High on Life review - A competent FPS with an overdose of divisive humor

High on Life is the latest game from Justin Roiland's Squanch Games. Yes, he's the same person responsible for the iconic Rick and Morty series. For this reason, it is quite obvious that the exploration-driven FPS will cater to the same audience.

The game is finally here for PC and Xbox platforms. Is it really a high worth indulging in, or does it try too hard in its attempts to be funny? Honestly, the answer to this question will depend upon you, the player.

---

High on Life aims to be a humor-packed intergalactic adventure

Squanch Games' latest project is one of their most ambitious yet. High on Life is a 3D FPS that has elements from familiar video game franchises and genres, such as Metroidvanias.

The story sees players control a silent protagonist while at home alone with their bossy sister. Things take a sharp left turn as Earth gets invaded by aliens. These aren't just any aliens, but drug cartel overlords that want to capture all humans and turn them into drugs to consume.

Players will eventually receive a talking gun known as a Gatlian. After the siblings get teleported to a distant alien homeworld with no way back, the protagonist must put on their big boy pants and get to bounty hunting in order to find the coordinates back to Earth.

The journey sees players explore various worlds, from lush forests to dry deserts, each with unique enemies and NPCs. Each biome has pockets for exploration and culminates in unique boss fights against powerful threats.

---

Don't do drugs, kids

It would be an understatement to say High on Life throws a bucketful of bizarre at the player at every turn. From the retro FPS throwback of the intro to the moment players get their hands on the starter Gatlian pistol Kenny, it is abundantly clear that the title does not take itself seriously.

The game takes nearly every moment to crack a joke, make a pop-culture reference, or even engage the player humorously by means of fourth-wall breaks. All in all, there are plenty of neat secrets and nods that players will come across that I do not want to spoil.

Players will use their own home — now amidst a bustling alien city — as a base of operations. An NPC named Kenny makes himself at home on the human sibling's living room couch, aiding the protagonist by pointing them in the right direction and even providing a bounty-hunting suit to get going.

The prospect of taking down brutal criminal aliens is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, every NPC is unique and entertaining in its own way, meaning High on Life keeps players guessing around every corner.

---

Bounty hunter, signing in

The core gameplay of High on Life will see players navigate different worlds while collecting money from chests, dealing with hostile denizens, and engaging in a bunch of puzzle platforming.

There are two fundamentals to gameplay: guns and traversal. Players will receive a number of Gatlians throughout the adventure. These range from Kenny (voiced by Roiland himself) and the shotgun-esque Gus to the rapid-firing Sweezy and the grenade-launcher-inspired Creature. Knifey is the core melee weapon, boasting a psychopathic nature. Yes, each weapon has a different personality.

High on Life's enemies, meanwhile, range from wild fauna to general alien grunts covered in yellowish goo. The latter are clearly working for the bosses that players intend to hunt down. They also come in various forms, from the basic blaster-armed thugs to the more hulking melee brutes that will rush towards the player.

Each Gatlian also has an alternate fire, like Kenny's goop charge, which can knock enemies mid-air, or Gus's suction, which will pull enemies to the player for a blast to the face.

However, there's more to the weapons than just killing baddies as they aid in traversing the environment. Kenny's alt-fire can be used to knock down dedicated platforms, and Gus' blade can be attached to dedicated surfaces for progression.

In addition to slowing down enemies, Sweeny's bubble can also be used on objects around the world to progress, like vents with spinning fans or moving platforms. Knifey also helps in grappling across hook-like bugs and zipping across wires.

The protagonist has their share of suit abilities and upgrades. Using key items purchasable in the Pawn Shop, players can dash and even hover using a jet pack.

Everything mentioned so far culminates in a frantic dance of lights and chaos against waves of enemies. Players can also return to older worlds with newer unlocked abilities to access areas that were previously out of reach.

If all of this gives you flashbacks to renowned video games like Metroid Prime or DOOM Eternal, rest assured you are not alone.

---

Perhaps a bit of an overdose?

Unfortunately, High on Life does not come close to reaching the heights of those titles. For one, the writing is incredibly divisive. The flat jokes, chatterbox NPCs, and often cringe humor all meld into one mind-numbing mush — so much so that I wouldn't blame players for turning off their brains for the duration of the set piece. At the very least, players can turn off the Gun and Enemy talk frequency from the settings.

The other area where High on Life stumbles is combat. It is by far the weakest element of the game. Gunplay feels loose and unimpactful, with enemies not really reacting in any significant way to hits. The Gatlians also lack a visual punch, including the shotgun Gus.

Thankfully, the boss fights are fun, with unique attacks never seen on any other foe. They also provide a decent challenge at times.

---

Graphics, performance, and sound

Like the gameplay itself, the performance aspect of High on Life is a tad rough. High on Life is an Unreal Engine 4 game. While the game offers many options for tinkering around with the graphics, there is no FOV slider. This is a grave sin for an FPS game, especially on PC. On top of that, it is also DirectX12 only, meaning there is no true fullscreen mode either.

Additionally, there are odd performance hiccups and, of course, stutter. The game will run fine in general, but turning the camera to specific locations will tank the frame rate, even those that are seemingly harmless. This occurs regardless of the specs of the target PC. One such example is the fireplace in the protagonist's home, beside the couch where Gene and the sister are located. All things considered, it is a mediocre port.

The sound side of things in High on Life is alright, with whacky sci-fi and techno tunes accompanying the game's cartoony aspect.

---

In conclusion

Squanch Games has delivered a novel experience that intriguingly merges together the classic Rick and Morty humor with semi-linear FPS and Metroidvania aspects.

As a result, High on Life has many cool ideas but has mixed execution in many ways. The visuals are great, the character's animations expressive, and its worlds vibrant. The varied movement options also help amplify combat, and its arsenal of talking weapons is an admittedly solid concept.

However, gunplay feels unimpactful and can turn into a slog despite the engaging traversal systems, which is a problem given how a good chunk of High on Life is spent shooting at aliens.

The humor, in particular, will not be everyone's cup of tea. There are moments where it falls flat right into unfunny territory. Then there are the technical flaws that require further refinement for the port to truly shine on PC.

Overall, High on Life should immediately appeal to fans of Roiland’s previous work. For others, it's worth waiting for a price drop, particularly when the rough kinks have been ironed out.

---

High on Life

Final verdict (Image vis Sportskeeda)

Reviewed on: PC

Platform(s): PC, XB1, XSX|S

Developer(s): Squanch Games, Inc

Publishers(s): Squanch Games, Inc

Release date: December 13, 2022