The interactive entertainment industry has gone too far.
Cutler Creative, a New York-based video game developer, has created a virtual bartending video game that puts a full bar and complete drink recipe book at the disposal of anyone with a computer.
In a society already burdened with underage drinking, it’s appalling that Cutler Creative chose to completely ignore the effects such a game would have on their primary audience of young adults.
But it sure is fun.
The liquor flows as fast as the pick-up lines in “Last Call,” the new virtual bartending CD-ROM that teaches actual bartending techniques and over 100 drink recipes. As a virtual bartender, your goal in “Last Call” is to earn tips, and mixing drinks quickly and accurately is the key to raking in the big bucks.
Drinks range in difficulty from the basic shot of tequila to the Alabama Slammer, but you’ve got to be fast regardless. The faster the pour, the higher the tip.
You’ve got to be accurate, too. Put too much sour mix in that Vodka Collins, and your customers will flee faster than a minor at a busted kegger.
Another key to good bartending is keeping your customers happy. “Last Call” allows you to interact with the customers in several ways. Flirtation is one, but don’t overdo it. Or, on the safer side, you can change the background music depending on the customer. Basically, it’s your job to keep the party going.
But more importantly, you’ve got to keep your customers conscious. You’ve got to pace them (God knows they won’t pace themselves), because they can’t tip you after they’ve passed out.
“Last Call” features over a dozen levels, each with progressively harder recipes and increasingly impatient customers. In the unlimited Drink Specials Mode, you can practice any recipe and earn tips while learning the location of all the ingredients and tools.
There are also 20 different customers in “Last Call,” each with their own quirks. Among them are the binging and purging supermodel,Élan, and the chain-smoking European, Anton, who starts out happy but gets frustrated by “American women” as the night goes on.
Entertaining and educational, “Last Call” aims to please everyone from school-age children to full-fledged alcoholics.