking for a little
more of the Overcooked experience.
One gripe with Overcooked is it
can be difficult to see if the chef is close enough to pick up an
object. Sometimes in the heat of the kitchen, and the pressure of
demand, one might need to make two or three attempts to pick up a
carrot, or put down a pot. This is especially true of food left on
the floor. Why are there delicious ingredients on the unhygienic
floor you ask? Because sometimes there isn't room on the
countertops. Customers don't care where there food has been as long
as it is served on time.
In conclusion,
Overcooked is one of those
fabulous things, a multiplayer game that can be played on one screen.
It's a bit short, and starts to reheat some of its dishes, but it's accessible for new gamers. It has enough diversity to keep
the player engage to the final dish has been served at the
challenging boss battle. While the visuals aren't amazing, they are
appropriately utilitarian enabling the player to work briskly.
Reviews of Overcooked 2 extol an even more hectic
kitchen atmosphere with an improved formula. It's on already on my
list to play next year.
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