There is a very easy test to see if you will enjoy High On Life. Are you:
a) Do you enjoy first person shooter games?
b) Enjoy Rick and Morty?
If you answered “yes” to one of the questions above, there’s a good chance you’ll like Squanch Games’ latest chaotic adventure. If you answered “yes” to both, you are sure to enjoy them.
(If you answered “no” to both, nothing here will change your mind.)
High review in life: specs
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S
price: $60
release date: December 14, 2020
Type: first person shooter
High On Life comes courtesy of Justin Roiland, who co-created the animated sci-fi comedy Rick and Morty, and the mastermind behind the critically acclaimed Trover Saves the Universe a few years back. Like Trover, High On Life proposes a ludicrous concept, then mines it for every possible ounce of comedic value. Unlike Trover, High On Life is full of traditional gameplay – and it actually builds on the traditional FPS format in several creative ways.
To be fair, High On Life assumes that you’re already a fan of Roiland, and that you’re ready to see some beloved FPS games. If neither of those are true, the game will probably get on your nerves before the end of the first mission. There are also some technical issues that spoil the immersion of the game, and they happen on a regular basis.
However, High On Life aims to be a comedy spin-off and a slight twist on the FPS formula, and it manages to succeed at both counts. It’s not the deepest or most polished game you’ll play this year, but it just might be the funnest. Read on for our full High On Life review.
High On Life review: gameplay
The elevator pitch for High On Life is remarkably straightforward, once you get past the initial weirdness. You play the everyday slacker, stuck at home with your more successful sister while your parents are out of town. A surprising extraterrestrial alien catapults the two of you into an alien world, where you team up with a variety of sentient and state-of-the-art guns to hunt down the evil, outlaws that threaten the human race.
The fact that each weapon represents a fully fleshed out character is a surprisingly cool visualization, as each weapon has a different take on whatever story mission you’re currently on.
It almost seems reductive to call High On Life a traditional first-person shooter, but once you get past the ultra-saturated modernity of alien worlds and talking, weapon-cursing, that’s the point. You can collect a variety of weapons, including standard pistol, shotgun, rapid-fire device and more. You can explore a bunch of different levels, from a bustling city, to a lush forest, to a sleazy coastal town. You collect money, which you can exchange for health and ammo upgrades, as well as a variety of platform tools and mods. HIgh On Life may sound strange, but you’ve almost certainly played something like it before.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though, as the game uses familiar FPS models as a starting point, and then builds upon them. The simple fact that each weapon is a fully fleshed out character is a surprisingly cool visualization, as each weapon has a different hold on whatever story mission you’re currently on. You won’t want to hold onto the same firearm for long, simply because you’ll want to hear each person’s backstory and banter.
On top of that, High On Life also offers a lot of variety through the guns themselves. The Kenny, for example, starts out as a standard gun, with a limited amount of ammo and a secondary shooting mode. Over time, though, you can upgrade it with a larger clip, improved rate of fire, or rebound shots. Doing so means you’ll get less cash to upgrade guns like Gus, who can suck enemies toward you and fire area-of-effect shots, or Sweezy, who acts like the Needler from Halo, firing tons of small projectiles that can catch enemies and explode later.
There’s also Knifey, a bloodthirsty knife that doubles as Indiana Jones-style whips for platforming challenges. It helps give the levels a sense of verticality, but his not-so-quite snarky commentary will elicit giggles or uncomfortable silences, depending on the player. If it’s the latter, then High On Life might not be the game for you.
Highly reviewed at Life: Story and Humor
Anatomy of Humor is a dubious proposition, as it runs the risk of ruining what is funny in the first place. However, High On Life sells itself as a comedy game first and foremost. As such, it’s worth examining whether or not the game will make you laugh.
The short answer is yes.” The longer answer is, “Yes, if you’re inclined to like Justin Roiland’s style of humor.”
I laughed out loud as a dying enemy declared, “I wish I’d spent more time in the office!”
To put things in context, High On Life begins with a story that would feel right at home in an episode of Rick and Morty. While planning a house party with your sister, a belligerent alien cartel appears right outside your front door. Apparently, humans make a very powerful drug, and the aliens basically want to turn Earth into a living drug ring for fun and profit. You team up with a group of talking gunslingers called the Gatlians, who also have bones for you to pick up for the cartel, and become a bounty hunter. From there, it’s a planet-hopping adventure with plenty of observational humor along the way.
In fact, it could be argued that “observational humor” is the backbone of the entire game. As you travel from one location to another, you’ll fight a variety of alien soldiers, from killer robots, to giant ants, to a boss that’s doing hand-to-hand exercises. (“How do you eat?” Kenny asks him, before realizing it’s an odd question from a talking gun, which he also doesn’t have a hand on.) Before, during, and after each fight, they’ll throw a variety of inanimate-liners your way. Whether you find them hilarious or annoying depends a lot on whether you like the adult style of humor.
Personally, I laughed out loud when a dying enemy declared, “I wish I had spent more time in the office!” I laughed when two standard-type enemy soldiers broke the fourth wall by declaring that they might be the most powerful enemies in the game. (they weren’t). It especially started in the sequence where the friendly narrator told me to use the ability to double jump – and then launched into an expletive-filled rant when he realized that ability didn’t exist.
On the flip side, there aren’t many traditional High On Life jokes with settings, steps, beats, and timing. Just like Rick and Morty or Trover Saves the Universe, the game expects you to find casual conversation with plenty of profanity that is inherently funny, simply because it juxtaposes high-concept sci-fi and life-or-death situations.
As always, I thinkTwo brothersThe graphic from Rick and Morty is a good indicator of whether or not you’ll like this sort of thing. If you don’t, High On Life might feel like a lot longer than the 12 or so hours it’ll take to finish.
High On Life review: visuals and sound
Justin Roiland recruited an all-star comedy crew for High On Life, including himself, JB Smoove, Betsy Sodaro, Laura Silverman, Dave Herman, and red letter media men and more.
As such, you probably won’t be shocked to learn that the voice acting is absolutely top-notch, with soulful and sometimes peppy performances from all involved. (Michael Cusack as Knifey is a particularly standout. You’ll see why.) The game’s visuals are equally memorable, with vibrant colors, interesting quirky designs and an overall feeling like you’ve stepped into one of Roiland’s animated performances.
However, the game isn’t as tight as it could be from a technical perspective. Although the game never crashed during gameplay, it stuttered, lag frequently, and didn’t display assets properly. One boss fight got off to a particularly anticlimactic start when, rather than shattering into a million dirt blocks, the ground beneath me simply vanished. I had to restart at least one section because the enemy wouldn’t spawn properly. Squanch has been eager to fix the game since launch, so we’ll see how many of these problems the company can fix.
High Life Review: Judgment
Much like Trover Saves the Universe, High On Life is an earnest attempt to see the silly side of gaming – and it’s sometimes really funny. The shooting mechanics are solid, maybe a little better than they need to be. The character design and dialogue do a lot of the heavy lifting, and are more than entertaining enough to watch the game all the way through.
While I don’t think High On Life is for everyone, I do think there is a niche audience out there who will absolutely adore it. So far, Squanch Games has proven that it can successfully combine the humor of an animated sitcom with traditional gameplay. I can’t help but wonder what genre the company will decide to tackle next.
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