Hell's Kitchen
Recently I've been enjoying a slew of shows on YouTube based around the ubiquitous and foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay. I'm not much of a foodie myself and only recently noticed the phenomena of this highly successful chef and his shows (I don't have cable or satellite). The few cooking shows that I've seen in the past feature chubby, affable character such as Emeril or Prudhomme. Ramsay shatters this image. He has a almost tourette-like habit of swearing. He will fire his own staff at the drop of a hat and get quite personal when berating them. However, this failed soccer star can pour on the Scottish charm and somehow come off as likable to his audience. Love him or hate him, you must agree his TV presence is a cash cow for networks. Shows like Hell's Kitchen, Boiling Point, The F word, Kitchen Nightmares (one of my favorites) are highly popular and have earned him millions.
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On the reality show Hell's Kitchen, contestants are pitted against each other in a trial by fire race to head one of Ramsay lucrative, 5-star restaurants by serving up food that meets this exacting standards. Is it possible that a reality show about food, of all things, can spin-off into a decent game? The answer is yes. The game is very enjoyable.
Hell's Kitchen is a fun, 3-D, micro-management, click-fest in the realm of games like Defend Your Castle, and Insaniquarium. The goal of the game is to manage the food coming out of the kitchen and the demanding customers coming from the dining area. All while under the watchful eye and wrinkly brow of Ramsay. In the kitchen you must prep various types of food - meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, dairy and grains. You then throw these prepped items into pots, pans and oven so they all finish cooking at the same time. It's not as easy as it sounds. Dishes can have 1-3 food groups in them and some take longer than others. Don't start cooking dishes that take 3 seconds to cook before dishes that take 17 seconds to cook. The 3 second dish will burn on the oven or get too cold waiting to get served. If you bring the dishes up just right, Ramsay will treat you to a rare compliment. If you 'cock it up', all the dishes you are preparing go in the bin and you will have to start over. Then you are treated to a nice Ramsay phrase like, 'You donkey!' or a more R-rated 'That's absolute rubbish, get it in the fucking bin, now!' Ramsay has a flaming pissed-off-o-meter beside him and if it gets too high he will close down Hell's Kitchen and 'take the piss right out of you' (lol, English swearing is hilarious to my Yank ears).
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Not only must you furiously dump food into pots and pans, but you must manage a busy dining room and direct a waiter to the various customers. There are several types of customers in order of various You have the casual diners, the retirees, the impatient socialites and the chatty business suits. On the more difficult scale are the glamorous couples, the large parties and the dreaded food critics. You have to spread out your interactions with them or you will slam yourself with tickets in the kitchen. But, they will let out an exasperated sigh if you don't take there order, seat them or clear their table in a timely manner, all of which will cause Ramsay's meter will climb. You must survive each game day's service for 40 days to climb the ranks from Dishwasher to Executive Chef. Each day you play will unlock a genuine Gordon Ramsay recipe which you can print out and attempt to cook yourself.
I quite like the game. It's a nice pick-up type game that you can get right into. The graphics are colorful and the game play is well paced. It's not a very long game and I'm close to beating it after only a couple days playing it. If you are a fan of the show, and/or you like these type of fast management type of games, I think you will enjoy it. After playing it for only an hour on the demo, I hastily ordered the full game because it was so addicting. BE CAREFUL! I ordered the stupid G-rated version with the cleaned up language. It's just not Hell's Kitchen without the swearing! Look for the uncencored version on FOX's website. The downloadable demo last about an hour.
Recently I've been enjoying a slew of shows on YouTube based around the ubiquitous and foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay. I'm not much of a foodie myself and only recently noticed the phenomena of this highly successful chef and his shows (I don't have cable or satellite). The few cooking shows that I've seen in the past feature chubby, affable character such as Emeril or Prudhomme. Ramsay shatters this image. He has a almost tourette-like habit of swearing. He will fire his own staff at the drop of a hat and get quite personal when berating them. However, this failed soccer star can pour on the Scottish charm and somehow come off as likable to his audience. Love him or hate him, you must agree his TV presence is a cash cow for networks. Shows like Hell's Kitchen, Boiling Point, The F word, Kitchen Nightmares (one of my favorites) are highly popular and have earned him millions.
On the reality show Hell's Kitchen, contestants are pitted against each other in a trial by fire race to head one of Ramsay lucrative, 5-star restaurants by serving up food that meets this exacting standards. Is it possible that a reality show about food, of all things, can spin-off into a decent game? The answer is yes. The game is very enjoyable.
Hell's Kitchen is a fun, 3-D, micro-management, click-fest in the realm of games like Defend Your Castle, and Insaniquarium. The goal of the game is to manage the food coming out of the kitchen and the demanding customers coming from the dining area. All while under the watchful eye and wrinkly brow of Ramsay. In the kitchen you must prep various types of food - meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, dairy and grains. You then throw these prepped items into pots, pans and oven so they all finish cooking at the same time. It's not as easy as it sounds. Dishes can have 1-3 food groups in them and some take longer than others. Don't start cooking dishes that take 3 seconds to cook before dishes that take 17 seconds to cook. The 3 second dish will burn on the oven or get too cold waiting to get served. If you bring the dishes up just right, Ramsay will treat you to a rare compliment. If you 'cock it up', all the dishes you are preparing go in the bin and you will have to start over. Then you are treated to a nice Ramsay phrase like, 'You donkey!' or a more R-rated 'That's absolute rubbish, get it in the fucking bin, now!' Ramsay has a flaming pissed-off-o-meter beside him and if it gets too high he will close down Hell's Kitchen and 'take the piss right out of you' (lol, English swearing is hilarious to my Yank ears).
Not only must you furiously dump food into pots and pans, but you must manage a busy dining room and direct a waiter to the various customers. There are several types of customers in order of various You have the casual diners, the retirees, the impatient socialites and the chatty business suits. On the more difficult scale are the glamorous couples, the large parties and the dreaded food critics. You have to spread out your interactions with them or you will slam yourself with tickets in the kitchen. But, they will let out an exasperated sigh if you don't take there order, seat them or clear their table in a timely manner, all of which will cause Ramsay's meter will climb. You must survive each game day's service for 40 days to climb the ranks from Dishwasher to Executive Chef. Each day you play will unlock a genuine Gordon Ramsay recipe which you can print out and attempt to cook yourself.
I quite like the game. It's a nice pick-up type game that you can get right into. The graphics are colorful and the game play is well paced. It's not a very long game and I'm close to beating it after only a couple days playing it. If you are a fan of the show, and/or you like these type of fast management type of games, I think you will enjoy it. After playing it for only an hour on the demo, I hastily ordered the full game because it was so addicting. BE CAREFUL! I ordered the stupid G-rated version with the cleaned up language. It's just not Hell's Kitchen without the swearing! Look for the uncencored version on FOX's website. The downloadable demo last about an hour.
