Review: Overcooked Gourmet Edition (XBOX)
We are consistently inundated with a growing market of video games, with seemingly limitless options. With so many available options, many are flocking to some of the newer games on the market. I was on the fence about buying Overcooked prior to the actual point of sale. You certainly want to be sure of a purchasing decision prior to popping it in your gaming console. Try as you might, this might be your new best friend.
Review: Overcooked Gourmet Edition
Do you have a friend that promises to be there for you but you can’t figure out how to test the game sans the long wait time? Introducing Overcooked Gourmet Edition! This game has a split-screen interactive feature. The best part is, it’s even better to have the person you are playing with in the same room as you.
Most split screen games are competitive and it becomes unfair if you can see the other person. Well, Overcooked offers a solution to this problem!
The goal of the game is to manage your time efficiently and delegate assignments to the two characters you play on solo or work with just your character individually in multiplayer. The aesthetic is one of a children’s game, but it is far from it.
This story plot features a world under attack and monster that requires feeding before he kills you. In the beginning, there’s certainly an inability to complete this task no matter how hard you try. It sounds like sci-fi, but an onion bulb character takes you back in time to practice your cooking abilities to improve them for future use when under attack at the hands of the monster.
Though it is a cartoon-style game, the interesting characters and plot line make this game fun for all to enjoy and recommendable to a wide audience of video game fans.
Overcooked Gourmet Edition: Learning abilities
Overcooked makes the players think about what they are making as the game slowly leads you to learn harder and harder recipes. Along with the difficulty of making more complex meals, the view of the entire world and environment will change drastically as well.
The objective is to fill the order in the top of the screen in a timely fashion, not doing so is grounds for being penalized. You need to keep up with the orders by making them, delivering them to the window for a server to grab, and cleaning the plates when they come back- because you are given a set amount. Wash, rinse, and repeat.
This game gives you the typical feel of how a restaurant operates without the reality of industry- hassle.
Overcooked Gourmet Edition: Exciting Levels
The levels of the game are all slightly different but similar. There are ice levels where you will slip and slide off a glacier. On other levels there are no lights except for options to guide your path and navigate the game. The levels continue to change to fire, ice, darkness, or just a timing setup.
The timing setups are akin to vehicles that will come together so you can cook some meat on one, meanwhile, the other one has all the ingredients. The trick here is to work together or by yourself to maintain a constant flow of goods going back and forth between the two vehicles.
There are several stages like this that also add in the other effects of the world. For example, there may be a “slippery ice” level where you need to jump across several ice blocks to deep fry some fish.
As the levels increase the difficulty increases exponentially. The game is initiated with a typical cook, a soup, or burger in the kitchen pictured below. No problem. The game soon requires you to cook a full-course meal with everything scattered along a path of lava in a timely manner.
Failure in the game can seem enraging, but success is very rewarding and what keeps players going back for more.
Upon success, stars are allotted for good performance. You will receive up to three stars for an outstanding job and only one if you barely got by. The more stars the more options you have for places you can go, and you get closer to the end of the game.
Overcooked Gourmet Edition: Is it worth it?
This game is really fun and enjoyable for parties, a great option for playing with friends. I can admit from my own time spent on this game, it can be somewhat frustrating. Thankfully not the kind of frustration that devolves into rage and makes you walk away.
The game itself can cause fights, yelling arguments, and more. The gameplay is very precise. The audio is strong, but there are only two songs that play on repeat. The storyline is very strange but unique in its own right.
This game really tries to get more people into the split-screen game mode by designing it so two people can play on a single controller. I have not tried this, but it’s certainly conceptually interesting.
The game is quite enjoyable but I recommend playing with a trusted friend who has promised you their time.
