The co-op cooking game Overcooked 2 was one of the featured third-party announcements during Nintendo’s E3 presentation this year. After playing it, I understand why.
While others on the Kotaku team have been praising the first Overcooked for a while, I hadn’t had the time (or, sniff, the friends) to play it. At E3, after a few rounds of Smash Bros. in the Nintendo booth, I did.
It’s still a game about communication and the struggle to avoid slapstick follies while running around trying to cook up orders that keep coming in.
The Nintendo reps showing me the game said that the ability to toss food was new. Cool. Better? Stages can change a lot, something they said wasn’t a thing in the last game. In the clip here, you’ll see me and three other players initially try to fill orders in a salad restaurant that’s in a hot air balloon. By the end of the level, we’ve crashed into a sushi joint and are cooking there. It was fun.
Overcooked 2 is slated for release on August 7. It’s not just on Switch, though. It’s also slated for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. A Nintendo rep told me the new game can be played solo, but it’s clearly best experienced in co-op. It’ll support local and online play.