Inside High on Life: How 2022's most divisive video game is being brought to life
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
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