My Drinking Buddies

Given that this blog’s logo consists of both a controller and a beer, I realized that I haven’t written a true “Basement” post yet.

I always light up at the sight of a bar - both in real life and in video games. More importantly, I love stopping at bars in video games. While drinking in some video games can just be a waste of time, I still love the fact that the developers took the time to include it. In some cases, alcohol can affect your character and the gameplay. Long story short, if I find an in-game bar and I can’t actually grab a drink, I’m disappointed.

I don’t remember too many games from the past that included drinking, but I do recall a ton of recent ones. Games like Red Dead Redemption had saloons in which the main protagonist John Marston could frequent. I’m pretty sure all he drank were shots of whiskey and maybe some moonshine. Point being, he got smashed beyond belief, falling over at almost every step, groaning/yelling half of the time; certainly one of the funniest uses of alcohol in a game.

He gets knocked down, but he gets up again, ‘cause they’re never gonna keep him down.

Which segues nicely into that other Rockstar game no one ended up playing: Grand Theft Auto V. Here, alcohol doesn’t play an instantly funny role, and as such, Michael, Franklin and Trevor aren’t funny drunks. John Marston would be ashamed.



I mean, I guess Michael is an exception; at least he’ll drink whiskey. Franklin holds up fine, and well Trevor…

Well, that's Trevor for you 

You can drink in GTA V at a few places if you bring a buddy, but you never get to see the inside of the bars. From what I remember, the only exception is at the stripclub (Vanilla Unicorn). In comparison to Red Dead Redemption, the effects of alcohol wear off too fast, which is my main gripe.

BioShock takes drinking much more seriously - I can relate to this on a personal level. In the first BioShock, it actually allows you to gain health! In real life, this would have been awesome.

No time for sitting anyway

While there’s no one there to serve you alcohol, there are various types to choose from - gin, vodka, beer, whiskey, even merlot for the winos!

In contrast, the Stray Sheep bar in Catherine is very busy. The main character, Vincent Brooks, always ends up there in-between gameplay segments. It’s a bar’s bar - you’re there to relax, converse, and drink.

Vincent's probably gonna go break the seal

This is probably a bar I’d go to if it existed in real life: a nice decor and a relaxed vibe - but it’s no dive. It’s got some good pizza too.

Unfortunately, I haven’t played Mass Effect 3 - I heard they’ve got a good bar. However, I have played Mass Effect 2 and remember the Afterlife Club. I didn’t do too much drinking there, as I was too caught up with missions. However, there was a night when I stopped by Afterlife and had a few. The dialogue with the bartender was hilarious.

Now I don’t know what’s in those drinks, but they’re all green. And when I think green, I automatically think of absinthe and how strong it can be. Shepard’s the real deal, a true tank amongst tanks.

I’m probably missing a ton of other bars, mainly because I haven’t seen them. What are some of your favourite in-game bars?