Pass the Controller | Latest news, reviews and reviews in video games
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Community
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet the Team
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Community
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet the Team
>

Overcooked | Xbox One

21/8/2016

 
Picture

Couch co-op games have become somewhat antiquated in these modern times, so how refreshing it is to see Overcooked, a local multiplayer focussed fracas from the good fellows at Ghost Town Games. We loved playing the game at Rezzed back in the spring, but has it lived up to it’s huge potential?

Picture

by Rob
​Holt

Picture

@acousticmagic

Picture
Developer: Ghost Town Games
Publisher: Team 17
Platforms: Xbox One,
PS4, PC

Players: 1 - 4
The story is wonderfully silly and fun: things have taken a turn for the worse in the Onion Kingdom, and it’s up to you and your Michelin-starred chums to fill the mighty Ever Peckish’s belly and restore peace. To do this, you’ll be cooking a variety of food; be it soup, pizza, fish and chips, burritos, or burgers, every item on the menu is Slimming World approved! Starting your journey in the early 90s, you’ll be cooking through time in order to obtain the mastery needed to satisfy the terrifying spaghetti beast.

So it’s here we get into the meat and potatoes of the game. At the beginning of each stage you and some in-the-room-chums (shock horror, who the hell has friends in real life these days) are tasked with cooking certain foods, in uniquely designed kitchens. Getting orders to the pass in the quickest time possible is the name of the game, as you race against a ticking clock and manage the often shape-shifting kitchen layout. Getting orders out quickly will result in bigger tips, which in turn gives you more points, and a higher star rating - a challenge that’ll keep you going back to this perfectly seasoned pot.

Mad, frantic gameplay collides with a serene sense of calm - when you get it right - to offer the best local multiplayer experience we’ve seen in a good while. Rotating kitchen counters and ice covered floors offer serious challenge, but those chefs who stick together will find themselves clicking into gear with each other, like machinery at the Luncheon Meat canning factory.

Some kitchens work better with one chef on cooking and one on plating up/cleaning, whereas others work better with chefs focusing on a particular dish - one does the chips, another cooks the fish, etc. Oftentimes we ended up ranting and raving like Gordon Ramsay at each other, to no avail - a considered approach and a willingness to fail and learn will eventually lead to a Nigella-esque sense of smutty self-satisfaction. ​
Picture
Picture
If Keith Floyd were still with us, he’d be raising his bottle to Overcooked - this is essential gaming.
As fun as the game is in multiplayer, it doesn’t send the saliva glands a quivering solo. The joy of assessing a situation and strategizing with a friend (whilst being very vocal with one another) is completely lost here, unless you’re a fantastic self-conversationalist, of course... In solo mode you’ll be chopping and changing which chef you control, whilst you set the other one up with a task, be it frying, washing dishes, etc. It’s noble of Ghost Town to offer a singleplayer experience, but we couldn’t help but find it redundant compared to the wonderful multiplayer.

The overall presentation of the game would make Michel Roux proud, with an aesthetic taken straight from classic games of the 90s. From the Micro Machines inspired vehicle navigation between levels on the world map, to the fabulous music throughout (soft acoustic guitars mix with pianos, accordions, violins and drums), Ghost Town Games have slaved over a hot stove and come up with a masterpiece.
Picture
We loved Overcooked, and will continue to break it out whenever friends visit the majestic, diamond encrusted PTC headquarters. Thoroughly recommended for anyone with chums, you’re guaranteed to get your money’s worth and then some, especially with the added versus mode (exactly what it says on the tin). Online multiplayer would’ve been nice, but we can’t help but love the game that little bit more for failing to conform to modern standards. If Keith Floyd were still with us, he’d be raising his bottle to Overcooked - this is essential gaming.

Pros

  • Some of the best local multiplayer around
  • Fantastic sense of fun in every aspect of the game
  • Wonderful audio
  • Hilarious story
  • Campaign is well paced
  • A good challenge to three star every level
  • Versus mode adds depth and longevity

Cons

  • Singleplayer lacks the joy and chaos of multiplayer
  • No online multiplayer

9/10



Want to know more about Overcooked developer Ghost Town Games? Check out our interview.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.



    READ MORE

    News
    Features
    Videos

    Comment Here

    Categories

    All
    Action Adventure
    Adventure
    Air Combat
    Arcade
    Family
    Fantasy
    Fighter
    Hardware
    Horror
    Indie
    Management Sim
    Multiplayer
    Narrative
    Open World
    Party
    Platformer
    Puzzler
    Racing
    Roguelike
    Roguelite
    Role Playing
    RPG
    Shmup
    Shooter
    Sim
    SoulsLike
    Sports
    Stealth
    Strategy
    Survival
    Virtual Reality


    Archives

    February 2025
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015


    RSS Feed

Pass the Controller

News
Reviews
Features
​
Videos
Community
About

What is PTC

About Us
​Meet the Team
​
Contact Us
Find our reviews on:
  • OpenCritic
  • vrgamecritic
© COPYRIGHT 2014-2022 PTC / JMP.
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.