ChefU

Need fixing before I buy it again

Couldnt even play the game. I would hit new profile and then get stuck on a loading screen. Also, you can't even turn with the controllers

This game had so much promise to be a great cooking sim but the devs got abandoned it and jumped off the face of the earth leaving this empty husk of a game that still cost 30 dollars with no chance of redemption

Allthough the game is no longer beeing worked on, the game is really fun.

I had no issues with FPS personaly and its a fun game if you love cooking.

A really good game on the realism side except for the meatloaf glitch but its entertaining, we need more recipes and cuts of meat and more types of meat and some more breads and types for it, such as hotdog buns and hamburger buns, hope this review shows that this game needs an update or some care soon.

I was really, really excited to play this after watching someone else play it. But objects kept flying away like crazy, and some recipes would require ingredients that literally didn't exist in the kitchen. Also, some recipes I would follow EXACTLY but for some reason it didn't show the task as completed, and I couldn't move ahead. This would be a super cool game if those bugs were worked out, but I'm left really disappointed. I've been searching for a game like this for weeks. I hope to get a refund because geez. Those bugs made the game impossible to play/win.

DO NOT BUY! Tried to play today thinking maybe some of the many bugs would have been fixed. Alas, it is still unplayable.

I don't expect this game will ever be improved.

My brief time playing today did have a wonderfully strange bug where a male voice kept saying, "Ouch, ouch, ouch, that hurts," despite nothing going on besides attempting to shake salt on a steak.

Terrible. DO NOT BUY!

The game is very buggy and hard to use. Examples of bugs are as follows: ingredients disappearing, when moving around in VR there were lots of issues with the application. In short, it would "freak out". I restarted once, to no avail.

Every time I try to play this game, the waiter just sits there going "Ouch, no, ah" constantly I tried the game twice, refunded it both times, also doesn't seem like the devs are updating it anymore, shame really, this game has potential.

I know that this review is long overdue, but it needs to be submitted. There are many games and programs that promise to push upon the boundaries that separate reality from virtual reality. When it comes to providing a virtual 'restaurant' 'playground', this is definitely not what you would expect. Lockem Reality came forth with a brilliant idea, but failed miserably to provide any aspect of what they claimed to provide.

First off, a loft apartment with a couple of tables would not pass as a profitable restaurant anywhere. The kitchen itself is far too spacious to be effective as well. Of course, that empty space reflects on how empty this game is, but we'll address that in a minute. This set-up seems more like what you would expect of a celebrity chef entertaining party guests at his/her bachelor(ette) pad.

Second, there is absolutely no content to the game. With only the most basic of vegetables and maybe four protein/cheese options, you really cannot even scratch the surface of what even the average household would utilize on a daily basis. I am certainly not saying that they need to include even the most obscure of paleo grains, or that one fruit that grows exclusively on a desert island somewhere in the Pan-Pacific, but would it hurt to have maybe oranges. Likewise, the 'dozens of tools' that are available is a greatly padded list, as they made sure to include two sets of six knives for you to work with (not to mention all of the measuring equipment). Although, it would not hurt to mention that they at least included a standing electric can opener, to go along with the manual one.

If you came looking forward to the 'playground' aspect, then you will be surprised to see it is closer to a grade school sandbox than a Garry's Mod sandbox [Well, maybe that too]. Let me tell you a story, to help put this in perspective: Before I finally gave up on this game ever growing up, I tried to freestyle a meatloaf. I took the overtly vague ground beef package I spawned/ordered from the fridge, poured in a little "malk" [Again, not very specific, nor definitively representative to be worthily considered milk], and threw in some breadcrumbs to try and bind it [Possibly an egg too, but I don't remember]. It did not mix at all like I expected, and became a pink slurry. I tried pouring it into a loaf pan that Lockem did actually bother to provide, but thanks to the genius physics, it went right through even though the pan was sitting on the counter. Luckily, their 'no clean-up' philosophy covered themselves, so there is no telling where my meat batter went. It was after this fiasco, along with their sheer fire-and-forget accountability, that ChefU has been sitting untouched in my Library for the past five months.

Next, I'll summarize the game by addressing the gameplay itself. If virtual reality puts you in the place of the protagonist, then our "bachelor(ette) celebrity chef" must have cataracts, as the overall graphics are blurred to oblivion. Then again, the chef could be an alcoholic, because the physics are more attributable to someone who is clearly incapable of steady and precise movement. Furthermore, if gravity doesn't really exist, then our hero(ine) would never fall down. However, I am sure the chef's receptionist (who stands behind a counter more akin to a beauty parlor/salon), would probably be a tad more snippy at their barely competent Protagonist.

Overall, ChefU should be kept off the open game market, or at least be considered a free-to-play demo as they prepare the full version of whatever direction they were ever considering this to be. I bought this game in the first week expecting a lot more, and held onto it long after the refund period hoping for updates, but sadly Lockem took the money and ran. Don't be like me: If you buy it, then try it and refund. Don't hold on, because this broken money grab of a game will not be fixed.

I got the game, load it try to chose a profile and the game crashes no matter what I tried. i was not even able to play the game it is that bad. and it not my computer it can hande other taxing vr games.

i gotta say the dev have one hell of an idea. i have played a little bit of the game i like it but i would love it better if the physics were better. every time i try to pick something up everything around me would end up flying a cross the room. i will change my review once this is fixed

Game has a lot of promise, but within the first 10 minutes of me playing, the drawers and spice rack area got bugged up and kept colliding with each other so I couldn't open them anymore and when I tried cooking a steak, the pan bugged out and went through the stove, making it so I can't continue. Shame, I was looking forward to a decent cooking simulator for VR and this game is not that.

In its current state I cannot recomend. The title has alot of promise and I hope the devs can hammer out the problems, of which there are many.

Physics wise its utter chaos. Nothing behaves how you would expect. Ive sent steaks flying across the room because i grabbed the plate under it. Food would sometimes piss off without me being anywhere near it. Sandwhiches are totally random in how they act. Cutting and slicing is really hit and miss. Etc.

Performance is poorly optimized. I have a 1080 and struggle to stay above 30 fps. Crashes are always looming.

Recipe selection feels both extensive and restricted at the same time. There are a modest amount of dishes but most ive never heard of or are bland. Grilled cheese for example. This is my opinion anyway.

Its not the worst looking game but if you cant go all out on realism, go for style. The restuarant is cold and rather bland.

As I said, its not the worst. Its not the best. With some polish and time this could be a gem though.

This game has the potential to be fun, but its very choppy. Seriously, everything seems to want to jump off every surface to the point that its no fun. Had to get a refund.

Before I got VR I watched YouTube videos about this game. I thought it looked fun, and I thought people were being overly dramatic when they said they couldn’t get the recipes to work. I wish I had listened. This game is way overpriced. I thought it would be a great way to make real life dishes as well as cook up some weird concoctions. This games physics are really broken. Simple tasks become impossible to preform when ingredients explode randomly out of containers and disappear. One of the missions I can never get more than one star, when everything else I can get five stars. I know it’s not my computer. My new 1900.00 computer runs at 4.5 ghz has a nvidia 1080 graphics card, there’s no way it’s that. The graphics in the game are great. If you want a game to throw stuff around and look pretty, then sure buy this game, but I can’t recommend this game for this price as it stands right now. It has huge potential, but I’m not sure the developers are going to polish it out. The physics need severe work before they add anything else. I don’t think they will. If they had advertised this game as a gag cooking simulator then that would have been more accurate, but still way too expensive.

Overall Verdict:

First of all I do really enjoy this game how ever there are some game breaking frusterating glitches that need to be fixed
I see the Devs fixed a serious issue before with how the gravity worked with utencils etc. So Im hopeful they will do the same with these pain points.

The main thing I have encountered is when I try to make a soup or something in free mode Ill fill a bot up with different items. all of a sudden the pot will freak out and disappear. theres also other wierd things that happen with multiple ingredients in other pans where they will fall through.

Another cosmetic issue I have is the butter does really melt lol atleast from what i have tried..in a pan.. it would also be awesome if you poured a liquid from a blender or just a liquid in general onto a solid it stayed there. or surrounded it instead of vanishing.

Outside of there still being bugs this game is alot of fun. I cant even cook in RL but being goofy on this game and making chocalate shrimp is awesome lolol

As someone who hates cooking and is terible at it in real life, this game somehow managed to be fun for me. The game was pretty easy to figure out, even with not really paying attention to the tutorials I was able to complete a few recipes without any problems (if you don't count dropping all the food as a problem). There seems to be a lot of different ingredients and ways to combine them, so much so that I could see people losing hours just trying out whatever recipes they could imagine.

The mechanics themself felt fun, though some aspects could definitely use some work. While I enjoyed cutting stuff up, it felt a bit difficult to hold things still to get good cuts (I ended up accidentally slicing an entire loaf of bread in half the wrong way). Luckily you aren't graded too badly for making these big mistakes. Interacting with all the different parts of the kitchen, using the stove and adding seasoning was all fun (though I had no idea how much of any spices I was actually adding, maybe actual cooks are better at judging that).

There's also a few fun extra, non chef related, activites to enjoy (but I wont spoil them). They provided a nice quick break if I felt overwhelmed with the cooking. I also enjoyed taking pictures of all the food I made (though I hate people that do that in real life). I created some pretty nice monstrosities.

This game is a very well put together VR experience, especially for what seems to be this studios first game. Sure there's a few bugs, but it looks like they're being addressed and I don't think I've played a VR game without bugs yet. I hope that this studio continues to add content to the game. Like others have said, different types of cuisine would be a fun new thing. I also think there could be some fun to be had in some form of multiplayer (especially if you can throw knives at each other). I rate this up there with the more enjoyable VR titles I've managed to play as of yet.

This game is awesome! 8.9/10
Everything is accessible and interactive and you can easily lose a lot of time in the free play mode. Contrary to the other comments I like the gravity it kinda keeps me on my toes and makes the game more fun. I think the story is really cool of just being in a kitchen for a week, as well gives it a nice sense of realism besides the actual game itself. I think it is pretty insane the amount of equipment and food that was made for just one game as well. The attention to detail of all of the ingredients is really great and the design of the loft and kitchen is amazing. I also love the mini games within the game, it’s kind of like a few games in one. I also find the simple act of chopping and slicing and following the instructions for a recipe to be weirdly relaxing and almost meditative lol. Overall I think it's got a lot of great stuff and I hope the dev keeps adding to it! An Itialian one would be pretty awesome too. Would love to make some pasta in VR! Money well spent, I could play this game for hours at a time, and intend to.

TL;DR: Had a rocky start (as most games do), but the developer clearly listens to feedback and patches problems as they arise. Not yet perfect, but worth your time if you want a VR cooking experience.

I purchased this for my wife, but wanted to make sure it worked before passing it to her. I just finished making several attempts at the tutorial (Grilled Cheese) and the first order (Roasted Vegetables). Here's my take so far:

1. The graphics are decent. This isn't a game that is supposed to 'wow' you with imagery. It's the mechanics and variety of content that matter most.

2. The recipes, ingredients, tools and environment are good. The cutting, grating, application of spices, and general 'single step' processes are good. Cutting, chopping, stove top actions and counter work mechanics are about as good as you can expect.

3. An early issue with items scattering that were placed in a vessel (i.e., plate, bowl, pan, etc.)that is in motion has been fixed. Items that are on or in a moving vessel now lock in place till the vessel is put down. There are still a couple of minor issues but nothing game breaking.

4. Moving through the environment has been updated to use 'porting' and 'sliding'. Porting is quicker but may interfere with held items. Sliding is smoother, but you drag items in your path with you. Neither is perfect so pick your poison. Note to developer: May help if player boundaries are turned off when the player is moving between two locations (either by porting or sliding), then turned on when the player standing still in a non-collision location.

5. Had an earlier issue with not being able to adjust 'height' once a mission starts, but you can if you use the options from the tablet on the cooking island.

...

Is this a perfect game? No; but it's getting there. I initially gave a 'thumbs down' review but have switched to a favorable review because the game is currently playable AND enjoyable. I also believe the developer cares, listens, and puts in the effort to make this better with each patch.

This game has incredible potential for growth. While already worth your time, this game can expand to include many additional areas related to the culinary arts. Future DLC could include regional foods and themes; think: Asian/Italian/French/etc. cuisine with restaurant accents that match the culture. There could be co-op/multiplayer with competitions; think: Master Chef, Iron Chef, etc.. Maybe even.. ..MODDING!

Do you like VR and cooking? Then you'll like Chef U.