Developed by Ultimate Games, Bartender Hustle is a laid-back simulation game that puts you into the polished shoes of a freshly recruited bartender in a downtown classy bar in a classy cocktail bar. With a whole catalog of different drinks to learn to mix and an interesting and diverse clientele to serve, there’s a lot to keep you on your toes as you work through your shifts.
Starting Your New Job as Bartender
Bartender Hustle opens with the female protagonist in her apartment – the hub of the game. Here, you can check your laptop, where you can change your home’s decor and partake in a fun nightly booze-related quiz; buy new clothes and change in your wardrobe (according to the game, customers tips are dependent on how you dress) and go to sleep in your extremely comfortable looking bed.
After leaving your apartment for the first time, I was transported to Whiskey’s Bar for my first day on the job. Here, I met my boss for the first time when I undertook an awkward interview process in which I had to mix and serve her a relatively simple cocktail. Eager to impress my new boss, I fumbled about around the bar for a good ten minutes, before finally managing to her drink. At this point I was primed and ready for a firing, but alas, she liked the cut of my jib and offered me the job there and then – there was much rejoicing.
The Story Mode of Bartender Hustle
My experience with the game was primarily in the story mode and admittedly a little short-lived. However, my rather brief time with Bartender Hustle showed me a lot about what to expect from the game in the future and gave me a good insight into how it unfolds.
As you would probably have guessed by now, Bartender Hustle involves simply serving customers their drinks. However, there is a tangible storyline that begins to make itself known in your first five shifts as customers return and bring with them the hot gossip that bartenders thrive in. As it would be in real life, your clientele is made up of a diverse range of personalities; some you will love, others you will want to take a long walk of a short cliff.
As customers order drinks, you’re helpfully given the recipes in the bottom-right quadrant of the screen which makes the process of making each drink easy to follow and confusion-free. My guess is that this helpful prompt will desert me as my newfound career progresses, but for now I shall bask in its eternal helpfulness. There are a magnitude of different cocktails to master and a plethora of different ingredients to mix and match.
A Frustrating Oversight
While I was really enjoying my time on Bartender Hustle, my experience was somewhat marred by a technical hitch that really broke the fluid stride of the game – the beer taps.
Everything runs smoothly with the game (once you start using button A instead of the instructed RT) apart from the beer taps. It’s a nightmare trying to find the sweet spot that will let you place the drink down to fill and the prospect of having to go through the palaver again was always at the back of my mind before taking orders, “..not the pale ale, don’t ask for the pale”.
It’s a real shame because I was enjoying just about everything else about the game but I’ve had to reflect on this in my scoring. Of course, I’ll be keeping an eye out for updates and will gladly update this article and my score if this is ever fixed.
REVIEW
OUR SCORE - 6.5
6.5
SCORE
A chilled-out and immersive experience, sadly marred by a bug.
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