- Publisher: Squanch Games
- Release Date: Dec 13, 2022
- Also On: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Dec 20, 2022In regards to the shooting mechanics, there's a solid core with excellent flow. You unlock traversal options that make moving around fast-paced and hectic while shooting down enemies. There are enough guns to unlock that keep the fighting interesting while maintaining their personality. Literally, the guns are characters in the story. Where High On Life shines is the writing. Every character and scene is hilarious while also telling a compelling story. Fans of Justin Roiland's comedy will love High On Life.
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Jan 23, 2023It is noticeable with what pleasure the developers created High on Life and how they fooled around in the process. During the passage, you are immersed deeper and deeper into this absurd world, expecting new surprises and never ceasing to smile. The gameplay is not perfect, but the Roiland team is gaining experience very quickly - hopefully, over time, they will be able to release something really amazing.
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Dec 19, 2022High On Life is a fun and humorous FPS that, while not innovating on the genre, is a joy to play all throughout its main story. However, it lacks a little technical polish and optional goals.
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Dec 12, 2022High On Life is a hilarious piece of comedy that also makes for an enjoyable first-person shooter, especially if you're into Justin Roiland's brand of humor.
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Jan 13, 2023Justin Roiland’s stuttering, drunken humor pairs up surprisingly well with a cross between Metroid Prime and Ratchet and Clank. Sure, the story stays on the short side and some of the character writing winds up being hit-or-miss, but if you’re a fan of Roiland’s comic stylings and want to enjoy a playable Rick and Morty episode, you’ll get that and then some with High On Life. Even those who aren’t Roiland aficionados can still enjoy the vibrant planets that are a delight to explore and gameplay that stays fast and fluent.
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Jan 5, 2023High on Life offers an irreverent, messy story with lots of dialogue and profanity everywhere. It is a tribute to games like Halo or Doom, but without being pretentious. It's what you expect from a title involving Justin Roiland. Beyond that, we have a simple shooter with solid game mechanics worth praisable. It is what Xbox needed a long time ago.
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Dec 12, 2022It's a wild ride that deserves to be experienced unspoiled.
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Dec 12, 2022High on Life knows what it wants to be and delivers that experience to players who likely want the same thing. The level of humor and writing is on another level. Still, you’ll want to pace yourself, if only not to grow tired of the waves of enemies you’ll encounter, which is thankfully broken up with platforming sections and standout interactions. The phrase, “Made by gamers, for gamers,” has never rung truer than when describing High on Life.
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Dec 12, 2022High on Life is filled with some fun mechanics and great writing, and while it doesn't reinvent the genre, it makes it more enjoyable.
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Feb 2, 2023Humor is the most important thing about High on Life. It single-handedly decides about how you will feel about the game. If it works for you, everything should.
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Dec 12, 2022High on Life is a solid first-person shooter/adventure game. The action is exciting, and the boss fights are frustrating in their difficulty but satisfying once you take down someone. The exploration portions make you want to return to each area to suss out secrets, and you'd just wish there were more environments to explore. All of this is done at a good length, but only if you're a fan of the humor. If you are a fan, add an extra point to the score. Even if you're not a fan of the humor, the adventure is worth experiencing at least once.
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Dec 16, 2022Just the indomitable creativity of the development team, which also shines on the aesthetic side, makes High on Life a production worthy of the attention of the public, especially of that large audience of players who recognize Rick and Morty as one of the most brilliant animated series of the last years.
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Jan 4, 2023A pretty funny romp that never quite finds its speed both as a shooter and as a comedic story. It’s unlikely you’ll be bored with High on Life.
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Dec 24, 2022Squanch Games created by Justin Roiland presents us with a new, beautifully absurd sci-fi adventure, filled with his signature humor choices (just look at the game premise and its name), goofy characters, and extremely inventive game design. If you love the likes of Rick and Morty you’ll surely love the direction this offensively brilliant game goes. Sure, there are some performance issues and sometimes you wonder if this is just an average shooter but then you realize you’re playing a game with TALKING GUNS!!!
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Dec 21, 2022The real issues arise as you get further into High on Life, and the game's humor and shooting both start to grow stale. I wish High on Life evolved more and put more complexity into its second half, which is sadly too focused on back-tracking. If you're a fan of Roiland's previous works, you'll likely find a lot to love here, and even if you're not, this a shooter with a unique aesthetic and sense of humor you won't find anywhere else. Just be aware that your hours of fun might come with a healthy dose of frustration.
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Dec 21, 2022High On Life is a game that, in terms of writing thanks to Justin Roiland, is superb. The humor is fantastic, though you have to love it. In addition, the audiovisual presentation is also excellent, but the gameplay itself is not too special. It is not very unique or innovative, but thanks to the weapons, voice-acting and writing it is a game worth playing. Especially if you are into rough, on the edge humor.
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Dec 16, 2022High On Life is, in its own weird way, a take on what a modern Metroid Prime game could be, through the lens of Justin Roiland's comedy antics. There's a similar sense of exploration mixed with fast-paced moments of combat, only here it's also swelling with expletive-laden jokes and sometimes incoherent rambling. The story, off-beat as it may be, is told incredibly well, with characters and moments I'll be referencing for a while. Even if you're not a fan of the kind of humor High On Life presents, the game that's here is worth the trip.
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Dec 15, 2022High on Life won’t be for everyone. However, those who love Justin Roiland’s comedic style will find a game that offers humour and a silly narrative with arcade-like gameplay, sometimes to its detriment.
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Dec 15, 2022Ultimately, I would recommend High on Life, but if you do, go into it with the mind that it’s a video game with a sense of humor that may fall short on you. Despite feeling a bit dated and some jokes missing their mark, I’m looking at you alien “fluids” seller, the game works despite how dated the actual gameplay is. Plus, its inclusion on Game Pass is reason enough why you should play it. Worst case scenario, you turn it off and only spend a few hours learning about how your nameless protagonist and Morty, I mean Kenny, saved the human species with a bunch of talking guns.
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Dec 14, 2022There’s combat and light puzzle-solving, but at its core, High on Life is a narrative sandbox adventure that requires little more than your time and attention. As someone who’s been feeling a little stressed and seasonally depressed lately, I sincerely appreciated that (and the ability to watch Tammy and the T-Rex, that’s also pretty rad).
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Dec 12, 2022High on Life takes the right design cues from Metroid Prime, though uneven comedy makes for a hit-and-miss adventure.
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Dec 12, 2022High on Life is a confident and capable Metroidvania that takes real pleasure in being as weird and outlandish as is reasonably possible. In presenting combat underpinned by chatting weapons and worlds wrought with endless distraction, Squanch Games has created something that is well worth your time, even if some of its elements lack refinement.
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Jan 25, 2023Mediocre shooter sustained by its incredible, gritty humour - but only if you're open to it.
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Jan 5, 2023In 'High on Life', 90% hilarious joke in the entire game is barely but surprisingly well held up by the 10% gameplay. It may be a good choice for the weekend if you are a fan of Justin Roiland. But the lack of localization in certain languages has somewhat demerits the charm of Xbox Game Pass in terms of accessibility.
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Dec 21, 2022High on Life has its fair share of good ideas and highlights, but there are several issues that do not allow the game to shine as much as it could. Even if the comedy aspect is exactly what you may expect from the creators of Rick & Morty, it does not work as good as in the series, and all of the jokes you come through do not really add much to the overall experience. Nevertheless, it is a fun game with characters that really help what it intends to do.
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Game World Navigator MagazineMay 4, 2023High on Life works better as a sitcom about weird aliens than it does as an FPS. [page 46]
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Jan 3, 2023High on Life is a decent FPS with great voice acting and an interesting new universe to explore. While I didn’t find any point in the game where I laughed out loud, if you are someone who enjoys the humor of Rick and Morty, then you will likely enjoy this experience as well. Just be aware that at different points the subject matter can be offensive to some, and the swearing is pretty much constant. High on Life may even be too much for some fans of Justin Roiland. While players won’t find anything new for mechanics and world traversal that has not been in other FPS titles, it is a good set of bones for future DLC and/or sequels.
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Jan 3, 2023High on Life is a decent enough game that doesn’t quite live up to its potential. The combat feels unfocused and lacks depth, while the story and humor only hit their stride in the final moments. Still, it’s worth a playthrough if you enjoy the more aggressive side of shooters with some light platforming.
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Dec 16, 2022For Rick and Morty fans, High on Life is a day pass to Roiland Amusement Park, where wisecracks complement the alien bounty chases. For anyone who isn’t enamored by the brand of humor, the aspiring thrill ride will be decidedly middling, with uninspired gunplay.
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Dec 29, 2022High on Life is likely a divisive game. While the gameplay is more than sufficient - if you're happy with an unrefined, almost arcade-style shooter - you then come to the dialogue and "comedy", which, to me, was overdone to the point of annoyance. Funny to begin with but repeated so much that a drinking game would lead to liver failure. Fortunately, being on game pass, you don't have to fork out too much to see if you like it.
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Dec 16, 2022High on Life is a mediocre shooter punctuated by sporadic humor that misses more often than it hits. Its self-mocking video game gags were tackled much more effectively in Trover, and the sheer size of the experience only places its faults into greater relief. There are laughs to be had, secret collectibles to sniff out, and some genuinely hilarious riffs on internet forums, but these are not enough to uplift the basic gameplay. High on Life gets the job done, but not in a remarkable way.
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Dec 15, 2022This uneven mix of humor and design keeps High on Life from ever feeling like a natural combination of video game and traditional comedy, even if there are plenty of moments where glimpses of some better blend of the two elements appears. What’s here is worthwhile for audiences curious about the concept of a comedy shooter, but it’s too uneven and stiflingly desperate to please to recommend beyond that.
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Dec 19, 2022You may get a laugh or two, but it’s an otherwise poor shooter that thinks large numbers of enemies are difficulty spikes and distractions will make people forget about the soft locks, crashes, and lack of accessibility options.
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Dec 15, 2022Lacking the sharpness needed by both shooters and comedy, High on Life is a low point in the gaming calendar.
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Dec 14, 2022High on Life just isn’t very good, and there’s not much more to say. I think a lot of people are taking the route of ‘well, if you love this humour you might enjoy it’, but I already do love this humour and I did not enjoy it. It’s the ghost of video games past, with boring shooting and a bafflingly slim progression loop propped up by bad jokes that feel like some bros on a podcast writing their own Interdimensional Cable skits. It’s free on Game Pass, but your time on this planet is precious. Give this one a miss.
| 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. | |
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Dec 16, 2022Despite the way-too-chatty guns (for what it's worth, there's options for that), High on Life ends up being a pretty fun shooter in a colorful and ridiculously stupid sci-fi world. It's not reinventing the wheel with its combat, but it doesn't really have to in order to be an alright time. The boss fights are surprisingly enjoyable and the game's exploration is satisfying, with upgrades and unlocks that open the world gradually, in a way that reminds me a bit of Ratchet and Clank. High on Life's crass humor is an understandable balk point for many — and the first hour or two is unrelentingly... well, Roilandy — but if you can push past the bad first impression, it's a good ol' competent FPS. [Quick Look]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 410 out of 617
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Mixed: 111 out of 617
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Negative: 96 out of 617
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Dec 14, 2022Comedy and beautiful game. A person who is a fan of Rick and Morty will like the game
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Dec 24, 2022
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Dec 18, 2022