Microsoft High on Life (Metroidvania FPS from "Rick and Morty" creator Justin Roiland - PC/Xbox consoles/Game Pass, 13 December 2022) - reviews from OpenCritic posted

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

 

[Derek]

Looks like a lot of fun. That boss fight looks like it would frustrate me, though.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

High on Life Includes 4 Full-Length Movies, and New Justin Roiland Animated Shorts - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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High on Life, the new shooter from Squanch Games, has been hiding a little secret - a TV in the game contains over 20 animated shorts from Justin Roiland and friends, not to mention four fully licensed feature films.

 

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High on Life, the new shooter from Squanch Games, has been hiding a little secret - a TV in the game contains over 20 animated shorts from Justin Roiland and friends, not to mention four fully licensed feature films.

 

During a hands-on with the game at Gamescom, we came across the TV, quickly realising that it was showing some fully-fledged commercial pariodies, some voiced by Roiland himself. We asked executive producer Matty Studivan about how much there was to watch, but didn't expect the answer we got:

 

"So we've done a pretty weird thing. We have a TV in the living room in the game, and you can sit down and watch it. You know, Justin has been wanting to get back to Interdimensional Cable, which is a very popular Rick & Morty thing, so we're trying to sort of emulate that, and we've made a bunch of animated shorts."

 

Over 20 shorts have been made, by a number of animators. But their length seemingly pales in comparison to what else the TV contains:

 

"On top of that, we've also licensed four feature length movies, that you can watch in the game," continued Studivan. "[Justin is] a big fan of Red Letter Media, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. He's just a huge fan of that stuff, and he watches a lot of those movies, so he's like 'Why couldn't we do something similar in the game?' Nobody's done it, so we were like, 'Let's figure out how to license some movies!'"

 

 

[Brian]

 

[Keyser_Soze]

I thought the funnier part was what came after that line.

[stepee]

lol this looks good actually 

[Nokra]

This looks surprisingly fun and funny. I'm on board!

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

[Paperclyp]

Cringe is over used but it describes what I do when I see footage of this game. 
 

Granted I’m not the biggest Rick and Morty fan but I’m mildly amused by that show. Something about that humor applied to a game is really turning me off. 

[Dre801]

A gun constantly talking would probably annoy me.  I'll pass.

[BloodyHell]

Free on game pass, and looks incredible. I'm in.

[Keyser_Soze]

17 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

Free on game pass, and looks incredible. I'm in.

 

Explains why @Paperclyp thinks it is cringe. He'd cringe a lot less if he could just download it with game pass.

[TheLeon]

I’ll check it out, but I am a little wary of that constant joking banter. It feels like it could get old quick, and it’s a major focus of the game. It makes me think of Borderlands, a game with a lot of humor that doesn’t necessarily land, but you can kinda tune it out and focus on the gameplay. Seems like that would be pretty hard to do here. 

[Firewithin]

oh for some reason i thought this was EGS exclusive but just saw the steam page.  interested now 

[stepee]

also will be on game pass for pc

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

High on Life is actually funny, and is funniest when it leans into gaming humor – hands-on

WWW.VG247.COM

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Obnoxious trailers aside, High on Life is actually quite entertaining – if you can stand the 100mph quip-rate.

 

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At its best, in fact, I think High on Life does something unique to the medium: it lampoons the conventions and traditions of video game design and the wider gaming community. Comedy isn’t done all that often in games, and it’s especially not very common outside of narrative-driven titles like adventure games; so to have a shooter that is sometimes funny is a welcome thing. For a while, this was Borderlands – but I have to be honest and say that I began to fall out of love with that series and its brash, meme-y humor over time.

 

The cursing in High on Life never quite drew a laugh from me, but some of the situations and individual lines did. There’s an NPC out on a jetty fishing, for instance, and you need to have a chat with him to progress. This guy has idle dialogue that he cycles through before you actually talk to him, and if you stop and listen, you hear him musing on his life as a video game NPC, destined to wait and hang out, performing a mundane task until finally the player comes to speak to him. Some enemies are the same, boasting when you first engage them that they’re “the hardest enemies in the game” – only to realize in panic, as you blow them away, that they’ve been sold a lie. They’re actually squishy tutorial baddies, spawned only to die.

 

My absolute favorite line in the 30-minute demo came after first picking up the knife, another sentient weapon that was shown off in part of the Opening Night Live footage. Every weapon has its own personality, you see, and the knife is characterized as a psycho that just loves stabbing and killing. This cues a bunch of cries of ecstasy and gratitude as you plunge the knife into enemies as your melee attack. A lot of this is just sort of frenzied glee and pleading you to kill more – but the knife also knows its video games, and at one point suggested I undertake an “any% knife-only run”, a clear reference to the video game speed-running community and the highly specific record categories many players run.

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

I guess this counts as an endorsement?

 

High On Life's talking alien guns aren't as annoying as you might think

WWW.ROCKPAPERSHOTGUN.COM

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We got hands-on with 25 minutes of High On Life and thought it was a funny, bizarre blast through an alien world we're itching to return to.

 

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I went into my High On Life hands-on session with one expectation: its talking alien guns will annoy the heck out of me. But in a surprising turn of events, I left thinking the game was a real highlight of my time in Cologne's multi-hall maze of excellent people and overpriced schnitzel.

 

And most importantly, the guns didn't annoy me at all! In fact, their craic contributed a great deal to my enjoyment of the strangest FPS I've played in a while - one where I was forever grinning at the screen like an idiot. If you're a fan of Rick And Morty from before it got weird to be a fan of Rick And Morty (or Squanch Games' back catalogue, or general bizarro laughs), this is one for the wishlist.

 

The game's greatest strength lies in how it glues together a linear mission with amusing surprises and silly decisions, taking what you'd think would be a familiar journey off piste in all manner of ways. Where your typical FPS might steer you through a tight knit corridor of close-quarters fights, then thrust you into a set piece battle against the sergeant who betrayed your squadron, High On Life would, I dunno, turn said sergeant into a highly strung gigantic ball of orange flubber who'd bat you over the head with a tentacle shaped like Masahiro Sakurai.

 

 

[Jason]

On 8/25/2022 at 6:44 PM, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

High on Life Includes 4 Full-Length Movies, and New Justin Roiland Animated Shorts - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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High on Life, the new shooter from Squanch Games, has been hiding a little secret - a TV in the game contains over 20 animated shorts from Justin Roiland and friends, not to mention four fully licensed feature films.

 

 

 

Surprised this isn't a Kojima game.

[Bacon]

"High on Life is actually funny"

Since their has never been a funny game, I doubt this.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

High on Life: How 2022's most divisive game is being brought to life | GamesRadar+

WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM

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Squanch Games on the talking guns, sequels, metroidvania influences, and the pressures of making a funny FPS

 

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High on Life is divisive by design. For developer Squanch Games, that's the unavoidable cost of investing so forthrightly in comedy as a central tenet of this upcoming first-person shooter – a joke will either make you laugh or it won't, after all. The fine line between raucous and repellent audience reaction is something Squanch Games CEO Justin Roiland is all-too familiar with by now, through his work as co-creator of caustic animated shows like Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites. And after playing High on Life, it's clear to me that there's the same unmistakable sense of defiance in its DNA. 

 

It will only take a couple of minutes of playtime for you to discern whether you'll love this video game or loathe it, and High on Life offers little room for the indecisive caught in the crossfire. Thank the Gatlian gods for Xbox Game Pass. "I think that the biggest challenge for us has been trying to work out how much is too much," says Mikey Spano, chief creative officer and art director. "Some people will probably find High on Life too much. But for most people, I think it'll just feel really, really good." 

 

High on Life is an absolute riot to play. That has become obscured after the wide dissemination of short gameplay clips, which have divided social media. Some are declaring High on Life to be the Rick & Morty-inspired game we always deserved, others are lambasting it as obnoxious and crass. The truth is somewhere in-between. For as contentious as its style of humor is, High on Life is also wildly imaginative; threatening to break new ground in an entertainment medium that has, famously, had a contemptuous relationship with comedy. That gets lost in thirty second snippets that loudly showcase a knife who is horny for blood, or a talking gun openly lamenting the loss of a 'E for Everyone' ESRB rating after you murder an alien kid for the crime of being a pain in the ass. 

 

 

[Greatoneshere]

What's the current preview word of mouth on this game in summary? I'm a big Rick and Morty fan, but I didn't play Justin Roiland's two previous games Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality and Trover Saves the Universe. Were those good? Might be indicative of the quality of this game.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

30 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

What's the current preview word of mouth on this game in summary? I'm a big Rick and Morty fan, but I didn't play Justin Roiland's two previous games Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality and Trover Saves the Universe. Were those good? Might be indicative of the quality of this game.

 

The general theme of the previews is that if you like Roliand's style of humor, then you might like the game.

 

Or you can see for yourself with the 25 minutes-long gameplay video I posted.

[Greatoneshere]

Just now, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

The general theme of the previews is that if you like Roliand's style of humor, then you might like the game.

 

Or you can see for yourself with the 25 minutes-long gameplay video I posted.

 

Yeah, watching it now I do get a sense of the atmosphere and tone, which I like - I'll be curious to see what reviews say with the gameplay, hard to get a complete bead on it from the gameplay video. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

[Brian]

Since this is on Game Pass, I am skipping all videos. I don’t need the humor to be spoiled. 

[Brian]

Preload is live on Game Pass

[Greatoneshere]

Eurogamer reviewed it and blasted it into oblivion - ouch. Got there infamous "avoid" award. A shame since Rick and Morty season 6 just ended pretty strongly as a season overall (and I haven't seen the show yet but I hear great things about Solar Opposites).

 

High on Life review - a mediocre shooter with an unfunny attitude problem

WWW.EUROGAMER.NET

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A miserable cocktail of ideas from other action-platformers and the worst parts of Rick & Morty. Eurogamer's High on Life review.

 

[Keyser_Soze]

2 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

Eurogamer reviewed it and blasted it into oblivion - ouch. Got there infamous "avoid" award. A shame since Rick and Morty season 6 just ended pretty strongly as a season overall (and I haven't seen the show yet but I hear great things about Solar Opposites).

 

A lot of the reviews say your enjoyment depends on if you like Roiland's humor. I guess I mentioned it elsewhere, but Alex Navarro previewed it a couple weeks ago and was actually pleasantly surprised by it (he went in with low expectations) and said not all the weapons are Roiland, like there is a gun voiced by JB Smoove which sounds cool enough to make me want to give the game a try.

[Greatoneshere]

2 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

A lot of the reviews say your enjoyment depends on if you like Roiland's humor. I guess I mentioned it elsewhere, but Alex Navarro previewed it a couple weeks ago and was actually pleasantly surprised by it (he went in with low expectations) and said not all the weapons are Roiland, like there is a gun voiced by JB Smoove which sounds cool enough to make me want to give the game a try.

 

Yeah with the review I wasn't focused on the reviewers' take on the humor, but the game just sounded bad (at least to me). Being as busy with games already as I am, probably won't do this one. His previous two games didn't review great either as I recall, but maybe they'll get there - it's a small studio making these I believe.

[crispy4000]

I wonder which is ultimately the better game, this or Journey to the Strange Planet.

 

I need some kind of FPS Metroidvania fix.

[Bitgod]

I haven't gotten far into it, so it may yet wear me down, but I like it.  But I'm also a R&M fan, so there you go.  Besides, the game has introduced me to Tammy and the T-Rex!

[Mr.Vic20]

I'm only 30 minutes in, but it doesn't take itself very seriously (as you would expect) and it flows forward at a good clip. Overall, I'm liking what I'm seeing so far!

[BloodyHell]

Looking forward to playing this later. After i play a bit of Crisis Core. 

[BloodyHell]

5 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

I wonder which is ultimately the better game, this or Journey to the Strange Planet.

 

I need some kind of FPS Metroidvania fix.

I don’t believe this is a metroidvania?

 

if you want that though, try Gunfire Reborn.

[BloodyHell]

6 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

Eurogamer reviewed it and blasted it into oblivion - ouch. Got there infamous "avoid" award. A shame since Rick and Morty season 6 just ended pretty strongly as a season overall (and I haven't seen the show yet but I hear great things about Solar Opposites).

 

High on Life review - a mediocre shooter with an unfunny attitude problem

WWW.EUROGAMER.NET

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A miserable cocktail of ideas from other action-platformers and the worst parts of Rick & Morty. Eurogamer's High on Life review.

 

It has a 76 metacritic, so it sounds like they are the odd review out.