Dude Where is My Beer PC Review
Summary: A humorous adventure about a simple man in his quest for a simple Pilsner. It can't be that hard, can it?
2.5
Craft Beers?
Dude where is my beer? Is my quest for a Pilsner really so difficult? Scour through the seemingly endless tastings of craft beers, bitters, ales, stouts, dunkels and porters to see if the fabled pilsner remains. A secret society? A beer crafting contest? The brewmaster? This all seems too much. Uncover the conspiracy into why pilsners are so scarce, unravel the mystery of the secret society and find that cold, thirst quenching pilsner!
The game is a relatively simple point and click adventure. The task itself sounds pretty simple, find a bar that has pilsners. As you journey from bar to bar tasting terrible craft beers, you’ll come across road blocks in the form of challenges. When you first arrive, you’ll come across your first bar. Here you find there are no pilsners, but you can try their craft beer. “Yuck! It tastes like cat pee!”
Talk with the janitor and you’ll find out that pilsners are banned. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find out that whoever wins the brewing contest can choose what kinds of beer the town is allowed to sell that year. An individual by the who is called the Brewmaster one the previous year and they are why pilsners are now banned. Still, this will not deter you, the must be a pilsner somewhere!
The lack of clues and difficulty of solving them, is both the lure and the detriment of the game
Gameplay
The simplicity of Dude where is my beer makes it easy enough for someone to pick it up and play with ease. However the tasks within the game are littered with riddles and innuendos, making it a bit tricky to understand. You have to have a certain type of mind for a game like this. I like games that make me think, but I also like games where I don’t have to. Feed me some crumbs and I’ll follow the trail to the source, give me a single crumb without a trail and I’ll get lost in a second.
The game seems to lack balance. Simple single hand controls and actions, riddles that aren’t necessarily easy to crack. I found myself going throughout the game picking things up at random and trying intricate combinations, this netted me a few results, which I felt great I had stumbled upon these myself. That enjoyment quickly ran out however, as I soon found myself scrambling for clues and trying any and all combinations to progress the narrative.
From the get go, your quest has a block in the form of social anxiety. You’re unable to talk to anyone besides the bus driver and bartenders because of this. To do so, you need to be at least a little bit tipsy. The same goes for the various challenges and tasks through the game. In order to complete certain tasks you need to be either, sober, a little bit tipsy or tipsy. Talking to people requires a minimum of a little bit tipsy, most physical tasks require sobriety and there are some interactions the require moderate tipsyness.
I found a lot of the solutions I found initially, were completely by accident. A fountain had sprung a leak from a crack in the concrete. After trying to cover it up with tape. I found that opening a wine bottle given to me a foreign woman I could only understand whilst drunk. The game gives you hints, but you have to find the hint giver too. I found him, or should I say it completely by random luck too.
There’s a cat in one of the bars, a talking cat. By talking to this little fella, you can get hints on what to do next. But you can only get a few hints before he refuses to give any more until you’ve figured out one or two for yourself.
In the end, after stumbling around aimlessly for a few hours trying to wrack my brain I had to wait until a walkthrough was out. Only using the guide when I needed to, suddenly I was able to progress and eventually got to the end of part one, all that is currently released. By the end, I was somewhat marred by my need to rely on the walkthrough, but that also goes to explain how difficult the clues where to find.
Graphics
Dude where is my beer uses a simple but effective 2.5D layout. The colour palate is quite sin city monochromatic with lots of greys, blacks and reds. This may have been a tactic to both highlight and also hide, the clues within the game. I’m not observant enough to pick on little things like these, but if this is the case. I can definitely appreciate the difficulty of it.
Other than that, animations are minimal, but smooth. Characters all have bland features but relatively unique, hipsterish clothing. The menus are clean and simple. Items are easily recognisable. There’s even some adult satire throughout the game. I definitely wouldn’t recommend for anyone under fifteen.
One thing I did like, pretty much every NPC had their own unique outfit. Whilst unremarkable in the faces. I don’t think I saw two people with the exact same outfit. This is pretty rare in games these days, as it is usually much cheaper to have two or three variants and cycle and recycle them for other NPCs throughout the game. This is a point in indie game developers favour. It adds flair and personality to games otherwise flying under the radar of big developers.
Audio
Dude where is my beer doesn’t have much to speak about here either. There was only one or two musical scores which I barely even noticed. And ambient noise. They sounds as they’re supposed to, but are clearly there to fill the void of silence. Each bar had their own version of ambient chatter, the sports bar had a very realistic and familiar to a true sports bar. The clatter of billiard balls, the chinking of beer glasses, the cries and cheers for the sports teams. All very accurate of a true, lively sports bar.
Final thoughts?
Dude where is my beer, started off strong, with charm, quirkiness, satire and challenge. After some the initial good first impression comes a real slog that is really only suited for the minds of people who are good at riddles. Whilst I enjoyed the game enough and it’s a decent filler of time. I can’t see too many people having the innate detective skills to work out what needs to be done without significant challenges.
The hints work to some degree, but if ever you need to turn to the walkthrough. It’s definitely going to water down the experience. The game itself costs over $20 dollars and the walkthrough itself costs an extra $3, not worth the frustration unless you’re into these sorts of mind challenges. Certainly not if you intend to try it out as a pick up and play style game. A serious lack of replayability as well, once the story is complete.
The game literally has nothing to offer afterwards. No side quests, no alternate endings, just a difficulty slider that I’m not sure actually does anything. A lot of good things about it, but a few nasty shortcomings makes this a game I likely won’t play again, even when part two comes out.
Game Details
Game Genre – Point Click, Adventure
Developers – Arik Zurabian & Edo Brenes
Rating – MA15+
Year of Release – 2020
Platforms – PC/Steam
Mode(s) of Play – Single
About the Author
Daniel Hi I'm Dan! 32 and Non-Binary. When I'm not writing reviews. I like to get deeply immersed in the lore of an mmo or rpg, cruise the forest or coastal roads of Victoria, watch anime, read manga, build model kits and do a bit of sketching on the side.
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