High on Life is supposed to be funny. What else would you expect from the latest Squanch Games project, a developer founded by Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland? But the game isn’t a joke. This original, first-person shooter draws influence from titles as monumental as Doom and Metroid Prime, but mixes it with Squanch Games’ house style. The vulgar humor may not please everyone, but after an hourlong, hands-on demo with the upcoming PC game, I was surprised and delighted by how satisfying High on Life is shaping up to be. 

This Is Your Brain on Drugs

If you’re familiar with Roiland’s previous work—whether it’s Rick and Morty or Trover Saves the Universe, Squanch Games' previous release—you’ll know what to expect from High on Life’s uniquely gross and irreverent sci-fi universe. Wiggly monsters curse, ramble, and stammer like improv characters. Everything is covered in goo. Violence can erupt at any moment. The story kicks off when an alien drug cartel invades Earth due to human beings making for great interstellar opiates. You play as a bounty hunter looking to take down six ridiculous gangsters.

Despite the laughs, High on Life’s intense style creates an immersive sense of place. The team worked with AI art technology to generate truly unsettling visuals. Walking around these alien worlds, such as a mining operation or a military recruitment center, reminded me of immersive games like Cyberpunk 2077 or The Outer Worlds. Or you can just watch schlocky, full-length movies, like Tammy and the T-Rex, in your character’s home. Unlike Trover Saves the Universe, High on Life doesn’t support virtual reality headsets.

Guiding you throughout your journey is your growing arsenal of talking alien guns, voiced by actors like J.B. Smoove and Roiland himself. These critters deliver story details, gameplay hints, and pithy one-liners. If you’re into Roiland’s signature delivery, this is a pretty concentrated dose of it. Accidentally stomping through a miniature alien town is basically a bit from Rick and Morty's “Interdimensional Cable” episode, and I love it. 

However, Squanch Games also recognizes that too much grating chatter may distract from the experience, even if you enjoy the jokes, so you have the option to reduce the talking's frequency. Some other recent, overly talkative games (God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West) can learn from this feature. I appreciate the option, and think it shows the team’s confidence in the gameplay (a confidence it's right to have).

A Slimy Shooter

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the shooter when I started playing, and alien construction workers called the Macaroni Brothers roasted me as I did light grapple-hook platforming in search of my bounty. But then I got into my first firefight, and it dawned on me: High on Life is Doom! 

The combat feels like an homage to iD Software’s 2016 masterful reinvention of the seminal first-person shooter. I boosted around the arena using my nimble power slide before ripping and tearing enemies to pieces with my melee attack. The combat felt great, if not quite at a AAA level of polish. A boss fight had me frantically swinging around the arena to avoid an electrified floor, and I always felt in control of the chaotic action. 

Although the gunplay is a bit looser and sloppier than the melee action, it makes up for the differences in pure creativity. High on Life’s wacky, organic weaponry recalls Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath. In addition to standard bullets and shotgun blasts, weapons have nifty alternate abilities that are useful in combat and puzzle-solving scenarios: ricochet gooey balls to knock platforms into place, launch a spinning energy disc and manually deflect it with your knife, and suck enemies toward you and blow them away. 

High on Life’s overall structure wasn’t quite as easy to grasp during my limited time with the demo. However, I could see what the developers meant when they explained how the game has Metroidvania and immersive simulation qualities. Along with upgrading your stats, you also unlock abilities that open up new areas on old planets. You even have some choice in what order you pursue bounties, and how the story proceeds as a result. During my demo, I managed to get ahead of the quest line by stumbling across a shady black market dealer who gave me vital bootleg slime. I’ll have to play the final game, though, to see how substantial and meaningful these exploration elements are overall. 

Living the Good Life

As a full-length, full-price game, High on Life marks a bold step for Squanch Games. Comparisons with Doom, Metroid, and some of the best shooters of all time may set expectations too high. Still, it's impressive that High on Life gets so close to those titles, while proudly reveling in its own icky, alien identity. Plus, none of those games have Justin Roiland screaming at you, if you’re into that sort of thing. High on Life launches on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S (including Xbox Game Pass) on December 13. Check back soon for a full review.

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