Order Up!

I hadn't bought a new Wii game since Mario Kart came out and I was itching to try something new. I read the reviews for all the recent games and came across one called Order Up. It got a better than average review, so I was going to rent it and try it out. I called every Hollywood Video and Blockbuster within a 15 miles radius and no one had even heard of it even though it came out back in July. So, I broke down and ran over to GameStop and just bought the darn game.

I am really impressed with how fun it is. Order Up is a mix between Cooking Mama, Diner Dash, and Wario Ware. Players begin by choosing a male or female chef and then work their way up the food chain of dining establishments. We all start at the bottom, and that means the greasy burger place. But soon you'll buy your own place and, after you've impressed the local food critic, you'll be able to expand to bigger operations. Gameplay is separated into days where you take orders, prepare dishes, and then count your money. Each level of restaurant has certain goals that need to be met (grow your menu, earn a certain amount of money) before you can proceed to the next eatery.

The clock is ticking as soon as a customer places an order. You'll use motion controls to prepare each ingredient of a menu item. In Order Up, the gestures aren't unnecessary waggles that would be better input with a button press. They actually make sense. You use the remote like a knife to chop vegetables. Turn it on its side to flip a burger. Shake it up and down to grate cheese.

Even though there are numerous motion controls for food prep, Order Up is really about effectively managing your time. You can prepare ingredients in any order you like, and some take longer to address than others. There are multiple areas of your kitchen (grill, fryer, oven, cutting board) so you'll need to multitask. You can also hire line chefs to help with the preparation.

I'm pretty addicted to the game, but I know that after I beat it, there's not going to be too much else to do. I've only played for about 4 hours and I'm on my final restaurant. Still, the game is $10 cheaper than your average Wii game ($39.99) and the experience is really fun. For being a game that no one has really heard of, I'm quite impressed. And it is the best cooking game I've ever played.

If you have a Wii, I would suggest renting this game (if you can find it). The game can be easily beaten in 5-6 hours of play, so spending $8 to rent it out for a week should be plenty of time. If it's not available to rent, watch this video of the gameplay and decide whether or not you think you'd like to dish out the 40 bucks for it. I'm not disappointed with my decision at all. I give it Cam's seal of approval and am proud to have it in my game collection.