High on Life Review (STNGTE)
Whether it's on Steam, Google, YouTube or Facebook, phrases like this can be found everywhere:
“A must have for any Rick and Morty fan! Anyone who likes Rick and Morty will love this game!”
But that is just phrase-mongering and I simply can't confirm this statement, and it goes even further because I have to give the game a very special award at this point, namely the one for the biggest disappointment in recent years.
I could have gone into great detail about what's good and bad, but I have something else in mind,
and the game is only recommended when it's on sale, when you have nothing else to play
and without considering getting the DLC!
So this review is dedicated to all Rick and Morty fans, especially to those who share Jerry's mind.
Once upon a time there was this production venture called: Comic Sacrifice,
and one of the things they did back then was a Back to the Future parody called:
The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti. And I still remember that time very well,
even if it was a while ago. It was 2006 and I had decided to move to Berlin and was preparing everything for it.
That same year we had the Soccer World Cup Series here in Germany, which I gave a damn about,
the term “caricature controversy” came third in the Word of the Year poll,
which was interesting for someone who was also politically involved.
That year saw the release of new and groundbreaking music by Stone Sour, Slayer, Pearl Jam, J Dilla,
Puplic Enemy, Busta Rhymes, Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow.
Some very interesting movies were also released that year like: A Scanner Darkly, Tenacious D,
Borat, Silent Hill and Idiocracy. And not to forget to mention my video game highlights of 2006:
Marc Ecko's Getting Up, Black, Me & My Katamari, Worms Open Warfare, Dead Rising,
Def Jam Fight for NY and Gears of War.
The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti came out in October, but I saw it in December on New Year's Eve.
A friend of mine that I knew from a skatepark was at his aunt's house in California and yelled to me that his cousin
showed him something funky and wanted my opinion on it.
This friend knew that I had a wide range of interests and that I was into serious things
but also had a fable for crude humor.
So at the end of 2006, when the tenth season of South Park had just ended,
I watched this strange stuff and didn't really know what to say at first.
The friend said, just give me 2 words, the first two you can think of, so I said: mindless diarrhea.
We laughed a lot and changed the topic, because it just wasn't worth talking about it anymore.
Rick and Morty could only become so successful and popular because almost everything was changed
and very likely a few people were involved who could bring a certain mix of professionalism
and experience to the table. And this gave a rise to the following features:
1. The series combines black humor, satire and absurd situations that are often unexpected and surprising,
which mixture is particularly appealing to an adult audience.
2. The main characters especially Rick Sanchez, are multi-layered and show both ingenious and destructive sides.
This depth makes the characters interesting and comprehensible.
3. Each episode offers new, often crazy adventures in different dimensions.
This variety keeps the series fresh and exciting.
4. It also deals with existential questions and philosophical themes, often in a humorous and accessible way.
This gives the series an additional depth that appeals to many viewers.
5. Rick and Morty contains numerous references to pop culture, science and classic science fiction,
which makes it attractive to a wide audience.
6. The eye-catching and unmistakable animation style also contributes to the appeal of the series.
To be completely honest, High On Life is closer to The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti than to
Rick and Morty and that's what bothered me the most.
There's hardly any humor in it, 90% of it is just stupid, pointless and annoying nonsense.
The gameplay is repetitive and not very innovative and the game suffers from many bugs and performance problems.
The story falls short of the potential the game could have had and as a result the game feels unfinished.
The soundtrack isn't bad, but it doesn't really match the atmosphere of the game,
there's no gripping story and the controls are often imprecise and clunky, this also makes the price an absolute outrage.