Hell's Kitchen - Gordon Ramsay on your Nintendo DS (Hell's Kitchen (DS))

Member Name: julwhite

Product:	Hell's Kitchen (DS)
Date:	08/07/09 (63 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good fun to play, unlockable recipes

Disadvantages: Bit repetitive and too easy to complete quickly

This review is for the Nintendo DS game, Hell's Kitchen, developed by Ludia Incorporated and published by Ubisoft. The game is based on the television show starring Gordon Ramsay.

The aim of this game is similar to the television show, and aims to show that there are three essential parts of a successful restaurant, the preparation of the ingredients, the cooking of the food and impeccable service of the food to the customer. When you've created and served your food, at the end of the night, Gordon Ramsay will give you a mark for your overall efforts.

You can play the game in either arcade mode, or in career mode. If you opt for career mode, you start in a small restaurant, and then continue to improve your experience and rank before taking over a five star restaurant. If you go for the arcade mode, then you just have to ensure that the food is prepared and cooked well, although as you progress in this mode, everything gets harder and faster.

The game requires quite a lot of concentration and the ability to jump between different requirements continually, whether it be mixing ingredients or seating customers at the table. The cooking element isn't too in depth, and just involves really selecting ingredients, which does all become a bit repetitive quite quickly.

Controlling the game is easy enough, and most of the control in the game is used by the stylus and the touch screen. I found the whole control process to work well and be quite logical and this is a plus in the game.

Graphics in the game aren't too bad, the imagery of Gordon Ramsay himself is good, and you can hear Gordon himself give his views on how well you're doing. The amount of sound effects though is a little disappointing, and more could have possibly been done in this regard. Although they're not the greatest compared to some other games on the DS, the graphics and sound do add atmosphere to the game.

If you do well in the game, there are some unlockable elements which you can discover. These include some unique Gordon Ramsay recipes, which is a good idea and is something which is worth preserving for in the game. Don't forget though when playing the game, if you fail to reach the standard, Gordon Ramsay can shout at you and close down your kitchen.

In terms of the long-lasting appeal of this game, this is limited heavily by the relative ease in which this game can be completed. Even a very average games player could well find themselves finishing this game with only a few hours of play, which is disappointing for a product that was being marketed at the thirty pounds price point.

There are unfortunately no multi-player options to speak of, which is a shame, as this could have extended the shelf life of this game. As things stand, it's unlikely that many players would keep playing this game for weeks, it's a game which once one played doesn't really get played again.

The game retails full price for the quite steep 29.99 pounds, but is currently available on Amazon for 9.49 pounds. If you're happy with a second hand copy, these are available for around five pounds each at the time of writing from sites such as eBay and Amazon. The game is rated as 12+, so is only suitable for older children.

In summary, this isn't a bad game and it is fun to play through the career mode and gradually build your reputation and work in ever better restaurants. However, although the graphics and sound aren't too bad, the game is a bit repetitive (but nonetheless addictive for a while), and it doesn't take that long to complete the game. So if you can find this game cheaply, it's worth a look, especially if you're a fan of Gordon Ramsay, but if not, it's not really worth hunting out for.

Summary: Not too bad as a bargain buy, but can just get a bit dull