Developed and published by Squanch Games, High on Life is the latest project to come from the mind of Justin Roiland, the co-creator of the show Rick and Morty. High on Life is a unique first-person shooter that brings the classic shooter mechanics back to life including puzzle-solving and platforming. You step in the shoes of a new bounty hunter who is trying to save humanity from getting snorted as the hottest new drug on the market. Complete with the traditional Rick and Morty-style humor, dialogue, and talking guns, High on Life is a shooter completely different from what we have played in recent times. This is our review of High on Life in which we shoot cartel members with talking guns and swing around with a talking knife.
High on Life begins when you are casually enjoying your life playing games at your home when the Earth is suddenly invaded by a cartel of aliens known as The G3 Cartel. It turns out that humans are the newest item on the intergalactic market, and everyone wants to consume humans as drugs. When you are the biggest drug on the intergalactic market, it means that you are in very high demand as well and now The G3 Cartel wants to move all of their mining operations to Earth and ‘mine’ as many humans as they can for their intergalactic operations. However, after picking up a sentient weapon known as Gatlian, you turn into an international bounty hunter, and you set your next goal to eliminate all of the top-level people of The G3 Cartel in order to save humanity on the planet Earth. Making Blim City as your main hub, you accept bounties and take down the cartel one boss at a time.
The main stars of High on Life are obviously the weapons that you use and all of them have their own personalities. You start off with Kenny who is the very first weapon that you pick up and as you progress in the main story, you get to meet more Gatlians and start using them as your weapons. Each of these weapons comes with a main fire along with a secondary fire mode which allows you to fire an alternate shot. The alternate shots give you additional fire modes however they must be charged again before you can fire them again quickly in combat. You can feed them alien fruits to quickly reload the alternate shots but then again, you must have enough fruits to feed your guns in order to use these alternate shots frequently in combat. You can purchase new mods and attachments for these weapons in order to make them more effective as well from various in-game stores using the in-game currency Pesos. These make your weapons more effective in combat by increasing the reload speed, adding more ammo, and even giving you increased charge speed for alternate fires.
After Kenny, your very first Gatlian pistol, you get a talking knife that weirdly reminded me of Rick from Rick and Morty and it is one bloodthirsty weapon. Further progression unlocks Gus, a shotgun, Sweezy, Halo’s Needler-type gun, and Creature, an imp-firing gun. All of the weapons come with their own dialogues and personalities that keep you entertained throughout the game. Having alternate shots for each weapon gives combat depth and also provides plenty of options to kill your enemies with style and manage different situations easily. Enemies in High on Life are relentless and as you explore various planets to collect your bounties, you will come across a wide range of enemies so having a decent arsenal is always beneficial in shooting games. Another great aspect of High on Life is that you will have all of the weapons in your inventory at all times and you can use whatever weapon you want to use.
The level design is yet another strong point for High on Life and also one of the most challenging bits of the game. High on Life brings platforming and slight puzzle-solving into the mix as well. The planets are beautiful, and the paths are not always very clear for you. You will have to jump, swing, and sometimes use your weapons as a means of opening new paths for yourself. Each planet in the game is huge and you have the freedom of exploring them at your own will while you are hunting down your bounties. Your weapons including your melee knife give you a new way to explore your surroundings and some of the areas can only be accessed when you have the correct weapon. The exploration is mostly for hunting down the treasure chests of High on Life which are called Luglox Chests which are small sentient chests with glowing antennas and when you slash them open, you earn Pesos which can be used for purchasing useful items from the many in-game shops. Each planet and area are unique, and you will also find locals and NPCs there. This is yet another great aspect of High On Life because every planet feels alive and is ripe with activity.
When it comes to actual shooting, High on Life does not lack in any way. The game is brutal, and the shooting mechanics are pretty solid. You can slice the throats of your enemies with Knifey and blow off their heads with Kenny or even body parts with Sweezy. At its core, High on Life is bloody because you will be blowing up enemies in the most graphic ways possible. The alternate firing modes give you even more options to blow up your enemies with. The boss battles take quite a lot of time to complete since you deal mediocre damage to bosses and depending on the difficulty level that you choose, even the normal fights can become tough for you. Most of the combat sections are pretty open and you can approach each scenario in different ways to suit your playstyle. You can stick to stealth for killing enemies however the game is really fun if you go all-guns-blazing.
Since the game comes from the creator of Rick and Morty, it is natural that you will notice a lot of similarities between the worlds of the game and the show but that is not a bad thing. Everywhere you go in the game, there is NPC chatter, and some NPCs will speak with you as well on various topics. The cities have live ads running on screens, people are moving here and there, and it really feels like exploring a real alien planet that is alive with activity. With Blimp City acting as the main hub of the game, you have different planets to explore, and I like the aspect that the game just does not unlock everything for you right from the start and gives you smaller chunks to explore as you get the necessary weapons and tools to unlock access to additional areas of the game. If you have been watching Rick and Morty, you might find the overall art style of the game and the TV show to be somewhat similar in different locations.
Squanch Games clearly thought that all of the talking might not be for everyone and to cater to them, the game gives you the option to adjust the amount of talking NPCs and your guns do. You have multiple levels of their chatter, and you can turn it off altogether as well so you can have the experience tailored to your desired chatter level. The game also comes with additional settings to change different mechanics and deliver a more traditional shooter experience and it is up to you to keep these settings turned on or turn them off. If all of the chatter is not your cup of tea, you can turn it off within the options menu and you can play the game without listening to a single word. As for me, I played the entire game with the chatter kept to a maximum and for me, it was one of the best shooter experiences of this year and I loved it. For players looking forward to playing something completely unique and different in the shooter genre, High On Life is a solid choice.
High on Life clearly delivers on every front and I am extremely happy to see Squanch Games launching a title that they wanted to make. The game clearly is inspired by Rick and Morty and some of the audio dialogue is similar between the two as well, but High on Life has its own personality, and it clearly differentiates it from the show. After playing High on Life, I am now eager to see what comes out of the mind of Justin Roiland and Squanch Games. Very few developers are willing to do something different these days and even few ones actually manage to deliver if they do decide to do something different. Squanch Games has managed to bring back colors, humor, and solid platforming back to the FPS genre. If you love watching Rick and Morty and are a fan of Justin Roiland’s work, then you will have a blast playing High on Life and even if you have never seen the show, I am sure that the game will keep you glued to the screen with its beautiful visuals, solid gameplay mechanics and a brilliant audio design.
Final Verdict:
High on Life is a refreshing entry in an oversaturated genre and that is what I like about this title the most. High on Life reminds me of the over-the-top fun shooters of the PS2 era when developers were creating titles to please players rather than pleasing the commercial aspects. Squanch Games took a risk, and I am glad that it paid off for them because High on Life is a brilliant shooter with not just solid gameplay mechanics but also a world that feels alive and refreshing. The art style of the game is beautiful, and I love how the game brings platforming and puzzle-solving back into the mix. The audio design of the game is just the cherry on top and it will surely keep you entertained throughout its lengthy campaign. High on Life ticks all of the boxes of an entertaining FPS and I will highly recommend that you play it when you can.
Final Score: 9.0/10
