High on Life Review
Release date: December 12th, 2022
Developer: Squanch Games
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed)
Price: $60
High on Life from Squanch Games is an interesting take on FPS games. This humor based FPS should keep gamers interested through most of the 10 hrs it offers in gameplay. Is there enough to set it aside from an already crowded marketplace of FPS titles?
Squanch Games is best known for Trover saves the Universe and being associated with Rick & Morty. This gamer has a confession, I admit I have only watched one season of Rick and Morty. The show does make me laugh but I have to be in the mood. Much like the show, this Xbox and PC exclusive game takes the right frame of mind to enjoy. Players are warped to an alien planet after an event and enlist a retired bounty hunter to take down Garmantuous and their alien cartel. That is about it for the plot.
Gameplay is pretty basic, players have guns and a melee attack. Most of the guns have a secondary firing option that can be upgraded along with the bounty hunting suit as the game progresses. Players can revisit old locations to hunt for secrets and unlocks. The suite does give you some options to traverse levels such as a grappling hook (more like a zip line attachment) and the ability to air dash. I didn't find the combat too challenging even with the boss fights, they usually have a weakness.
Graphically the game looks good. Think of it as animated fps, it's very polished and the colors are bright where they need to be. There are different planets and areas and those all reflect good design. Character models are well animated and have certain polish players will recognize from the show. The humor and dialogue can get a bit juvenile at times but hey that’s the appeal to the humor of the game and the show.
There are a few things in the game that may bug players. If you are a gamer who isn't a huge fan of Rick & Morty and the humor that comes with that series you can use an option to make the weapons talk less. They talk a lot, every time a player equips a weapon, they comment on what's going on, what you should do etc. While this is an interesting choice, some gamers may get annoyed. I also personally got annoyed that there weren't better quest markers or hints on the next objective. The game wants players to explore the areas but unlike Dishonored or Death Loop the vertical traversal is somewhat limited and doesn't really affect a players approach to enemies or getting through areas.
Overall the game is about 10 hours to beat maybe a little longer if you want to spend the time hunting down items. I would recommend High on Life for fans of Rick & Morty. The game is on Xbox Gamepass right now and is also on Steam for $60. Maybe fans will see a physical copy from Limited Run Games in the future? Thanks to the publisher for letting us review this.
Final score 4/5
Pros:
Humor
Different FPS
Bright and colorful
Cons:
Too much humor sometimes
Not really an open world FPS