Justin Roiland’s (co-creator of Rick and Morty) brainchild studio Squanch Games, Inc. has sent their newest title into the cosmos and I definitely have mixed thoughts on it. High On Life, an irreverent first-person shooter that brings the arcade-fps style and humor to modern times. Talking guns, family drama, and a galactic issue for humanity all wrapped up with great gunplay and a gorgeous art style took me on a trip through the cosmos on a quest that felt like it ended too soon. Read on for the spoiler-free review of High On Life.
Story
This one is a trip. High On Life definitely fulfills its name, as the story and the characters involve made me feel like I was in fact hallucinating in some way, and that this game was a particularly weird dream for the player-character. Continuously referencing the fact that it is a game, not taking itself too seriously, and throwing plenty of enemies and funky puzzles at the player on their quest to save Earth actually had me fairly engaged in a storyline that could be classified as boring and overdone (aliens invade Earth, “The Hero” saves it). As the bounty-hunting hero, fighting a series of bosses through different worlds has you engaged in some absolutely silly tasks, such as deciding which of two characters you would take home from a bar, arguing with your sister and a couch-crashing alien, and having group therapy for your firearms. While at times the action is slowed down to a crawl due to un-skippable exposition, these moments in the grand scheme of things make the return to action much sweeter and more enjoyable.
At the request of the developer, I won’t be getting into the interesting cameos or funny moments that made me laugh out loud but be sure they come in spades. In fact, I enjoyed this story so much that I made sure to avoid spoiling even with my screenshots, trying to keep everything connected to combat or quiet moments and avoid as many spoilers as I could. This is a game that should definitely be experienced, whether through watching someone play it or playing through it yourself. While it won’t win any awards for character arcs or story development, it’s a fun and goofy romp through space that will have you laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of what is happening and being said. In the end, the story provides impetus to push the player through the game and is sufficient to keep the energy up until the end.
However, that end is fairly weak and actually had me uncertain that the game was over. After another 30 minutes of wandering the planets, I found a quick epilogue that did nothing to satisfy the desire for a solid ending. If you find a better ending than the short filler after the credits let me know in the comments, I would love to be wrong here!
Gameplay
Off the bat, High On Life has its gunplay down. From the first firefight to the final boss battle, everything comes together in a symphony of goo, quips, and bad-guy bits. After picking up your first sentient weapon. Kenny, the combat pacing continues to pick up and change quickly, meaning the player never really gets tired of their toolbox. Every weapon that becomes part of your kit is voiced and has its own personality, and part of the fun of combat becomes switching weapons as situations change and hearing them cheer you on or diss the enemies. While it can get old if you use the same gun the whole game, there is an option to turn down the battle chatter from your weapons.
Each of the guns feels distinct and has the personality to match, and throughout every part of the game that distinction of characters remains true. Part of the fun was meeting and talking to the wackiest personalities I’ve seen in any game, even just as random side characters that you might never notice. A man with half a leg, a commune that developed from a teleported highway, or off-duty henchmen, around every corner there is another personality that will make you laugh at the ridiculousness of this world and the game. With pacing that makes you feel like sprinting everywhere (much to the amazement of your guns), missing some of these little details is very possible and almost begs for a New Game+ or at least a replay.
In the style of Doom, each combat session adds a few new tricks and you quickly become a ziplining, sliding, flying death machine with multiple weapons that can all devastate your foes. Playing on the normal difficulty wasn’t a walk in the park, but I wasn’t getting killed every fight either. Enemies are all covered in a protective goop or armor that can be blown off, revealing weak points like the head or underside. The biggest thing in combat is to stay mobile and avoid being hit, and quickly scooping up your own armor from downed enemies. For the first few hours the enemies are all the same, but towards the middle of the game they add in some more variations and a few surprise enemies that can be a real nuisance when paired with some of the stronger foes. Overall, the combat was a definite highpoint and I would happily play an arena mode or extended waves of enemies.
Unexpectedly, High On Life really made me want to go back to Doom: Eternal due to its fluidity of combat, satisfying gunplay, and mobility-based gameplay. It goes to show that you don’t need to be the most serious of shooters to achieve phenomenal gunplay, and I hope this turns a corner in the single-player FPS genre.
Audio and Visuals
While not necessarily as graphically advanced as recent games, High On Life is still a pretty one. Each of the different locales are distinct and visually pleasing, with bright colors and vivid vistas. While anything beyond the game area is basically walled off with a skybox, it doesn’t detract from each of the zones you play through and the detail involved in those places. In combat, these simple graphics really begin to pop off as the already colorful areas get even more packed with color from exploding enemies and interesting ammunition from your weapons. The visuals won’t change anyone’s life, but it is a great backdrop for the game to be played and besides some weird visual effects on faces they are overall solid.
Audio is the true carrier of this game, however. Quips from weapons, the sounds of combat, and even callouts from enemies are all wonderfully hilarious and immersed me much more than I thought would be possible for a game like this. Goofy and full of heart, many of the cringiest jokes still made me laugh with their delivery and the lack of seriousness from many characters. Being focused on a fight and finishing it with a laugh after one of the goons said “It's okay, we are the weaker enemies in the game anyways” was a high point for me, and I continued to have those moments throughout my time with High On Life.
Replayability
Unfortunately, this is where I start to have issues with this game. While the gunplay is awesome and the continuous ramping up of tools to play with keeps you from getting bored, once the progression is done and the story is over there’s nothing to do except go and look for a HUGE amount of crates on each planet. Most of the enemies vanished and there is no real challenge except to take out a few random bad guys while chest hunting. At this point, High On Life is good for maybe 2 playthroughs to hear some different dialogue or find new easter eggs, but by the time I finished once I felt like I had heard a good amount of cringy humor and was ready for something else. The replayability will depend on any future release of New Game+ or DLC, which is not currently planned.
What It Could Have Done Better
So, the gunplay was awesome, the story was goofy, and the game was fun. What could it have done better? There could be more! By the end of the game, I was a badass alien-killing bounty hunter, with a bunch of funny talking guns and more mobility than a Gundam. Then there was a lackluster boss fight, a butt joke, and the game was over. This was especially disappointing as I reached this point 8 hours into the game. Yes, I finished the game in 8 hours of game time. While I wasn’t hunting for a completionism run which could really take another 4-6 hours, I feel like this is way too little for a game of this price point ($60 at the time of writing) especially considering there are no content updates planned or any talks of DLC.
I could use this section to rail against money-hungry studios/publishers trying to make money, but it is more disappointing than anything. If High on Life was being offered for $20 or even $30 I wouldn’t be complaining as much here, but a maybe 10-hour game for $60? Absolutely ridiculous, and being told the price as I finished was a sucker punch that really took away from the respect and enjoyment I had for this game. When games like Doom: Eternal and Vampire Survivors are being offered for $40 and $6 respectively, this is a slap in the face to gamers.
If this is some attempt to push players to utilize the Xbox Game pass, I highly recommend skipping a Steam purchase and instead getting a monthly subscription ($1 if new to the service, $10 normally) and playing High on Life there. As silly and fun as it is and as much enjoyment as I had, it is in no way worth a $60 purchase. Keep that in mind as it has weighed heavily on my mind in this review.
Verdict
High On Life is a fun and goofy adventure that didn’t take itself too seriously, with an unfortunately weak dismount and an undeserved $60 price tag. As much fun as I had, if I had paid that for a game of this quality and length I would be enraged. As for the game itself, negating the price, it’s a fun time that will keep players engaged over the course of the game, especially if they are already fans of the wacky storytelling of Justin Roiland and the comedy he utilizes. While not the greatest game you’ll ever play, it is a solid choice for a weekend off. If you aren’t a fan of inappropriate humor or are thinking of buying this colorful silly game for your kids, don’t. They will be scarred and you will be mad. As it is, I can barely recommend buying it at full price and would suggest waiting for a sale. Better yet, go get a Game Pass subscription and play it there… Or let your kids buy it and teach them about smart financial decisions. Get rekt kids.
High on Life will be available on Xbox Game Pass, and will release to Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox on December 13th. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
