With the holidays now mostly behind us, you are probably looking for different ways to spend that holiday cash on games, statues, or peripherals to improve your gaming setup. Last year, Squanch Games released High on Life.
The game received average review scores of around 7, however, we enjoyed it more than them and gave it an 8.5. At the time, the game’s humor was similar to Roiland’s Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites.
Over the last year, a lot has changed at Squanch Games, Inc. including Roiland stepping down from the company. Despite Roiland stepping down, Squanch Games looked to continue with the High on Life DLC and removed Roiland’s voice acting from the game.
With the release of the DLC and the holidays underway, we were contacted by Nanoleaf if we would like to review the High on Knife DLC & Nanoleaf Blim Bundle. Despite being a Nanoleaf product, the Blim Bundle is only available through the IGN Store. The Blim Bundle gives purchasers nineteen Nanoleaf lines and a steam code for High on Knife.
Game: High on Life: High on Knife DLC
Developer: Squanch Games, Inc
Publisher: Squanch Games, Inc
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X (reviewed)
Release Date: December 13th, 2022 ; DLC 10/2/2023
Players: 1
Price: Base: $59.99 USD/free on Gamepass; $14.99 DLC
The High on Knife DLC takes play two years after the events of the base game. The main character is still a bounty hunter but their sister has disappeared; the game hints at where she has gone, but doesn’t really give the player a chance to look for her.
Instead, players are sent on a fetch quest to find a package that failed to be delivered. The package is addressed to Knifey and was sent from his home world. What’s in the Box? Does this box contain clues about Knifey’s mysterious past?
The answer to these questions is yes and a chainsaw. Upon arriving in a new world, the player must do one fetch quest after another in order to progress; this includes taking a bath with a giant, clearing him of parasites, shutting down a poacher ring, and working as an “Amazon” worker.
The biggest problem with the High on Knife DLC is the overall length of it. The game offers a wide open space with a ton of possibility but it fails to utilize it. On top of that, most of the jokes fall flat or elicit a small almost pitiful chuckle.
How the team failed to deliver on jokes for Cheers, Shrek, and even Amazon is astounding and remarkably sad; this probably feels even worse for those playing the game who aren’t millennials.
The narrative premises of the story are that big corporations are bad and that family is those that accept you, not those you were born with. Throughout the story, there are constant jabs at Amazon and other big corporations that have had human rights violations.
The action within the game is fun with the chainsaw playing a pivotal role in slicing enemies and wall riding. The game also introduces the pinball gun that helps the player early on plug up vents to direct airflow to a geyser and float to different platforms.
Outside of length, poorly executed jokes, and a morality virtue signaling campaign, the game’s DLC fails to reacquaint players with the game’s mechanics. In the first few minutes, you will have to figure out how to play again or die trying.
Yes, you can choose to playthrough on story mode making it a lot easier, but you still need to figure out the mechanics in order to progress. The game’s mechanics are solid and fluid making it easy to play once you understand the mechanics. At the end of the day, the High on Knife $15 DLC is just something to expand the story and eat up two hours of your time.
High on Life: High on Knife DLC was reviewed on an Xbox Series X using a code from Nanoleaf. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. High on Life is available on the PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The Blim Bundle was also provided by Nanoleaf.
