The single new mechanic makes it different to play in a smart way, and also allows for level design and tactics to change drastically while keeping the spirit of the first. That said, it didn’t need a huge overhaul. So, here is where I need to justify my score – anyone reading this will see I plagiarised my own review of the previous installment to describe the gameplay because this is a title that has improved as an iteration rather than as an evolution. Trying to do the same with someone who has no shared history or personal filters? No thanks. However, I can’t imagine playing this with strangers, as the tension generated among friends is already high enough. Sometimes the game lagged at a key moment and I’d drop to my death , but overall the connection was stable and it was easy to course-correct for other hiccups. Since cooperation and teamwork are the key to success, the biggest addition to Overcooked! 2 is ostensibly the online functionality, and I’m happy to say that it works - for the most part. As such, it’s no stranger to making friends get extremely terse, and sometimes partners must step away for a few minutes, especially near the end - the final few levels are as stressful as anything from the first game. A successful round of Overcooked! requires players to talk to each other constantly in order to negotiate obstacles in a coordinated way. Even a veteran chef’s skills will be taxed.ĭespite the challenge of quick cooking, cooperation will always prevail by figuring out each player’s personal strengths, establishing organization systems, and sharpening up reactions and accuracy. The tension here is the same as the first, in that a minor slip like a mistimed throw or a poorly-navigated platform will result in a lost dish and a rating of less than three stars. I ran through some of the early levels with inexperienced players in co-op and we were soon three-starring many on our first try, but the difficulty does ramp up. Halfway through one of these, an event might occur that requires players to rethink their strategies completely. Having said that, I found the first ten levels to be a light and excellent introduction to other new elements besides throwing, such as new hazards – teleporters, player-controlled platforms and disappearing walkways – and new multi-stage levels. Doing so while also dealing with moving platforms, teleporters and disappearing chairs requires mastery. It may seem like a small adjustment, but it allows for level designs to change markedly - negotiating a precipice while one teammate chops a lettuce before throwing it across a gap is a nice challenge. In terms of mechanics, the devs astutely decided not to change their streamlined formula - the only new verb introduced is the ability to throw raw materials, but not plates or cooked goods.

In co-op this becomes a case of each player controlling one chef, and in versus there are two teams of two competing. The complexity comes in timing and coordination, as each workstation or oven is positioned in a different place, and there are hazards the player must negotiate between different points. These are sensibly mapped to two face buttons on the controller - one to pick up plates and pots, another to execute a contextual action such as ‘wash a plate’ or ‘knead dough’.

In singleplayer, there are two chefs to switch between, but moving, performing an action, and picking things up are the only actions that a player must figure out. There’s a scoring system that metes out between 0 to 3 stars, and earning stars is required to unlock levels. Delivering incorrectly-made meals nets no points, and failing to deliver meals on time earns fewer points. The point of play is to deliver properly ‘cooked’ meals promptly and earn points. Ghost Town had ideas, though, starting with expanding the content by offering six worlds featuring six levels each. Frankly, I had no idea what could be added to improve on its already-great formula. This time new levels, new recipes, and - crucially - online multiplayer have been added to broaden the audience.įor context, I loved the first installment, I chose it as one of my top games of 2017, and reviewed it here. It won’t surprise anyone that Overcooked! 2 is the sequel to Overcooked! by Ghost Town Games – the original was a cheery-looking cooking title where the player was required to run around preparing meals on a top-down plane, but the upbeat art style disguised the fiendishly tense content. HIGH Running over ‘Unbread’ in the overworld.

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