Review - Cooking Simulator 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPhNbyx3Mgs

Developer: Big Cheese Studio

Publisher: Big Cheese Studio

Platforms: PC (Steam)

I've enjoyed quite a bit of time on Cooking Simulator on Xbox and PC, as someone who enjoys a bit of real-life cooking and who sometimes wants to play chef without having to deal with all the real-life mess or wait times. Cooking Simulator appealed to me because the focus is on making food without all the noise and bustle of a real chef's kitchen. I wish the developers had thought about those aspects when developing Cooking Simulator 2.

The Hustle and Bustle of a Restaurant Kitchen

Cooking Simulator 2 adds on some new gameplay aspects that seem exciting on paper: restaurant management and online co-op play. Co-op play could be fun with a group of friends or even random strangers in open kitchens. Restaurant management is supposed to add more to it by creating a demand for dishes and offering new management aspects.

However, that's not what my co-op partner and I experienced. When creating a co-op experience, the focus should be on people having fun together. The problem is that working in a real-life kitchen is not inherently fun to most people. Those who love working in a restaurant kitchen often have a real passion for it, and from my experience, love the hustle and chaos within. There is a point in simulation games when you have to look at the real thing and decide which parts are actually fun and include them, and which aren't, and leave those things out.

In Cooking Simulator 2, it just doesn't manage to make the new gameplay fun. The restaurant management feels like a dressing that doesn't really need to be there. Sure, you can directly bring customers food and get their opinions on it, but that side of it really only adds new gameplay that feels unnecessary. There's no real in-depth decoration or management happening beyond deciding how much of a demand you'll have when you open up next. This aspect could have easily been removed for a screen showing orders and having you plate up and send them out the same way we did in the first Cooking Simulator game. There are plenty of restaurant management games out there that show how that should be done and generally do it better.

As for the co-op gameplay, my review partner and I were not having a good time. The thing about co-op play is that games must have something that makes the co-op play an enjoyable experience with other people. Instead, what we experienced was the demands of customers and having to figure out how to work together and around each other, doing kitchen and meal preparation. This could have been an aspect where having a group of people working together or even causing chaos would make it a hilarious time together, but instead, I just found myself remembering why, despite having a passion for food and cooking, I never want to work in a real-life restaurant.

A Major Step Backwards

The new mechanics in Cooking Simulator 2 are a step backward. Customization of a kitchen and restaurant is barely there and doesn't feel like real progression, especially when players can start a game with a full kitchen and restaurant. There's no reason or incentive to start with the smaller kitchen and restaurant option.

Chef customization has a few options that also feel unnecessary in a game where the focus should be on the gameplay, which is cooking simulation. While yes, customization of a chef can help when playing with a large group of people, the few options available make it pointless when there are plenty of chances that multiple people end up creating something similar, or simply going with a default because they just don't care to do more.

Cooking Simulator 2 has also made changes to the physics of the game. While I can understand that those changes should make it an easier experience when playing co-op and prepping meals for the restaurant management aspects, part of the appeal of Cooking Simulator was the full physics system. Dumbing that down in favor of co-op and restaurant management just took away from the experience. Especially when the new gameplay just wasn't fun.

They've added a plating mechanic that honestly reminded me of the plating mechanic in Pokémon Scarlet/Violet. Which, if you have ever played those games, food often doesn't land where you want, and while Cooking Simulator 2 projects where your food placement will be on the plate, you have to wait for it to show, and nobody has time for that when there are customer demands and timers to be met.

Master of Disaster

In the end, my review partner and I eventually discovered we could drop a bunch of random items on burners turned to full blast, and we decided to catch the whole kitchen on fire. The sprinkler system caught and put them out, and then we turned that off and did it again, throwing around cutting boards and other items in an attempt to express our experience of the game. Even doing that felt like a slog when it should have been more chaotic because of how the physics of the game have been dumbed down. And frankly, it was a perfect illustration of where this sequel went wrong.

As far as other aspects of the game go, at least the game looked nice. I was able to play with few bugs, and nothing game-breaking occurred. Recipe creation and customization are cool, too, and that's really all this game has going for it. I do suggest that they update the game so that those who choose to catch their kitchen on fire can reset the whole thing because the next time I loaded in, well, the disaster was still there, and that about sums up my experience.

With all of this said, I don't want to end on a completely negative note. Cooking Simulator dropped plenty of DLCs for the first game, and maybe in the future they'll put out more that improve this sequel. I truly hope they update the game to fix a lot of its issues. As for my rating: If you're looking for a game to simulate the stress of working in an actual restaurant kitchen, yet at the same time lacking the depth of cooking, this game is for you. Otherwise, it's not very fun.

WAIT AND SEE ON COOKING SIMULATOR 2

A key was received for reviewing this game through Terminals.