Crude humor has its audience and works best if it includes a lot of profanity. This is the forte of High On Lifea game that arises from the disturbed mind of Justin Rolland, co-creator of rick and morty. This first-person space adventure promises a darkly humorous story that will have us laughing non-stop as we blow up alien heads in worlds where the action is non-stop. His letter of introduction is absurd but it is carried out intelligently with endless dialogues that accompany us from beginning to end. High On Life It’s like playing a long episode of some Adult Swin bar show, for better and for worse. This ode to irreverence is worth it but it has some problems that don’t let it take off. Here is my analysis.
mission number 1 High On Life is to make us laugh from start to finish, and it starts from his story. It all starts with an alien invasion that wants to take over humanity to consume it for recreational purposes. This causes our character without personality or voice to form an alliance with an alien of the Gatlian race named Kenny. This kind of talking weapon tells us that it is the G3 Cartel, a powerful intergalactic gang that we will have to stop by becoming a bounty hunter.
This is the starting point for a game with lots of funny and awkward moments to watch. The story puts us in the perspective of an invasion but always focuses its attention on Kenny, our gun and partner. This organic weapon that is practically an extension of Morty, will not stop talking from the moment you put it in your hands. This is good because it is full of personality, with clever phrases and a stutter that helps to feel closer. All the time Kenny gives us important information as well as making us laugh with his witticisms. The best thing is that he, in addition, he will contribute something new at all times; For example, if you aim at someone innocent, miss your shots, or take a long time to solve a puzzle, they always have something to say. This also happens with the other weapons but to a much lesser extent, leaving all the prominence to Kenny. This is a shame because there are characters like Knifey, the talking knife with a strong resemblance to Rick Sanchez, who could have had a more active participation in the story.
The situations we face also fit well with the game’s adult tone that includes unnecessary violence, uncomfortable themes, or references to pop culture. There are many details throughout the adventure, such as including some full-length movies that are broadcast on television or pop culture references that you will surely recognize. This particularity is also its curse because it shows that the Squanch Games team paid special attention to the script and hopes to show it off throughout the game. This means that there is a lot of dialogue and it is a good thing, but it affects the pace of the adventure by cutting back on the action segments. There will be moments where you finish your kills and after a good while of travel you will activate your trigger again.
The nature of the genre weighs heavily, at times I wanted to shut Kenny up and go straight to smashing alien brains. There are also times when we are presented with annoying characters, who do not stop talking or who have a shocking personality. This is intentional and hopes to make players feel uncomfortable while playing the game. These types of jokes are throughout the game and although they give it a touch of black humor, the discomfort becomes real on many occasions. The same goes for Kenny and other characters who talk in the middle of battle, it’s easy to get distracted by his voice. This weighs a little more if you do not speak English, since the voices are only available in this language, so you will have to turn to see the subtitles if you want to find out everything. But it’s not all bad, the localization is very well done, the profanity and jokes are well adapted in Latin Spanish. In this way humor has more impact and feels closer.
“At times I wanted to shut Kenny up and go straight to smashing alien brains”
In addition to the script, there are several successes in High On Life which is worth mentioning. The first is the game mode, because although it is an FPS it is also about platforms. There are sections where we must take advantage of the abilities of each character. In the case of Kenny, he will be able to launch a viscous sphere that, in addition to sending the enemy flying, can activate mechanisms and platforms to continue advancing. When we get Knifey, the psycho knife, we will be able to open chests and use a hook to reach further places. As we explore we will see strategic points where we can use the abilities constantly throughout the levels. These types of interactions are nice and are used very well throughout the levels.
We can also take advantage of these advantages in the middle of battle to make things faster or even take a distance to recover some life. This idea is well applied and is integrated into the game progressively. The interesting thing is that, in addition to weapons, we can buy some improvements for our character that give us more mobility. By acquiring them we will be able to dodge shots, slide across the floor or float for a few seconds.
On the other hand, although the encounters become intense, throughout the game we will see the same enemies in yellow suits over and over again. We will also find some creatures that launch towards you to give you a good bite or more violent enemies but soon we will return to the cycle of yellow enemies. In addition to the fact that most of them are just shooting, they are easy to take down, so they do not present a challenge. Fortunately you can modify the difficulty but everything stays easy until you get to the level bosses. These matchups are the best in High On Life, because they have unique attack patterns and you are forced by your weapons or abilities to figure out their weaknesses. In addition to attacking, we will have to pay attention to some dangers that are activated from time to time but that we can avoid if we are attentive.
In addition to killing enemies in the levels, there will also be room for exploration, but the levels become deceptive because they suggest a certain freedom but are really linear. It is possible to search for hidden things or chests, but nothing else. For this reason, while we can return after beating the levels, there is no further reason to return once we find the chests we need.
Regarding the graphic section, the game complies very well with a great design of organic characters and different biomes that we meet throughout the missions. All weapons are full of life and react naturally to our movements. The soundtrack is good, and the music, although relaxing, integrates well with the exploration and shooting.
High On Life It is a solo FPS that fulfills having fun and making us laugh non-stop. If you are a fan of rick and morty you should play it without hesitation, but if you are looking for a hectic game that tests your skills you will leave somewhat disappointed. Its duration of at least 10 or 15 hours, this can be extended if you get all the improvements and go in search of the chests. If in doubt, remember that it is included as part of the benefits of Xbox Game Pass.
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