Not even a buzz
Previously on High on Life, developers Squanch Games came out with a game where aliens invade earth (I know, its super original) but unlike every other story where aliens want to probe our butts these aliens want to smoke us. No, not like kill us but literally grind us up and smoke us like a good batch of Blueberry Yum. Well thru a whole adventure a human ends up becoming a interstellar bounty hunter equipped with talking guns known as gatlieans he (or I should say you, the player) stop the G3 Cartel’s schemes and all returns to normal, or kind of.
MSRP: $14.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $9.99
When launching the new adventure High on Knife, players come back thru the teleporter to their good friend Gene and thru some funny banter they’ll discover that it’s been about 2 years and things have been going well with their new career as a bounty hunter. Gene informs the group that there is a package for Knifey, the bounty hunters talking knife who’s whole schtick is a desire to stab everything that moves; and with that a new adventure begins on the salt covered desert planet Peroxis. The nice thing about High on Knife it that its adventure takes place after the main game, and players don’t have to have finished or even started the campaign to enjoy it.
High on Knife was marketed as some sort of horror experience, and aside from maybe 1 jump scare this is about as scary as seeing Donald Trump in a big flappy diaper. Most of these pseudo-scary moments happen when players reach the headquarters for the space version of Amazon, whose founder is maybe only a little slimier than the earthly bound retailer. While only the main story happens in this goopy place, the rest of planet is full of various side quest and hilarious conversations to have with the slug people of Peroxis. Players can take place in a pretty hilarious “Cheers” rip-off, complete with a illegal use of Kelsey Grammer’s Frasier Crane character. While I laughed out loud at this reference, I don’t know if younger folks will get it seeing as the source material is from the 80’s. There is even a Pokemon type CCG card game that will have players build their decks and face off against a giant nerd. If nothing else, High on Knife kept me in stitches, generating laughs is not a problem here.
The talking guns are still a highlight here but the focus is Knifey as its his story. Speaking of talking guns I am sure lots of folks are curious about Justin Roland’s role in the game as he played the first Gatlian players come across in the base game, Kenny. As we know Justin stepped down due to sexual allegations and while they never fully explain what happen to Kenny, there are a few bits that reference his fate and it did evoke a chuckle or two. Kenny’s replacement gun, Harper is funny but really didn’t get enough to do which is sad because the banter between the guns is really the best.
I didn’t really talk about the story on purpose, and that’s because its extremely short. While I enjoyed my time with High on Knife, that time is only a few hours to see the story and maybe one more to wrap up side quests and things. And as fun as the new pinball type B.A.L.L. gun is, I had hoped for something that would add a new weapon and a new personality to my arsenal. Alas, the BALL gun is worked by three chubby members of the blue man group and only ever talks in ‘meeps’ and ‘oops’. Again, gun is DOPE and adds a lot to the gameplay, just wish it was voiced like the others. The most damning thing here though is the narrative just abruptly ends. I don’t want to spoil it but while the developer’s kind of make a joke about the ending and how it just fades to black; the overall experience just left me with a lot of questions and an unsatisfied feeling in my stomach.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
