High On Life: Review?

Quick and painless here: I have never watched Rick and Morty. That being said, I do have an odd sense of humor and find the weirdest things funny. Playing through High On Life, I have had the occasional chuckle, but found myself being more annoyed than anything else. Sure, there is a ton of dialogue but it is not the amount that got on my nerves. It was that I really felt it was trying TOO hard to make me laugh. You ever see someone bomb a joke and resort to self-physical harm to try and get a reaction? That is what I feel this game is. That last-ditch effort to squeeze a peep of sound out of my mouth.

The gameplay here is fine. Pew pew and knife your way through a bunch of foul-mouth aliens on various planets/cities. I have no problems with any of the weapons or methods of murder and there IS an option to silence the dialogue a bit. There's just nothing really NEW to the game. It is very colorful and very over-the-top which I do appreciate. The art is awesome. I just get rubbed the wrong when I play a game that knows it is a game. "Fucking awful level design huh?" Isn't what I like hearing when I'm trying to explore. Again, the game isn't bad, it is just REALLY annoying.

You can tune it out or turn it off but that is not what the developers had in mind. They want to make sure your gun yells at you for attempting to kill innocent aliens. They want your knife to scream "LET'S RIP OUT HIS GUTS" and it happens. A lot. While I do see where a lot of the humor will land for its target audience, I do see that it is just...not for me.

High On Life FEELS fine. You run, you jump, you crouch. All standard. Hidden pathways or obstructions to be cleared on a return run are all here for you to get a bit out of the levels here as you will backtrack once you find a certain item or get to a story point/mission objective.

You will do this a lot. Get a mission, go through a level, find some stuff you cannot get to, and come back to it later once you have the proper tools. It seems mundane and it is.

The story, on the other hand, is kind of the same. You're a human who gets invaded by aliens. You then fight with the aliens to save your world from being doomed. There are some plot twists and funny moments sprinkled in here and there but it is honestly nothing too Best Narrative of the year worthy. 

There are absolutely fun times to be had in High On Life and I am positive a lot of people will find this to be hilarious. I can't like every game, though, and not every video game will resonate with me. If you are looking for a bad word filled, alien gut blasting, Rick and Morty adventure, this is right up your alley. If you are looking for a more serious story with character development or innovative features, I'd pass on High On Life. Or at least give a go on Xbox Game Pass, you may unlock a sailor's humor you never knew you had.