Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! (PC) Review

When the sequel was announced, there were obviously some major questions to be answered. Would enough be done to merit a full sequel and would it be different enough to make people buy it? After spending a good amount of time in solo and multiplayer, the answer is, thankfully, yes.

In Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!, players take on the role of an experienced manager and chef who has seen their beloved Cook, Serve, Delicious restaurant stymied by Fat Cat executives who have taken the money and done a runner, leaving everything up for federal auction. It's up to the player, then, to start all over again from scratch. The first dingy diner will be familiar to fans of the first game, but there is now also a twist as gamers can work as chefs for hire in other restaurants, as well as in their own, which allows you to gain experience with a large array of foods (the game promises over 180 mains, sides, drinks and desserts) in over 350+ levels [read: set menus] across 30 different restaurants.

While the gameplay mechanics remain largely untouched - if it ain't broke, same as with the Overcooked releases - there are some new additions. At the top of the screen are four new prep stations that allow for foods or items, such as soups and pretzels, to be prepped in the background while attending to the other orders, which allows for greater task management and speedy delivery of orders to happy customers. These foods can go off over time, so you need to keep prepping them in advance of busier times.

This new dynamic may well take a little while for Cook, Serve, Delicious chefs to get the hang of, but once it clicks the rest of the game starts to make sense as otherwise it's all too easy to feel overwhelmed. It's easy to feel overwhelmed because it is hard as nails. It's bonkers. Really, it's out there. Orders fly in faster than ever and because of the increased range of foods on offer and customisation offered to the 'customers,' there are now multiple toppings and options accessed by using the trigger buttons on the controller. It's a simple change, but it's one that makes all the difference, and the same can be said of the local co-operative multiplayer, which introduces nine service stations and five holding prep areas.