Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Summer Game Fest
  • New games for 2025
  • Upcoming Switch 2 games
  • Switch 2 stock
Recommended reading
GTA 6 Cal Hampton in a bar by a pool table
Grand Theft Auto Five seconds of GTA 6 footage has convinced me that we'll be running businesses in Vice City – and I'm here for it
Best co op games: a screenshot of Cody and May in the game It Takes Two.
Co-op Games The 25 best co-op games of all time
Baldur's Gate 3 Drunken Master Monk in the House of Hope screenshot
Baldur's Gate 2 years since my most chaotic Baldur's Gate 3 playthrough, Patch 8 turned my Dark Urge into a Drunken Master and she's never been more lethal
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Puzzle Games Best local multiplayer Switch games to play in 2025
Splatoon 3
Co-op Games The 25 best multiplayer Switch games you can play today
Sunderfolk key art featuring the various playable characters
RPGs My bat bard absolutely cannot stop pushing people off ledges in Jackbox-meets-D&D RPG Sunderfolk, and honestly, that's tabletop, baby
Helldivers 2 PS5 screenshot
Games The 25 best online games to play today
  1. Games

Best booze power-ups

Features
By Alex Roth published 18 May 2012

Bro down with our list of the best boozy power-ups in gaming

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

For brotastic week, we've assembled a list of our favorite booze power-ups. These in-game alcoholic items can increase your character's prowess or make him impossible to control. Remember: there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. Don't become a digital drunk!

Page 1 of 12
Page 1 of 12
Nom Juice (Bulletstorm)

Nom Juice (Bulletstorm)

At random points the protagonist will stumble across some alcohol, and after taking a quick swig he gets drunk. Its harder to aim, things slow down, and the camera waves back and forth, perfectly emulating the feeling of downing that last shot of whiskey that you really shouldnt have ordered but you werent drunk when you ordered it and damned if youre going to waste that $8. During this haze, all successful killshots are rewarded with bonuses, meaning you can earn additional points for being smashed when you kick an enemy into a cactus and shoot him in the butt. Video games.

Page 2 of 12
Page 2 of 12
Tequila (Shadows of the Damned)

Tequila (Shadows of the Damned)

Leave it to the man behind No Man Heroes to make boozing it up a health enhancing choice. In Shadows of the Damned, Sake restores a little bit of health, and Absinthe refills it all, but Tequila is your bread and butter means of replenishing health. Garcia goes through cases of the stuff on his quest to rescue his girlfriend from the demons of Hell. An extreme alcohol tolerance must be a prerequisite for demon slaying!

Page 3 of 12
Page 3 of 12
Dwarven Ale (Everquest 2)

Dwarven Ale (Everquest 2)

To prepare, it's important to max out your alcohol tolerance - yes, thats an actual skill in Everquest and Everquest 2. It allowed you to imbibe copious amounts of Dwarven ale or Elven wine without having the screen distort so much you couldnt see, or have the game garble anything you typed to others. Getting boozed provides a modest strength and stamina boost, at the cost of wisdom and intelligence drops. Obviously drinking was mainly a melee fighters pursuit, but a few slumming casters always got in on the fun. A Wizard who could hold his booze is always impressive sight!

Page 4 of 12
Page 4 of 12
Moonshine (Red Dead Redemption)

Moonshine (Red Dead Redemption)

In Red Dead Redemption, moonshine is an essential item for John Marston. A fast and reliable source of Dead Eye, the fact that Marston could pound this stuff and only get more accurate with his pistol was a sign of his hard living past, and has us hoping for a Red Dead prequel.

Page 5 of 12
Page 5 of 12
Mixed drinks (Dead Rising 2)

Mixed drinks (Dead Rising 2)

There are a ton of recipes that yield useful power-ups, and most of them involve booze. Some of them even sound like real drinks, such as whiskey and soda or cocktail mix and vodka. Some less so, like beer and ketchup or whiskey and a hot dog. OK, it might be the end of the world, but lets keep our humanity here. Although we wouldnt mind trying this bacon and beer recipe...

Page 6 of 12
Page 6 of 12
Keg beer (Conkers Bad Fur Day)

Keg beer (Conkers Bad Fur Day)

With a bunch of fire imps threatening to burn his tail off, Conker had to get loaded enough to douse his foes in urine. You dont have long to do it though, and while under the influence, Conker stumbles about in drunken stupor, with a creepy smile on his face. Then, once the beer wears off, youve got a brutal hangover to deal with. It may be a dirty, Mature-rated game, but at least it presented some sort of consequence for binge drinking - even if a quick Alka-Seltzer pick-up provided instant relief.

Page 7 of 12
Page 7 of 12
Penguin beer (Wario Land 2, Japanese version)

Penguin beer (Wario Land 2, Japanese version)

In the Japanese version of Wario Land 2, beer was more of a power-down than a power-up. While alcohol in an E-rated game is questionable, the game wasnt exactly encouraging consumption. Enemy penguins would splash beer in Warios face, making him temporarily drunken and hard to control. Why penguins? Why beer? Maybe thats what the stateside Nintendo people thought when they turned the frosty mugs of ale into dizzyness-inducing bombs instead. It puts a whole new spin on the phrase getting bombed!

Page 8 of 12
Page 8 of 12
Gragas' abilities (League of Legends)

Gragas' abilities (League of Legends)

If that was his only link to booze hed still make the list, but theres plenty more where that came from. His other attacks? One has him rolling a cask of ale at his enemies that blows up after a few seconds, another involves throwing said cask and creating a gigantic explosion, while another has him guzzling his brew in a move called Drunken haze. His last ability is a charge that slams into enemies, and while its not technically related to booze, it certainly doesnt sound like something someone sober would do.

Page 9 of 12
Page 9 of 12
Bo Rai Chos Sake (Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance)

Bo Rai Chos Sake (Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance)

Bo Rai Cho was a mostly a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. He only appeared as a playable fighter in 2002s Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. The titular alliance referred to pact between Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, which lead to the murder of his pupil Liu Kang. Apparently thats what it takes to get Bo off a barstool and into the fight. His opponents regretted angering him when they saw his flaming fart Fatality.

Page 10 of 12
Page 10 of 12
Grog (Monkey Island games)

Grog (Monkey Island games)

The grog of Monkey Island fame seems to be a tad stronger. How else could it have dissolved the lock to Otiss jail cell? Real grog is probably closer to near-grog, the further watered down alternative for pirates looking to keep their livers intact. Just ask Captain Kate Capsize!

Page 11 of 12
Page 11 of 12

And for more bro-manship, check out our list of Worst attempts to appeal to bro gamers and Most fist bump-worthy moments.

Page 12 of 12
Page 12 of 12
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming PlayStation Xbox Platforms
Alex Roth
Alex Roth
See more Games Features
Read more
GTA 6 Cal Hampton in a bar by a pool table
Five seconds of GTA 6 footage has convinced me that we'll be running businesses in Vice City – and I'm here for it
Best co op games: a screenshot of Cody and May in the game It Takes Two.
The 25 best co-op games of all time
Baldur's Gate 3 Drunken Master Monk in the House of Hope screenshot
2 years since my most chaotic Baldur's Gate 3 playthrough, Patch 8 turned my Dark Urge into a Drunken Master and she's never been more lethal
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Best local multiplayer Switch games to play in 2025
Splatoon 3
The 25 best multiplayer Switch games you can play today
Sunderfolk key art featuring the various playable characters
My bat bard absolutely cannot stop pushing people off ledges in Jackbox-meets-D&D RPG Sunderfolk, and honestly, that's tabletop, baby
Latest in Games
Death Stranding 2
I'm glad the heatwave is over, because if it wasn't I'd think I hallucinated these weird Death Stranding 2 moments, from dancing dolls to sci-fi directors fighting while making pizza
Hollow Knight
As Hollow Knight: Silksong gets 7 new Steam updates in less than a week, the SKONG community reaches levels of cope hitherto unseen: "The wait is almost over"
Mods in Mecha Break
Mods in Mecha Break and how to get them explained
Fighting enemies in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition
2 years and one Switch 2 release later, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hoarders are still celebrating their item duping glitches making it past Nintendo's patches
A Helldiver holding a flag in a promotional image for Helldivers 2.
Helldivers 2 is "definitely not" coming to Game Pass despite its Xbox launch, and there are "no plans" for cross progression, but most players are just happy to be getting reinforcements
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark Joanna Dark actor calls for a Hi-Fi Rush-style revival after Microsoft cancels the reboot, as Starfield and Deus Ex star reveals his scrapped role will cost him "thousands of dollars"
Latest in Features
Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw as Sofia and Rose in Hot Milk
Sun, sea, and strained relationships: Andor's Fiona Shaw and Barbie's Emma Mackey play a mother and daughter on the brink in new drama Hot Milk
Two menacing gingerbread men look intimidating while a candy person waves from a cage
I didn't expect to like the latest D&D book, but after an utterly stupid adventure I'm all in on Dragon Delves
Mion and Rena look uneasy in the classroom in Higurashi: When They Cry
The Silent Hill f writer's debut game was basically the original Doki Doki Literature Club, and it's still terrifying me 23 years later
Quantum Witch screenshots
This stunning 2D "plotformer" is the ultimate cottagecore fantasy with an extra dose of mystery, sapphic witches, and a giant lady who fights you
Superman
Krypto the Superdog - The comic history of Superman's best friend
All-New Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #1
Spider-Gwen's new comic introduces her own personal symbiote villain, Tantrum: "Tantrum is the embodiment of everything Gwen was trying to leave behind"
  1. Sam fires at the ghost mech squid boss in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
    1
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  2. 2
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  3. 3
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  4. 4
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  5. 5
    Dune: Awakening review: "Both extremely compelling and extraordinarily boring, sometimes at the same time – yet still a true Dune love letter"
  1. A T-rex in Jurassic World Rebirth
    1
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  2. 2
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  3. 3
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  4. 4
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  5. 5
    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review: "Brilliant action, even if the plot gives you a sense of déjà vu"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...