Food Trucks of the Future--Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3 (Early Access Review)

Another of my Steam sale purchases was the third entry in one of my favorite cooking game franchises--Cook, Serve, Delicious!  CSD 3 is currently in Early Access, but is very polished and has been a stable and enjoyable experience thus far.  I was a little bit on the fence about grabbing it because I didn't absolutely love CSD 2, but certain aspects of the third game have been changed to make it more enjoyable than the second game.

Unlike the previous two games where you build a restaurant and then work to improve it, CSD 3 moves your restaurant to the road in the form of a food truck travelling across the weird, futuristic world of fake America (complete with robots, Texas walling itself off from the rest of the country--which seems plausible--and a sort of post-apocalyptic vibe).  The "story" starts off with your beloved restaurant, located in the shiny, Terragon Towers; unceremoniously getting leveled by a meteor.  Fortunately, some passing robot/androids pull Chef from the ruins and offer to let them convert their truck into a food truck.  The robots want to travel to the Iron Chef challenge in Nashville, but that means travelling across the ruins of the U.S.

The gameplay is almost identical to the previous games with a few changes--the core of the game, following recipes and filling orders quickly is exactly the same.  The big difference though is the routes your food truck travels--as you enter new states on your journey a map of multiple routes pops up.  Each route has specific stops with certain menu requirements that are often themed--a "Just the B's" menu might only feature foods that start with the letter B--you get to pick your menu around that theme with certain requirements (like the number of holding stations or prep stations).  A new feature to CSD 3 is a point system for foods--the more complicated a food is to make, the more points the food is worth--and certain routes have point requirements when choosing foods.  Higher point foods are also worth more cash.

Chef with his new, robotic companions Whisk and Cleaver

After you've picked your menu, you embark on your route--each route has a certain number of stops where customers will order food.  Another of the major differences between previous games is the fact that customers can only order prep station foods (now known as "special orders") while your truck is travelling between locations.  When your truck is stopped at a location, customers will only order holding station foods.  It's a balancing act of trying to fill all your special orders and also making sure you're keeping your holding stations stocked.

I haven't finished all the content yet, but I've played a fairly good sized chunk and feel positive about what I've played so far.

Pros:

+ There's a story.  One of my big gripes about the second game was the fact that, for me, I didn't feel drawn toward the concept of improving my restaurant.  At least in the first game there was an underlying concept of building up your restaurant and moving up the tower that felt engaging.  The third game introduces two robot companions--Whisk and Cleaver--who are determined to make it to Nashville for the Iron Chef challenges.  They provide some light banter and at the end of each area there's a short cutscene that reveals more of the story as pertains to the history of Whisk and Cleaver (and/or weird post-apocalyptic America).  The story gives a reason to move gameplay that is largely very same-y forward.

+ Themed menu challenges on each route provide variety.  At the beginning of the route you get to pick your menu within the parameters of the theme.  Sometimes there are points requirements.  Picking a good menu is a very strategic decision.

+ Added challenge.  On certain routes your truck can be attacked by other food trucks (in this version of post-apocalyptic America the food trucks battle for supremacy on the roads!) which impose various negative effects--some trucks will take out one (or more...) of your holding stations, other types will force you to change routes and throw a bunch of new orders at you, and there are even more!  Once you've reached a certain point in the game new types of customers are added--impatient customers and crazy customers.  Impatient customers want to be served RIGHT AWAY--their orders must be satisfied quickly or they will be angry.  Crazy customers must be served IMMEDIATELY or they will be angry.  These new customer types make picking the correct menu absolutely vital.

+ Collectibles.  At the end of each route you get paid for the number of dishes that you were able to serve--each state has its own currency that is converted (based on varying exchange rates) into crypto-cooking currency.  Higher point dishes are worth more money (5 point dishes are very complicated to make).  Cryptocurrency can be used to purchase new foods or to buy decorations for your truck.  You can purchase and unlock tons of decorations that you can place in your truck.  It's fun!

+ System of upgrades.  Earning money also gives you experience in the form of Yum levels.  Upon gaining enough experience to raise your Yum level, you are rewarded with upgrade kits which can be used to add in prep stations, holding stations, or, the best part, special upgrades.  The special upgrades are tiered and can do things like extend the freshness of your holding station foods.  The higher the tier you purchase (which require more upgrade kits) the better the perks become.

+ Robot helpers.  One of my favorite new features is having the ability to hit CTRL which allows your robot friends to serve items.  This alleviates the need for you to balance filling orders, maintain holding stations, and hit the correct number button to serve orders.

+ Tons of gorgeous, hunger-inducing foods.  Foods from the first two games are featured, but there are also a ton of new foods that come from cultures all around the world.  Each food has a silly, made up backstory that is fun to read.  It's interesting learning about foods that you've never heard of before.

+ Different gameplay modes.  Standard mode rewards medals based on the number of perfect orders and follows the rules of customer patience, etc.  Zen mode is for relaxing and customer patience is disabled (you can only get a silver medal though).

Cons

- Even faster paced than previous games.  You fill special orders while you travel and then you have to work frantically to fill holding station orders at stops.  Having a robot companion to help you serve orders is very helpful, but it is especially demanding when you get to the point where you face impatient or crazy customers.  Earning golds on every map is tough.  I've been mostly enjoying the challenge, but some people might not enjoy how frantic it is.

- There's not a ton of variety in gameplay (which is the norm for the franchise).  The core is very much the same (and can occasionally feel a bit grindy), but I think the added story elements and menu variety have made the third game feel much less grindy than previous games.

That's really my only semi-negative feedback.  The game has run great and been really fun so far--very polished for Early Access.

If you want to frantically mash buttons with amazing accuracy, serve tons of beautiful, delicious foods, and roll your fictional food truck across post-apocalyptic America, check out Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3.