Overcooked All You Can Eat is the ultimate bundle of the popular Overcooked games, featuring both titles and all additional content in one packed offering. With hundreds of levels to play through and endless hours of frantic cooperative multiplayer fun, it delivers exceptional value for fans of the franchise.
What do you get with Overcooked All You Can Eat?
Overcooked All You Can Eat includes the full versions of both Overcooked and Overcooked 2, bringing together all of the levels, chefs, recipes, and game modes from the original titles. In total, there are over 200 levels to play through across a wide range of imaginative kitchens. From pirate ships and hot air balloons to mines and magic schools, the diversity of kitchen themes helps keep gameplay feeling fresh and exciting.
On top of the base games, All You Can Eat comes loaded with bonus content. There are seven extra DLC packs with new levels and chefs, including the Campfire Cook Off, Carnival of Chaos, Night of the Hangry Horde, and Kevin’s Christmas Cracker packs. For extra longevity, there is also a “Survival Mode” that challenges you to complete as many orders as possible before the time limit expires.
What new features are included?
Alongside all existing Overcooked content, All You Can Eat introduces some new features and enhancements. Cross-play support allows players on different platforms to cook together online for the first time. So whether your friends are on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox or PC, you can all join the same chaotic kitchen.
The games have also been optimized for online multiplayer with better connectivity, smoother performance and the ability to jump in or out of games seamlessly. Local wireless play is now an option too, allowing those in the same location to play across multiple consoles or devices.
For newcomers, there is an extensive training mode that teaches you the basics of chopping, cooking, plating and serving. Helpful assistance options are available too, like visual indicators when you’re about to burn or overcook ingredients. Veterans can disable these aids and enjoy the full-on challenge of coordinating a kitchen under pressure.
What are the main modes of play?
The core of the Overcooked experience revolves around local and online co-op. You can play with up to four players per team, either competitively against another team or cooperatively to achieve high scores. The objective in each level is to work together to prepare and cook orders under a tight time limit.
There are regular cooking levels where you must continuously serve up meals to earn stars. Survival levels task you with persisting as long as you can against an endless stream of orders. And versus kitchens pit two teams against each other in a race to complete the most dishes. All require close teamwork to chop, cook, combine, serve and wash dishes across frantic, failing kitchens.
The games can also be played solo, switching control between two chefs in single player. But the chaotic cooperative experience is arguably where Overcooked truly shines as a party title, rarely failing to descend into joyful screams, excited strategizing and panicked improvisation.
Why is it so popular?
Overcooked’s phenomenal success rests on its perfect blend of easy pick-up-and-play accessibility with immense depth for dedicated players to master. The controls are simple – move, chop, cook, plate, serve, wash. But combining these basic actions amid relentless time pressure and escalating catastrophes is a recipe for delightful, edgy hilarity.
The games are exceptionally easy to learn but fiendishly difficult to conquer. Levels start simply but rapidly increase in complexity, forcing teams to continually refine their coordination and strategy under escalating emergencies. It’s an experience that lends itself perfectly to both one-off casual play sessions and dedicated attempts to beat personal best scores.
The kitchens themselves are filled with creative comedic charm. Having to serve soup from the back of a runaway van or deliver sushi from a floating hot air balloon makes for gloriously absurd scenarios. The diverse themes prevent repetition, while steadily introducing new mechanics and obstacles to overcome.
Overcooked also nails the visual presentation. Levels pop with color, vibrancy and character. The chefs themselves are cute, charismatic bundles of panicked energy prone to exaggerated reactions, failure flails and celebratory high fives. Combined with an upbeat soundtrack, the game absolutely oozes quirky, frenetic fun.
What are the negatives?
Overcooked is not without some downsides. The frantic pace can become too stressful and overwhelming for some players. Having to restart a lengthy level after a single mistake can be frustrating. And games can quickly descend into chaotic yelling rather than coordinated teamwork if tempers flare.
The difficulty curve is quite steep. Some later levels require almost perfect precision and planning. You’ll need to repeat levels continuously to learn layouts, optimal routes and strategies. This process of trial and error can test the patience of less dedicated players.
With so much content packed in, there is a bit of repetition and lack of variety between certain levels. The random chaos of local multiplayer also isn’t ideally suited for long, concentrated play sessions. And weak online connectivity at launch resulted in some frustrations.
But most negatives must be weighed against the fact this is a compilation package. Minor grievances with individual levels are mitigated by the ability to quickly move onto something fresh. And the issues aim to be ironed out with post-release patches.
Is it good for single player?
While Overcooked is firmly designed as a party title for local and online multiplayer, there are still reasonable options for solo play. The core local co-op experience translates well, with the ability to instantly switch between two chefs under your control.
The frantic pace remains enjoyable as you dash around trying to control both characters. Having two sets of hands helps overcome some of the trickier scenarios. And all the levels are fully playable alone without compromising the challenge.
That said, the experience is arguably still best played cooperatively. Much of the fun comes from the tense coordination, joyful chaos and emotional reactions enabled by other human players. Solo play misses this unpredictable energy. But as an option for practicing levels or on the go, single player works perfectly well.
How accessible is it for beginners?
A major strength of Overcooked is its instant accessibility for gamers of all abilities. Controls are extremely simple, just involving movement and a few context-sensitive button presses. The basic mechanics of chopping, cooking, cleaning and serving are easy to grasp.
The game does an excellent job of slowly easing you into the basics across a series of bite-sized training levels. Pop-up tips remind you of controls as you play. And optional assists like visual cooking timers help newcomers adjust without being overly intrusive for experts.
Each level also provides information on the recipes required and number of kitchen stations. This gives you the ability to formulate rough strategies before diving into the chaos. Despite the frantic challenge, the fundamentals are friendly and approachable throughout.
Is there enough content and replay value?
With over 200 levels across a dozen imaginative kitchens themes included, All You Can Eat has plentiful content to sink your teeth into. Each level can take between 3-5 minutes in a perfect run, but expect to invest much more time mastering them with full three-star rankings.
Just working through all the levels cooperatively will provide dozens of hours of entertainment. The varied objectives, escalating difficulty and desire for perfect ratings then provide near infinite replay potential. Dedicated players can easily drop hundreds of hours into chasing high scores.
Extra modes like survival challenges and versus battles add more value for your money. And the seven DLC packs included further bulk up the content, especially fun simulator-style levels like the Carnival Caravan kitchen. For fans of the series, this really does represent an all you can eat buffet of Overcooked goodness.
How does it improve upon previous titles?
All You Can Eat takes the best elements of Overcooked 1 and 2, polishes them up and combines them into the ultimate package. Small quality of life improvements enhance the overall experience.
Cross-play support now allows broader online multiplayer functionality. Being able to play with friends on any platform opens up the cooperative and competitive possibilities. Online play has also been optimized to be smoother and more reliable than in previous editions.
Visually, the game looks better than ever with smoother animations, enhanced textures and additional dynamic effects. Loading times between levels are snappier too. It all combines to create the most polished and optimized Overcooked package yet.
For newcomers, the helpful training mode and assistance options ease you in better than earlier titles. And with all games and DLC packed in, this is by far the most cost effective way to experience everything Overcooked has to offer.
Is it worth full price?
Overcooked All You Can Eat launched at a full recommended retail price of $39.99 USD. This is excellent value when you consider everything that’s included. Even at launch price, you’re getting two full games and seven DLC packs that would cost over $100 purchased individually.
Of course, value perception is subjective. But with potentially hundreds of hours of cooperative multiplayer entertainment included, most players will be more than satisfied with the amount of chaotic cooking action provided for the asking price.
Compared to the cost of going out for a single meal, Overcooked All You Can Eat provides weeks, months or even years of communal fun at a fraction of the price. If you’re a fan of the Overcooked series who has yet to play the DLC, or a newcomer looking to get started, the launch cost represents excellent bang for buck.
Verdict: Is Overcooked All You Can Eat worth buying?
For fans of the Overcooked franchise, All You Can Eat is an essential purchase packed with value. It combines all previous titles, extra content and new features into the definitive package. The frantic cooperative cooking chaos remains as enjoyably intense as ever.
Improvements like cross-play support, online optimization and gameplay assists enhance accessibility and longevity. The sheer wealth of content provides almost endless replay potential for dedicated players. And at a budget price, this collection bundles together astonishing value.
Some frustrations with repetition and difficulty spikes remain. But in terms of chaotic camaraderie and riotous multiplayer mayhem, Overcooked still serves up some of the most enjoyable co-op experiences around. All You Can Eat is the delicious buffet version set to satisfy even the heartiest appetites.
So if you’re looking for a cost-effective way to enjoy one of the best couch co-op franchises around, either alone or with friends and family, Overcooked All You Can Eat easily delivers. This is an essential purchase for fans hungry to experience more of gaming’s tastiest cooperation.
