Off the Shelf Media

High on Life felt like it came out of the blue in the summer of 2022. From one of the creative minds behind the popular adult cartoon, Rick and Morty (2013- ), the game launched at the start of the fifth season. While the game does not follow a direct storyline with the show, it is easy to find the similarities beyond the voice acting. 

It makes perfect sense, coming after the massive success of the fourth season of the show, it was prime time for those involved to expand their comedy and storytelling techniques in different mediums. Luckily, this game is not a haphazard cash grab. 

Gameplay: 2

It’s a fast-paced FPS, similar to Half-Life. It is a somewhat linear game with stages you can unlock and revisit that progress with the main story. It mixes open-world elements in enough to feel like there is exploration, but players will inevitably reach portions within the levels that are unobtainable due to progression, which never feel monotonous because of the overall length of the game, which I will get into more later. 

It is similar to Hogwarts Legacy as players will encounter certain sections locked behind story progression, except that many of them are tied to unlocking the levels themselves; they are not too present. I say that because, for me, it creates a small amount of annoyance whenever I encounter such sections in games, but the ones I found in this game were never frequent enough to irk me. 

There are five total “Gatlians” that players will unlock, alien beings that serve as guns, all with their own mouths and dialogue from different famous comedic voice actors. They react to the decisions you make with commentary, as well as remind players about using their alternate shooting methods if it has been a while. All of the dialogue from the Gatlians can be altered in the menu if players prefer playing in silence. I never changed the normal setting as I thought it worked perfectly; the dialogue never felt like too much, while the moments it came up were enjoyable. Oh, the same also goes for your knife, aptly named Knifey. 

So nothing about the gameplay reinvents the wheel. It takes familial elements and combines them together to work flawlessly. You can really use any Gatlian in a fight, and I am sure most players will come to find their favorites. As for me, I tried to mix them up as often as possible, but found myself using Kenny and Creature the most. You can also find upgrades for your weapons scattered across levels, in stores, and in the main pawnshop in Blim City. This is also true for suit upgrades that manage systems such as your shields and jetpack. So even though the core mechanics do not feel like anything revolutionary, players should be happy to know that these features work flawlessly together and are incredibly easy to pick up. 

Story: 2

The entertainment factor for this game is equal to the gameplay. With the combined comedic experience of so many skilled actors and writers, it becomes a wall-to-wall, hilarious game. Fair warning, though, as I said before, this is not directly related to the Rick and Morty show, but fans of the show will certainly enjoy playing the game because of the similar comedic and storytelling elements. 

It does well at poking fun at FPS and videogame elements along the way, using a completely refreshing method to add a small amount of self-reflection to your actions, so the absurd nature is brought back into the fold of the familiar and more realistic nature of everyday life. It has a way of breaking the fourth wall to make the game feel more realistic at its highest points. I mean, your main characters are the literal guns you use, which sounds absurd but works so perfectly. 

Atmosphere: 1

As mentioned before, you have to revisit areas. Some more than others. While there are occasional elements that change as you progress, it makes many sections feel separate from the rest of the game world. Similar to Mass Effect, after you play for about an hour, you start to recognize areas that have strategic cover seemingly randomly placed, which means a fight is going to happen. It makes the randomness evaporate from the cover and the surprise of a fight becomes entirely predictable. The type of feature that reminds players they’re in a game, as it is removed enough from the beautifully built world, into a more mechanical necessity. The rigid design of the linear elements budges out just enough to stunt the desired freedom of a more open world.

Value: 1

I’ll level with you: it should be a perfect score for value, but sadly, it has to be marked down. The base price is around $40, and it really is not worth that. That being said, it is constantly on sale for $10 on Steam and sometimes even less. So if you pick it up on sale, it is easily worth $20. Even if it takes around 10 hours to beat the game, I would wager another 10 to platinum.

Duration: 1

The entire time playing is enjoyable; it just seems too short. The best way to put my gripe with repetition in the game is that it is simply too short to have enough of it. This is a rare scenario where I would prefer more if it meant the game had more overall playability. Even the in-game movie is not enough to move the needle on this one. It is a unique game; simply existing in it is entertaining, which means it would benefit greatly from just being longer. It is the one time where I would recommend more repetition in gameplay just to get more dialogue and interactions on the other end. 

Total Score: 7/10

It is best described as easy-to-pick-up gameplay with writing that makes you want to keep playing just to see what happens next. If only the game itself were longer. There are not many, if any, games like it on the market. 

While the score might seem low, keep in mind that if the price were lower, it would easily be 8/10. None of the issues with it are game-breaking, and the overall experience is a good one; if anything, it is a great advertisement for the sequel that was released this year, but until we get our hands on a copy, let us know down below what you think. 

Should we review the second game? Fair warning, it is an incredibly mature game in terms of dialogue for those thinking about buying this for someone else.