High on Life is a crazy, strange, and hilarious interstellar voyage. Whether I’m chatting with my talking pistol about the virtues of science and formulas, being an expert bounty hunter, or even strangely watching a full live-action movie from the ’90s on nearby television. High on Life (as available as part of the Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass) is a game that just knows how to have a good time, and there really aren’t enough of those.

Releasing on Dec. 13, 2022 this single-player game offers a unique experience inspired by the Rick and Morty interdimensional cable episodes. 

This hilariously inappropriate first-person shooter prioritizes its absurdist plot and cast of characters and utterly rejects taking itself seriously. With its 9-hour play time, this game never has moments of dullness. You start a ludicrous interstellar voyage to seek vengeance against the extraterrestrial drug gang responsible after Earth is overrun by revolting aliens that kidnap humans to be used as psychoactive narcotics. 

You are joined at all times by the show’s leading actors. The most essential characters in the story are the exceedingly rude weapons themselves, who serve as both your means of destruction and the main protagonists. The adventure’s animated weapons, or Gatlians, are by far the best part. They include Kenny, the easily agitated pistol voiced by Justin Roiland doing his trademark Rick & Morty impression, Sweezy, the foul-mouthed sniper rifle that appears to be a reference to Halo’s Needler, and my personal favorite, Gus, the surprisingly wholesome shotgun voiced by JB Smoove

One of my favorite aspects of the game was its abundance of easter eggs. In the living room, for instance, where your tasks start, amusing TV episodes will start to play. One of the funniest things I’ve seen in gaming was one that got me fascinated for more than 15 minutes and involved someone very slowly counting down from 60, which I know sounds ridiculous, but somehow incorporated my favorite type of humor.

The distinguishing feature of this game was that it wasn’t entirely focused on the character you were playing, as it knew you were a human being playing the game. The voice from our bounty suit will occasionally appear on the screen to show you tips, and one of them will instruct you what button to push to jump at one point. In a comical way, with even the voice actor laughing during the dialogue, the voice would explain, “Look at your screen for the button you need to push because I have no idea what system you are playing on.” It just adds a little twist to the game that’s hard to explain and unique, which is why I totally recommend either buying it or watching a playthrough on YouTube.

High on Life is a reckless, crazy shooter that shines with its outlandish humor, stupid setting, and foul-mouthed weapons that hold the entire thing together for the large majority of the time. Although not all of its jokes have a satisfying punchline, this crazy voyage is still worth your time because it features memorable boss battles, interesting alt-fire powers and exploration, and many more bad movies than I anticipated.