Happy’s Humble Burger Cult Review (PC)

It’s been five years and I still think about that damned cow. For the longest time I figured, if I could swaddle a few boba pearls, or serve a bottle of beer in a late-night kiosk, then I could forget about it. Yet, Happy’s Humble Burger Farm remains as dominant as ever. Like a parasite with a side of pickles, it lingers on the brain like a saturated germ, forever reminding me that fast food is the harbinger of death and all evil, and that cows, of all things, are the worst kind of mascots to have at the dinner table.

It seems that the vacation is over, and that the grease of the burger farm grill is desperate for another slice of chaos. Happy’s Humble Burger Cult is here, and with it, another chance for its patty-flipping sous chefs to descend into the dank and dangerous quarters of the sadistic burger chain. The cow is back, as is the chance for you to channel your inner restauranteur and graze the archipelago of fast food hellholes. This time, however, you aren’t the only chef in the kitchen. Scoot over, The Outlast Trials — there’s a new fish in town, and it is hungry.

Happy’s Humble Burger Cult, much like the original, brings you aboard the infamous burger joint for yet another shift. Like before, you have a simple goal: to serve customers their favorite burgers, sides, and beverages in a timely manner. But of course, being a product of Happy’s Humble, there is a catch here: modifiers shape its world, and curveballs ensure that you always have a problem to solve on the side. For example, a modifier can cause stoves to miscalculate the temperature, whereas another can bring extra foot traffic, and another can add a rule that requires each chef to avoid using profanity.

Let’s not forget the second obstacle: the mascot. Like before, each shift requires you to earn as much cash as you can before the kitchen goes up in flames and all hell essentially breaks loose. With Asset Joy—a demonic cow animatronic—constantly grazing at the serving hatch and keeping an eye on your progress, you also have another burden to bear. If the shift goes to the dogs and the simulation meter reaches zero, then you essentially have to gather your earnings and flee for the hills. And if you do make it, you can use said funds to unlock greater modifiers and game-altering incantations. That is, of course, if you can survive the shift.

Happy’s Humble Burger Cult gamifies the original formula with a trove of fresh features, including voice-activated abilities, tide-shifting modifiers, and ritual-based progression systems that allow for more variety in the cooking process. Unlike the original—a horror that primarily served as a self-contained cook ‘em up, Burger Cult opts for a broader appeal, with a fully-fledged multiplayer mode, rogue-like gameplay, and procedurally generated environments that change with each passing shift. To that end, you could argue that it is the definitive way to play Happy’s Humble Burger Farm. And honestly, I have to agree, for it is a bigger, better, and tastier version of its predecessor.

In addition to its vast modifiers and milestones, the latest entree in the Happy’s Humble series brings a ton of quality of life upgrades to the serving hatch, with cleaner visuals, smoother animations, and a lot of technical polish that makes even the shoddiest of dishes look a little more appealing. Oh, it’s still a hot mess on a plastic tray — but that’s a Happy’s Humble guarantee. Burger Cult simply adds a little extra meat to the menu and provides the sauce to host a larger dinner party.

While Burger Cult is less horror-oriented than the previous chapter, the game does come clean with a ton of great features and nerve-wracking ideas. Given that the whole point of the game is to effectively break the kitchen and modify it to boost your chances of earning a few extra bucks, the chaos and the comedy quite clearly outweigh the bone-shattering thrills. But that isn’t a bad thing. Kitchen chaos is its forte, and it leans into it spectacularly with its natural ability to conjure hazards out of thin air. It’s keeping a lid on the pot, that’s the tough part.

Suffice it to say, one of the worst things you could do here is compare Burger Cult to the original. While the beating heart of the framework is still here, the latest addition to the series does feel like more of a rogue-like parody than a natural-born sequel. Think Outlast, and then compare it to The Outlast Trials. On the one hand you have a fully-fledged horror that taps into the psychological horror genre. But on the other, you have a sequel that emphasizes the multiplayer aspect in favor of a more sociable experience. Burger Cult is, to some extent, The Outlast Trials of fast food horror.

Let it be said that, while you shouldn’t expect a perfect culinary sim here, you should be prepared to engage in a high-octane shotgun cooking class that pulls out all of the stops to keep you on your toes. It might not always make sense, and frankly, it might just put you in a blind panic. But, if you can rough it out and learn the ropes, then you’ll likely find something that’s worth holding out for here.

Verdict

Happy’s Humble Burger Cult takes the infamous joint to new depths with a fully-fledged multiplayer horror that blends the grease-addled eccentricity of the first with a flavorful seasoning of fresh ingredients that serve only to compliment a universally beloved dish. With a bulkier experience that feels more gamified and refined, Burger Cult delivers a strong successor that bears all of the mandatory qualities of a solid co-op horror. It’s still a little chaotic, but then, that’s a Happy’s Humble game for you.

While Happy’s Humble Burger Cult might not be a masterclass in the culinary arts, it is, in spite of its few minor flaws, a lot of fun to carve through with a few friends. It’s still about as neat as your average Sloppy Joe. But then, maybe that works in its favor here.