Rick & Morty co-creator's FPS High on Life elevates ridiculousness to an art form

With so many games vying for attention at Gamescom 2022, it can be tough to stand out from the crowd, much less a genre.

However, for Squanch Games' High on Life, the legacy of co-founder Justin Roiland and his work on the popular animated sitcom Rick & Morty definitely helps, but beyond that, this is just one crazy first-person shooter that just does things its own work, and largely, it works.

Hunting down an alien drug cartel trying to harvest the humans on Earth is not exactly familiar territory, and neither is the use of talking guns, but for High on Life, it's just another day in this future gone bad.

Running through it all is that now signature voice of Roiland, as well as the irreverent humour that was also present in Trover Saves The Universe.

Our hands-on demo starts things off before the boss battle shown at Opening Night Live, where the alien Gene has taken up residence and tasks players to hunt down alien bounties.

Just looking around, the sheer amount of effort to add details to the colourful world is worthy of celebrating, and for those that like to look around, there is going to be much delight.

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Heading out into the city of Blim, the vibrant nature of things does hit like a wrecking ball, with something always catching your eye as you scan your surroundings.

Talking to the denizens also offers up some comedic dialogue, with options that have small effects on how you progress in High on Life.

This could be as simple as choosing a particular gate to open by choosing the hotter of two alien guards, or using subterfuge to deceive your enemies into opening a door by pretending to be a dead lover returning from the grave.

Of course, that humour is not for everyone, but if it is something you can identify with, High on Life is going to be a wild ride.

The game itself is not afraid of breaking genre conventions or even the fourth wall, with a particular section of our talking Gatlian gun talking about losing the game's E for Everybody rating after killing an annoying alien kid getting a good chuckle out of us.

While the first-person shooting is not going for the realistic or gritty route, it's what High on Life does with it that is truly impressive.

Ideas like alternative fire that can send enemies flying for more damaging air juggles, or puzzle solving with your guns, are definitely ideas that add something new to the formula.

Picking up the talking Knifey further on in the demo also gives us access to devastating melee attacks and a grappling hook, which adds another wrinkle to how a traditional FPS will work.

As enemies blanket you with fire from all sides, moving quickly and across heights is going to be very helpful.

This is particularly so in the battle against the area's boss of 9-Torg, with sequences of bullet dodging and sneaky melee attacks interspersed with platforming sections to keep away from toxic sludge, all while snarky comments are fired off by the talking Gatlian pistol called Kenny.

There is no doubt High on Life is aiming for a particular audience when it comes to its storytelling and worldbuilding, but in addition to that, the way it juggles various gameplay mechanics into an FPS is deserving of more attention.

Even with its slight delay to Dec 13, our excitement about this FPS is only growing by the minute.

This article was first published in Geek Culture.