Like the first game, but stronger
By Katie Czenczek, Staff Writer
What was arguably the best couch co-op game to come out in recent years, Overcooked 2 lives up to the high expectations set by the first game. The sequel manages to build on the first game while still using the same ingredients cooked up in the original.
Overcooked 2 is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One and might be just the game to pull out when you have friends over and it comes to the point in the night when everyone starts checking their phones. However, you can now even play co-op online, which makes the game all the more accessible.
The game is still set in the Onion Kingdom—and still failing to explain why the Onion King is perfectly fine with chefs chopping up other onions and throwing them in stews—only there is a new monster in town called the Unbread. Massive hordes of these creatures are eating up all of the food in the kingdom, so it is up to the chefs to save the day by cooking up a ton of recipes via food truck. That’s about as far as the sequel’s storyline goes because this isn’t a game people flock to for the plot. As you traverse throughout the world, you can cook on a spaceship, a hot air balloon, in a boat floating down the bayou, and many other locations and venues.
The reason this game should make it onto your shelf is for the utterly hilarious chaos that is trying to run a kitchen. Be warned, this game isn’t for your less-developed relationships, as within minutes you’ll find yourself screaming at your friends, partners, and grandmothers to grab the damn soup before it sets on fire. This game is designed to stress you out. Some of the designs set up by the first game to make you break a sweat include the beeping timer that indicates your food is about to catch aflame or the shaking order that warns that you’re about to lose a customer. The sequel builds onto this feature by adding levels where things randomly catch on fire without a fire extinguisher handy, along with many other twists and turns that will keep you on your toes.
While you drive to the next story level in the hub world, there are hidden levels that you can discover along the way. For these levels, you sharpen your knives and ready a little snack for Kevin, the Onion King’s dog. At times they can be more challenging than the main story levels.
The newest and coolest new mechanic, however, is the throwing feature. Now you can toss raw ingredients across the kitchen to your fellow chefs in a way that is absolutely not food-safe. The mechanic works nicely with the levels, where at times you’ll be forced to throw ingredients in order to complete orders based on the level design. This feature can be game-changing or disastrous depending on how players use it.
The sequel is just as fun as the original, and if I were to pick between the two, I would choose Overcooked 2 just due to it being a more finely-crafted game. It hits all of the points that make the first game great but has a ton of added features that take it up a notch.
