“Every single Overcooked player is going to enjoy the Festive Seasoning DLC.”
Overcooked has been out little more than four months so far, but the awesome little couch co-op title from Ghost Town Games and Team17 is getting in the Christmas spirit. Festive Seasoning, the game’s second collection of DLC content to be released so far, brings a wintery touch to the title, with new levels to play and characters to unlock. What’s more, all of these new challenges and reward are free to all. How very charitable of the teams at this giving time of year!
If you have been unfortunate enough to miss Overcooked until now, the aim of the game is to prepare and serve meals in a variety of obstacle-filled kitchens, earning as many points as possible before time runs out. In a similar way to many mobile games, each stage has a total of three stars to be earned, driving you to work your culinary skills to the bone in order to fully complete every level. Teamwork and a cool, calm and collected mentality are your best resources on your mission for sweet success. Naturally, these things are usually lost in the chaos…
The Festive Seasoning brings two totally new recipes to the game – the traditional Christmas dinner and a seasonal stew. Your task is to cook up turkeys and vegetables for some most delectable dishes, and to do so in style. Forget your everyday ovens and pans; Festive Seasoning brings the heat by precariously handing you a flamethrower to do your worst with. If the developers were looking to spice things up a bit, this certainly captures your interest when you first get to play with your new toy. Just like the other elements in the game, you quickly learn to make the best (and quickest) use of it in order to maximise efficiency and gain maximum points. Practical, productive and probably dangerous, it is easy to appreciate the addition of new cooking utensils to your arsenal.
The new levels in the Festive Seasoning DLC are challenging as ever. Eight stages make up the winter wonderland map in this miniature side story, traversed in style of course on a hefty snow plough. All of your most hated obstacles from the main game make a return to screw you over too, including conveyor belts, ice and pit falls. However, rage inducing as these testing levels can be, their stylisation with a seasonal theme makes them a beautiful backdrop to the action. If anything, they are perhaps even easier on the eye than the main missions themselves were.
Your favourite Onion friend, and of course his dog Kevin, make a return too, suggesting that perhaps you should play the main game before trying these levels out for the first time. In terms of difficulty, the Festive Seasoning stages feel as though they would fit best in the mid-to-late game, so players with at least a couple of hours of experience in Overcooked should be able to manage just fine. The new cooking methods in the Festive Seasoning DLC mean that there isn’t too much pre-learning required in order to be able to understand the action and objectives. The main challenge comes in traversing the puzzles of each individual stage themselves. Testing but by no means impossible, you will need a few go’s to get maximum stars, but passing each level shouldn’t hurt your ego too badly on your first run.
For players who have spent some time with the game, you will understand that the main reason you are really here is for the new unlockable characters. Don’t try to deny it. If you unlocked the Dinosaur and the Robot in The Lost Morsel DLC then you have undoubtedly already been sucked in by Overcooked’s crew of colourful chefs. Festive Seasoning offers up two new friendly faces for your collection; Mr Snowman and the Derpy Reindeer, as me and my partner fondly named them. The pair have just as much charm as the game’s previous characters, but bring the all-important Christmas-y touch. Whoever you decide to play through the levels with however, every character gets a lovely Santa hat to make them look the part. Aesthetically, the Festive Seasoning maintains and improves Overcooked’s outstanding aptitude for style.
Every single Overcooked player is going to enjoy the Festive Seasoning DLC. It’s challenging levels, appearance, additions to gameplay and new and shiny characters fit the game perfectly, and in some areas improve upon what was already on offer. The only downside perhaps is that the DLC is quite short. You will play some levels a couple of times in order to fully complete them, but even then there is only a couple of hours of action to play through. That being said, the additional content is totally free, so really there is nothing to turn your nose up at. I would happily have paid a few quid for the pleasure of playing the Festive Seasoning DLC. The fact that I didn’t have to simply makes the experience an even more gratifying one. Merry Christmas!
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