Gamertell Review: Mountain Dew World of Warcraft Game Fuel

Product: Mountain Dew World of Warcraft Game Fule (aka Mtn Dew WoW Game Fuel)
Price: Variable ($0.50 to $2 per can or bottle)
Rating (Citrus Cherry): One thumb sideways, one thumb down; 67/100; D+; * 1/2 out of five.
Rating (Wild Fruit): One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 85/100; B; * * * 1/2 out of five.
Pros: Nice collector can art, Wild Fruit is enjoyable out of the can. Both mix well with vodka for game-themed vodka martinis.
Cons: Names don’t accurately describe the flavor. Citrus Cherry has medicine-y taste and leaves a weird coating on your tongue.
Overall: The cans (and bottles) are worthwhile for collectors and those who like to acquire free in-game items. As for drinking, skip the so-called Citrus Cherry flavor and, if you enjoy sweet, fruity carbonated beverages, try the Wild Fruit.

As a followup to its 2007 release of the Halo-themed Mountain Dew drink, Mountain Dew has created a pair of limited edition World of Warcraft-themed beverages known as Mtn Dew Game Fuel.

The two flavors I tasted, the two available, are Citrus Cherry (Horde Red) and Wild Fruit (Alliance Blue) which are available in WOW packaging until August 20, 2009. (My review cans were void of any art.)

As an incentive for gamers to buy these beverages, other than the WOW branding, each also contains either a free 14-day-trial of World of Warcraft or an in-game battlebot pet.

And now, on to the tasting.

Initial Sips

Citrus Cherry looks and pours more orange than red, which is the first sign that this is a more citrus than cherry flavored drink. As it fills the glass it does take on a more reddish appearance though it definitely skews orange, not quite living up to its “Horde Red” marketing description.

The first sip has a bit of a tang to it and, indeed, has more orange than cherry flavor to it. It’s also carbonated so it has an extra tingle as it goes down.

After the first couple gulps, the flavor goes from citrus to a less recognizable sweet candy flavor that’s not as strong as cotton candy. It also seemed to take on a slight medicine front taste that quickly dissipated. The smell, as well, is of an indistinguishable candy with a slight hint of cherry.

Wild Fruit pours light blue and darkens as it fills the glass, living up to the “Alliance Blue” promise. It has a milder flavor and actually smells and tastes more of cherry than the Citrus Cherry. It is also carbonated and has less of an initial bite than the Citrus Cherry flavor, also seeming slightly more sweet.

This one tastes more like cotton candy, lingering for only a minute, with more berry than fruit flavors. The flavor remained fairly consistent even after the first few tastes.

Post Bibation

As these are essentially Mountain Dew beverages in a pretty WOW shell – the caffeine and sugar of the regular Dew – instead of energy and vitamin additives, the only after effects to expect are those you might get from caffeine.

With the Citrus Cherry, there is a slight tingle left at the back of the throat after drinking and the tongue feels coated with artificial flavor, which likely accounts for the accentuation of the non-fruit and non-citrus (read: medicine-y) flavors. After about 15 minutes, all the mouth flavor disappears while the tiniest bit of the coated tongue feeling remains. That disappears about five minutes later.

The Wild Fruit, while not wildy fruity, didn’t leave the same back-of-the-throat tingle or tongue coating, tasting more like berries than fruit. It also did not have any of the medicine-y elements and was even better with ice.

For Adults Only

Since these are sweet and fruit-flavored drinks, I decided to do a vodka martini test. I mixed two parts of the Game fuel with one part vodka, chilled and served.

The Citrus Cherry took to it very well, eliminating most of the medicine-y front taste and, although the carbonation was dissipated by the mixing, the sweetness was enough to simultaneously flavor the liquor and nicely dilute. (I dub this one the Orange Mace).

Wild Fruit worked even better as a martini (that I’m calling the Blue Lance) mixer bringing out its berry flavors. Adding citrus fruit peal squares (for an 8-bit effect) might even help the flavor, although it was not tested.

Bottom of the Glass

In general, these are not sit-and-sip beverages, intended to be served as cold as possible and quickly gulped down.

I had panned to drink each one over an hour to pace out the effects of caffeine but found that the positive flavors waned as the Cirtus Cherry warmed and I wanted to get through that flavor that much faster. Adding ice certainly helped the overall drinking experience by changing the temperature and thinning out the flavor a little. The Wild Fruit, however, was far more enjoyable to drink both at warmer and colder temperatures so I was able to pace that one a bit longer, and enjoyed it a bit more.

While I wouldn’t really call these drinks “fuel” since they aren’t fortified with anything more than the usual Mountain Dew, and the names are not not very accurate descriptions of the flavors, at least one of one is favorably drinkable as-is. If you can get past the Smurf-ish coloring and like sweet carbonated beverages, side with the Alliance Blue/Wild Fruit flavor.

And if you are a bottle and can collector, the cans are definitely cool enough to collect even if you don’t go for the kookie flavors.

Don’t miss the Photo Gallery of the drinks tested.

Photo Gallery [Gamertell] Site [Game Fuel] Read [Dave's Cupboard] Also Read [Gamertell]

Here’s the commercial for the drinks. Note that the coloring in the ad is far more accurate to the names than the final drinks: