Last Call is a bartending simulation/edu-tainment title from Simon & Schuster.

The gameplay is as simple as it gets -- use your mouse, pick the bottle and the glass, pour the drink, and serve the customer. Easy? Not at all.

This is Tapper taken to new heights, so you'll have to know the layout of your bar, and memorize your hotkeys if you want to survive. Plus, there are a myriad of real drinks to mix, so you'll have to find out what a touch of sweet vermouth really means, and keep the hand steady when you're shaking up a Tom Collins.

Don't get too worried about memorizing drinks, though. An in-game recipe book automatically opens to the drink ordered by your customer. Just follow the directions, use the drink-o-meter to measure out how much you've poured, and you're on your way to creating some social lubrication in your very own bar. Before you touch the glass though, make sure you check their ID, or you might find yourself out of a job for serving an underage customer.

Make sure to keep an eye on your customers and their reactions. If they have to wait too long, they'll take a hike and your manager will yell at you. Flirt a bit, serve them a good drink, and you may find yourself with extra tip money in your pocket.

What customers are really about, however, is pure entertainment. A dominatrix rides into the bar on a slave, and promptly attacks a bouncer if you try to get her evicted. A young couple constantly makes out against the bar, while a model complains that the problem with being so thin is that there's less of her to take photos of. It's an ongoing comedy sketch that reacts to the way you play -- and one that gets raunchier, weirder and funnier as you get farther into the game.

Other than Fallen and a few other anomalies, you can be pretty sure that S&S has its tongue firmly implanted in its cheek. While other companies are trying to make the next giant thing, S&S is putting together smaller, simpler "sitcom" games that make you laugh longer than they test your fingers. Deer Avenger and Panty Raider may be for a very, very selective audience, but I think it's safe to say that Last Call can speak to the alcoholic in all of us. Plus, it's educational, so if you work in a bar or are currently residing in a frat house, this game should give you the skills you need to survive.

Preview by Vincent Lopez, PC IGN

The demo contains one level for your drinking pleasure. We recommend the demo for those 21 years of age and older.

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