I finished High on Life yesterday and have to say that I was pretty pleased with the game overall. I have never been a fan of Rick and Morty - mostly because I've never felt any particular urge to watch it. After playing High on Life, that's still the case. The humor in High on Life is plentiful and varied enough that I think most gamers will find at least something that will give them some good laughs.

The VO for the guns was really great, and for my own taste it never seemed to get to the point where they were talking so much that they became annoying. They would sometimes chatter during combat in a way that just became background noise, in the same way that other companions in video games might do.

The gameplay was fun and dynamic. The metroidvania approach is something I like to see show up in more genres and I think it is done well in this game. The jet pack in particular is a great addition and I wish I hadn't waited so long to pick up the power slide ability. Enemy types are varied enough I think and the bosses are memorable if nothing to write home about. Nipulon is probably the exception to that - great encounter all around.

The audio bugs throughout the game was disappointing. There were a few times I would walk away from a dialog with an NPC having no idea what was said because the audio of one or more participants was just completely absent. These bugs are probably my biggest complaint against the game at this time.

My final thoughts are just on the nature of comedy in video games - or comedy in writing in general I suppose. It seems like reviewers and critics seem to weight humor that didn't land for them much more strongly than other forms of dialog or story. Not every joke in this game landed for me. The fart and poop humor is a bit much for my taste. I still had multiple real-world belly laughs from this game, which is far more than I can attribute to the average game. In my opinion clumsy writing for a scene that is taking itself too seriously is less enjoyable than a joke I didn't like. When I tried playing Assassins Creed Origins, for example, I encountered multiple examples of just awful writing and VO that contributed strongly to me dropping that game early.

So, it turns out that High On Life was pretty fun!

This game wasn't even on my radar, but I heard so many good things about it that I decided to give it a try. Glad it wasn't a waste of time!

High On Life doesn't stand out on many things, but it does well what it sets out to do. It has a fun writing, a solid story, good shooting mechanics and powerups, nice overall gameplay, cool environments and it's pretty good looking. To me, it felt like Justin Roiland's take on HALO. As crazy as it sounds. One of the gun even feels like the Needler.

The humor is definitely not for everybody, but it's the thing that mostly kept me going. I really enjoyed it. The game, as a shooter, felt really competent as well (and I loved the jetpack). From platforming to fighting hordes of enemies, they managed to get a good pace going, packing funny jokes, intense moments and collectables all around the areas. Besides, there's just a lot of things to do in such a short game. For example, you can actually watch entire movies on a cinema or on your living room. It's quite nice.

The thing is that there's not a lot to say past that point.

I had a lot of fun with it, but that's it. I wasn't a fan of some of the boss fights, using the other guns (aside from Creature) didn't feel as cool as using Kenny, they reused too much of the same environments for missions, not every NPC you interact has something interesting going and the ending kinda just... ends, you know?

High On Life is a pretty solid game. It's not impressive, it's not for everyone and definitely won't be your highlight FPS, but it is a nice fun shooter. If you have nothing else to play, maybe try this one out.

Overall this was a fun game and it was okay. but it wasn't great. It had a lot of flaws and issues holding it back. it had a lot of technical mishaps, graphic glitches, REALLY annoying puzzles (some jumping fps puzzle jazz and some stupid switch puzzles) the gunplay is serviceable but not great. it feels a bit like borderlands lite. its not really a looter shooter but feels like it in both tone/humor and kinda maps/setting as well? There are a lotta things and extras, like collectibles, hidden money containers for hokey upgrades you dont really need and other filler stuff. (never figured out what the warp discs were used for) Feel like the game is kinda of in a rough unfinished state. Maybe if these elemeents could be improved i feel it could deserve four stars, but its currently 'close but not quite.'
You could go out to eat anywhere in the galaxy, time to go to Space Applebees. This game IS TOTALLY A SPACE APPLEBEES

The best bits in the games are probably the goofy and gooey visuals. the grungy aesthetic that is reminiscent of Sludge Life. The game does have a nice aesthetic and the humor is on point with a roster of almost a half dozen different guns with different personalities and constant commentary throughout your adventure (yeah they will say different things i think if you want to play the game with a different weapon out i think they will have different voice tracks) the game also has weird retro sci-fi B- movies playing on a tv set in your house in a city hub in between levels. Like these things DO blend together well but they just werent executed all that well. Helen the secretary is the best joke in the game. She is a secretary who works for mob bosses you kill and as you kill them she get seeks new employment so works for new mob bosses that you kill next. classic.

weapon shop upgrade system feels plastic and its not really that fun to explore these maps. I didnt focus on this at all and it wasnt necessary.

The game has a lot of wild visually cool looking moments but sometimes the mechanics in which those things originate dont mesh well in terms of gameplay. running on the walls using magboots is pretty cool visually, buts it arbitarily implemented in maps and clunky and feels contrived. same with the gloop switch puzzles or anything else that is similar.

In the end this was fun for a laugh but it did get old after about the half way through mark. I mean, lets be honest, is a First Person Shooter really the best genre for this kind of writing as it was executed? It's creative, i like it. i do, but I dont know if i like it for 10 hours or so, and i dont know if i like it ALL to be monologues from a talking gun in my hand about... Everything, and then i have to stop what i'm doing to listen to fully enjoy it. On top of this is the fact that a lot of the humor in the game is kinda gross about boy goop and butts and stuff. some things look like genitalia in ways that are probably not coincidental. I would recommend watching a lets play of this to see if its really right for you, but the overall game is maybe best delivered that way tbh. Some bits were really cool in it. like the psychedelic fractal 'trip' leading up to the final boss fight was one of the neater fps ideas i've seen done in a while actually... But that's not really a saving grace here. I also feel infected by the dirty soul of rick and morty for better or worse after playing it. That's on me though.

In the end it was a lot like duke nuke em forever or Postal or something. a rompy sight-seeing Joke-FPS that doesn't take it self (or what you think of it) that seriously. Rick and Morty is a much finer product, this was still cool to see though, i just can't really find anything really that praiseworthy of it though. It tries to steal a little of Borderlands flame but goes about it in a rather shoddy way. Humor alone in this way is best served in short Gravity Bone like experiences IMO.

Let's be upfront. The humor of this game is its entire draw. It's an average, run of the mill shooter with a charming art style that sometimes looks a little dated & a few fun guns that mix up the gameplay a bit, and some very light metroidvania level design.

It all comes down to if you like the humor or not. If you do, you'll love the game. If you don't, you'll hate it. Me personally? I liked it. The game certainly made me chuckle a lot & laugh out loud on 2 or 3 occasions. It's a short game, though, and good thing because the humor did start to get a little old near the end.

I, for the life of me, can't understand why some people think this type of humor is somehow "ultra-high intellect" humor. It's incredibly juvenile and that's not a big deal. Just own it. It's okay to be a full-grown adult who likes poop and sex jokes. You don't need to pretend it's somehow way too advanced for the average person. I mean, there are a few clever jokes satirizing the gaming industry and typical video game tropes, but it's nothing revolutionary.

So if this kind of humor gels with you & you want a short fun time, give this one a try. Because of its length, I WOULD NOT recommend paying full price for this one. Play it on gamepass or wait for a good sale.