Late in High on Life, amidst all the cosmic absurdity, I had a poignant moment. Star-crossed extraterrestrial and human lovers who are on the verge of splitting up are trying to understand their complex affections for one another. After a contentious dispute, the two come to the wonderful realization that they love one another despite the immense absurdity of the universe. The alien then turns to face me and reaffirms that the emotion in the scene is genuine, making a jab at a weaker game that may be tempted to undermine that emotional sequence.
He breaks character and exclaims, "You'd be playing some Rockstar game, you fucking asshole," spitting out the last few words while laughing. In the background of the recording, I can also hear someone laughing uncontrollably due to the absurdly violent improvisation. It's a scene that perfectly encapsulates new sci-fi shooting adventure creator Squanch Games' overall artistic style. These game designers are having a blast while only attempting to make each other laugh, thus structure and rules are irrelevant to them. I'd say that attitude is contagious considering that I had to halt the game at that sequence since I was bent over in laughter in my aircraft seat.
High on Life has the exact same structure as a Ricky and Morty joke riff: it starts off strong, maintain that momentum for a while, rambles on a bit too long, and then loses steam before delivering a genuine punch line. It can be a little erratic at times, notably in its hit-or-miss comedy, but ultimately it succeeds because of its unrestrained innovation and surprisingly complex gunplay.
Interdimensional gaming
Please allow me to quickly assess whether you're into this game before you decide. First-person shooter High on Life was developed by Justin Roiland of Rick and Morty. I doubt you'll be able to endure more than 10 hours of Roiland's comedy if you don't have the capacity for it. This comedy reminds me a lot of Ricky and Morty since it's full of mature humor that joyously swirls down the metaphorical potty with sci-fi nonsense. You're going to have a nice time if you enjoy that style. Set the "banter" toggle off if you don't want to engage in it.
While their parents are on vacation, the anonymous protagonist and their sister are thrust into an alien struggle. A three-eyed extraterrestrial named Gene recruits their assistance (along with their sofa) to track down members of the G3, an intergalactic gang that is converting humans into narcotics, in a distant world where their house has been twisted. The protagonist assumes the job of a bounty hunter and uses a collection of talking weaponry known as Galatians to find aliens. The narrative offers a few messages about family and discovering one's purpose in life, but it primarily serves as a set decoration for an interplanetary adventure.
This comedy is as erratic as they come. For instance, the talking pistol gag fluctuates throughout between amusing and grating. The humor in this is best handled by Roiland himself, who gives the handgun-like Kenny his trademark Morty stutter, but the voice actors are only as hilarious as their gun's antics. Gus, a shotgun equivalent spoken by JB Smoove, doesn't receive as many amusing jokes, while Sweezy, played by Betsy Dorado, has a tendency to be annoying. Tim Robinson, who plays the part of Creature, a father who uses his children like ammunition and gleefully observes them as they live out their brief lives, gets to spew forth some zingers. They mature so quickly.
Similar inconsistencies run throughout. Many jokes fall flat because they substitute screaming, cursing, or bodily functions for the intended humor. Others made me laugh. A humorous parody of Nathan For You's Dumb Starbucks, a "Space Applebee's," provides a pivotal emotional scene. I once come upon a collector card with only Frasier's face and some flavor text and questioned if it was even legal for the creators to include that. The finest chuckles in High on Life come from jokes that seem to have been produced casually by the Squanch Games team when they were laughing together. The chat with the "alien cum" vendor that went on for an absurdly long time and was abruptly terminated by Smoove breaking character as I attempted to purchase a vial was when I had the largest response. The developers almost seem to be saying, "Screw it, we're keeping it."
High on Life eventually encounters issues that are typical of comedic video games. Due to its length, there is a lot of empty space that has to be filled. It's difficult to maintain that level of humor throughout, even if there are many funny side jokes sprinkled throughout each place (contrasting broadcasts about Mothers For and Against Violence make for a wonderful background goof). By the time it was all through, I felt like my guns were simply repeating the same voice lines. There is a lot of repetition in this joke, which tends to make it less funny each time you hear it.
This is particularly relevant given that Squanch doesn't aim to replicate a stroll in a park. High on Life may be difficult, with intricate fighting that caused me to die a few times during its most difficult battles. I soon found myself scowling as I had to endure the same Metal Gear Solid theme four or five times after a late-game boss encounters gave me a run for my money. I get the impression that High on Life doesn't always capitalize on what makes video games a distinctive comedy venue since the focus is more on written gags than emergent humor.
Rick and Metroid
Although its comedy is certain to divide opinion, the gameplay itself is far more tolerable. High on Life is a first-person adventure game that heavily emphasizes platforming and draws a lot of design inspiration from Metroid Prime. It really shines in that regard as players discover new tools that gradually widen the universe until every square inch of it is accessible for exploration. It begins with a grappling hook (connected to a murderous knife) that is used to navigate obstacles and avoid poisonous floors before progressing to more rewarding traversal equipment like jetpacks. Players have lots of possibilities to link their skills together to perform powerful plays thanks to the rapid and fluid platforming.
Since firearms have uses outside of fighting, there is a strong sense of ability advancement throughout the whole quest. While Creature can blast his offspring into pipes to open locked doors, Sweezy can freeze time, allowing players to fit through fan vents. High on Life doesn't provide a lot of challenging environmental puzzles, so certain elements could feel underused, but there are enough to keep returning to the planets interesting.
Squanch understands the mechanics of Metroidvania and crams its strange worlds with trinkets, sight gags, and secret chests. The latter is the most crucial element since chests give you pesos that can be spent to enhance clothing and weapons. There is a tonne of stuff you can buy, including modifications that alter how weapons function and health boosts. One update made it possible for Kenny's bullets to bounce off of moving adversaries, which drastically altered how I played the game and had me concentrate on juggling my opponents. Despite the relatively small number of modifications available, I was nevertheless anxious to investigate in order to collect them all and experiment.
High on Life succeeds best as an adventure game in terms of presentation. Exploring the globe is fun because there is so much visual imagination everywhere (and fittingly soundtracked by a chill score from electronic musician Tobacco). Laughable loudspeaker broadcasts, talkative aliens, and silly advertisements are all present in the little city of Blim City. The vibrant jungle of another planet, home to a tribe of foul-mouthed teddy bears, is abundant with cosmic vegetation. The spacefaring adventure maintains its momentum since each biome has a unique personality, at least until its second half, which is heavily reliant on backtracking when it begins to duplicate locales.
High on Life is going to be evaluated mostly on its comedy, but don't discount its qualities as an adventure game. Squanch Games recognizes the qualities that make titles like Metroid Prime unique and ties them to Roiland's talent for crafting distinctive sci-fi settings. These two are a perfect match for a simple adventure game that is expertly made in contrast to many of the more bloated gaming worlds of today.
Meeseeks and Destroy
High on Life's success as a first-person shooter is what surprises me the most. Its battle first feels uninspired. Kenny may pelt opponents with pistol rounds and throw them into the air with a "glob shot" (a term you'll quickly grow tired of). But as each of the game's four firearms gets more advanced, combat turns into a hectic gloop war.
Instead of just mimicking a typical weapon archetype, Squanch gives each gun a unique sense of personality. For instance, Sweezy works like a machine gun that fires rapidly. However, it can charge up a long-range shot that snipes adversaries from a distance when aiming down sights. It also has a secondary power that allows it to freeze time, giving it an altogether new usefulness that works well with all other weapons. Normal arena battles usually involve me freezing one foe, unleashing Creature's children on it, squeezing another with Gus' vacuum ability to kill them with a shotgun blast, launching another group of foes into the air with Kenny's glob shot, and firing at one foe to ricochet shots down on everyone else. I delighted in the possibilities for profound combos as soon as I mastered the subtleties of each gun.
large on Given that life is already overly complicated, it is a good thing that it keeps itself brief and condensed. In its last few bounties, I noticed that I was becoming a little bored as I continued to stroll around the same few regions and finish further wave-like battles that typically drag on for far too long (something that the guns themselves joke about). I was expecting a mid-credit shock because of how abruptly everything concludes in a weirdly anticlimactic way.
I mostly notice Roiland's style of roving improv riffs in that area of the shooter's composition. Like the Pickle Rick episode of Rick and Morty, High on Life doesn't build a big punch line. You likely recall "I'm Pickle Rick!" better than the actual narrative of that episode since the game is primarily focused on those quick bursts of amusement that will keep players delighted in the present. The components of this commendable adventure game—satisfying fighting, easy movement, and a scattering of humorous anecdotes—are more memorable than the whole.
Please refrain from enquiring as to why I have an achievement that reads, "I spent 15 hours at an alien strip club."
High on Life was tested on PC and Steam Deck.
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