- Publisher: Squanch Games
- Release Date: Dec 13, 2022
- Also On: PC, Xbox One
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
-
Dec 24, 2022Graphically, High on Life is perhaps the least impressive that came out this year and in terms of gameplay, it's about as original and innovative as Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, released in 2005. But this game holds its own because everything is soaked in Roiland's absurd humour, from the tutorial to the weapons and details. It's amazing how many interchangeable, goo-covered enemies you can shoot as long as an annoying space creature circles around your head and whines about its mother in a squeaky voice.
-
Jan 3, 2023High on Life has a particular vibe, one that rewards patient exploration and persistence. The dialogue is a lot to handle, yes. And not every weapon is a winner. The wrong Gatlian can leave you both overwhelmed and unimpressed. But the look, the sound of this game is truly remarkable. This is an alien world that’s crammed full of curious details. The visuals are delicious, the soundtrack is mostly bangers, and the boss fights are well-crafted. Whatever problems I had with the pacing were (mostly) wiped away by that final challenge. It turns out a little spectacle goes a long way. If you can handle Justin Roiland’s unique sense of humor, you’ll want to check out High on Life.
-
Dec 29, 2022High on Life is a strong enough game with some fun gameplay segments and okay-ish plot, all of which can outweigh some of the obvious shortcomings. Basically this new release from Squanch Games is a competently made FPS with some szechuan sauce on the side.
-
Dec 24, 2022If you are looking for a game that will make you laugh, High On Life is the one. It's a bare bones FPS with acid humor, brilliant characters, and it's filled with absurd situations; it will make you feel inside an Adult Swim series. However, its limited exploration and rhythm, the game is better committed to making you laugh rather than shoot.
-
Dec 19, 2022Despite being often repetitive, High On Life manages to impress with off-the-wall humor from the creator of Rick and Morty.
-
Dec 19, 2022High on Life is a conflicted game. On the one hand it's a solid shooter that often feels like more than the sum of its parts, and comes with an engaging art style and ideas, but the sense of humour is just so subjective that it's hard to recommend to anyone that isn't a die hard Rick and Morty fan.
-
Dec 14, 2022High On Life is a Comedy FPS that hits its target with its writing but not so much with its shooting. Too bad there's no localised version because it's really funny.
-
Dec 20, 2022Colorful, wild alien first-person shooter with talking guns - the gritty humor hits the mark, the gameplay is just so-so.
-
Dec 16, 2022A fun game that, even if it doesn’t do anything particularly well gameplay-wise, makes the most of its particular sense of humor to keep the player entertained.
-
Dec 21, 2022Though it has plenty of great ideas, High on Life is too overbearing and never quite commits to its best moments.
-
Dec 16, 2022High on Life continues Squanch Games’ propensity for skewering video game tropes, this time in the form of a first-person shooter. Unfortunately, a lot of the game plays like a first draft, and armor of detached irony doesn’t do enough to protect it from its many, many kinks. Roiland’s personal brand of gross-out parody and “oh, geez” improvisational humor is already starting to feel routine in video game form, but there are a few standout bits. Thankfully, there’s a pretty fun shooter underneath all the alien semen, though stiff animations and some buggy moments can make it look slightly underbaked. If you’re a fan of Rick and Morty (or, more appropriately, “Doc and Mharti”), then High on Life might just be the pickup you need—but it never fully develops any of its really good ideas into a satisfying final draft.
-
Dec 14, 2022High On Life is easily Squanch Games’ most ambitious project, but aside from the environments and the world-building which match that ambition, the first-person shooter itself is incredibly generic, and not funny enough to make up for it.
-
Dec 15, 2022Despite multiple shortcomings and my general aversion to the game’s writing, High on Life has occasional glimmers of potential. I’d like to see a sequel polish and improve upon this foundation. I’m always itching for more creative takes on shooters, but High on Life is a reminder that “different” doesn’t always mean “good.”
-
Dec 12, 2022I appreciate what Squanch Games is doing in the industry as a whole, but Trover Saves the Universe was a much better distillation of Roiland and company's humor in a sounder package.
-
Edge MagazineJan 26, 2023It can be hard to separate what is ironically bad and what is just, well, bad. [Issue#381, p.100]
-
Jan 19, 2023Humor is sometimes tough to get right. You have to pace it right and you shouldn’t overdo it. Justin Roiland and co. unfortunately throw it at you in mindless spades and hope something sticks. And underneath it all? Just a very average shooter.
-
Dec 19, 2022The most fun I had with High on Life was watching the entirety of Tammy and the T-Rex on an in-game television, and that’s not a compliment. It’s indicative of a game that doesn’t know how to exploit the interactivity of videogames and settles instead on yelling ideas as unsubtly as possible. With its relentless avalanche of jokes and screeches, it’ll talk your ears off but has exactly zero bite to go with its cacophonous barking. Its best ideas are borrowed from elsewhere. Its worst ideas are borrowed from elsewhere. The aggressively layered comedy is a smokescreen for the fact it's got nothing else going for it. It’s a clamorous joke delivery vehicle in which your role as a player is to passively observe and occasionally shoot stuff. You might as well sit down and watch TV.
-
Dec 15, 2022A colourful, silly and deliberately over-the-top first person shooter, with severely undercooked gunplay and a sense of humour that will test the patience of even Rick and Morty fans.
| This publication does not provide a score for their reviews. | |
| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
| These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation. | |
-
Dec 12, 2022A miserable cocktail of ideas from other action-platformers and the worst parts of Rick and Morty. [Eurogamer AVOID]
-
Dec 13, 2022This is quintessential Roiland humor: Drag out something for so long it starts to make the viewer uncomfortable, then drag it out a little longer until they start to uncomfortably laugh, then drive that laughter home with a dash more discomfort—see, now it’s hilarious. But whereas this formula works (mostly) well in a 22-minute-long Rick and Morty episode, by the time I’m several hours into High On Life, every line of dialogue makes it clear that somehow, I am not high enough.
-
Dec 13, 2022My only major complaint lies in the abrupt ending, with no particular surprises after defeating the final boss or activities to finish. For a game that was filled with voices of the nattering guns, they are strangely silent once we laid waste to the big bad. It was odd and jarring. But, regardless, the destination was enjoyable and is very much worth your time if you enjoy a beautiful-looking, solid shooter that does not take itself at all seriously, with incredible performances from... well, talking guns, horny teddy bears, limbless bounty hunters, and fascist ant people.
-
Jan 3, 2023A bit confusing at first, High On Life is an experience that can finally be enjoyed once you put some hours into it. Regarding its purely FPS component, even though it works very well, it was a bit too wishy-washy. Among the notable flaws, we have the lack of impact in gunfights, a small and repetitive bestiary and bosses that are too easy to take down. On the other hand, the idea of the Gatlians is interesting to explore and this irreverent, vulgar, trashy and absurd humour finally won us over and made us forget some of the game design’s shortcomings. Beware, however, that the lack of ergonomics, particularly with regard to subtitles, could put off many non-English-speaking players from getting involved in the adventure. Although imperfect, Squanch Games’ title remains a solid base for a new licence and manages to take us into its totally ludicrous universe despite quite a negative first impression. Well done!
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 517 out of 664
-
Mixed: 53 out of 664
-
Negative: 94 out of 664
-
Dec 15, 2022
-
Dec 14, 2022
-
Dec 14, 2022