Most shooters are plagued by a lack of enemy variety, and Squanch Games’High on Lifeis no different. Shooter fans often have toshoot through swarms of rinse-and-repeat faceless gruntsas they fight to complete whatever objective they are aiming for. This can get pretty annoying and repetitive as the game constantly throws the same things at the player until they fill a bar or wipe out a certain amount of waves. A lot of these games offer slight variations, but they are not enough to really shake the gameplay up.
High on Lifedefinitely suffers from this issue, but Squanch Games does something that shakes up the monotony a bit. While the goo-covered aliens are still faceless grunts, their colorful dialogue gives them a bit more life. They will often spew a joke regarding their fate or say some sly comment before the player unloads into them, and that gives them a bit of personality. It is very similar to whatHalodid with its Grunts, and it can lead to some pretty funny moments. While it does not fix the issue, it does alleviate it to the point that other shooter games may want to consider adding some colorful dialogue as well.
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High on Life’s Enemy Dialogue Makes Them More Than Faceless Grunts
Players willshoot through many of the same goo-covered aliensas they try to save mankind from the G3 Cartel inHigh on Life, and it can sometimes get a bit repetitive. The game will sometimes shake it up by tossing in a larger goo-covered alien or some ants into the fray instead, but it ultimately leads to the same gameplay loop. After a little while, this repetition can sometimes become too much and feel like a bit of a slog. However, many players will keep coming back just to hear the next funny line that these faceless grunts will spew before dying.
The faceless grunts inHigh on Lifewill often taunt the player, and sometimesthe talking guns will taunt the enemy back. Players will sometimes hear the aliens planning what they are going to eat for dinner, discussing the fact they wanted to die anyway so killing them is okay, or just talking about general life stuff. It feels like the aliens always have something to say, and it can be pretty funny at times. Squanch Games has offered a way to disable this if it gets too annoying, but it does really help give the constant swarms of enemies some life.
Other FPS Games Could Benefit From Colorful Dialogue
As mentioned previously, one of the other big shooters that provides its enemies with funny dialogue isHalo, asthe Covenant Grunts are constantly chattingabout something. Both games’approaches to enemy dialogue makes their enemies feel like a bit more than faceless grunts. It helps break up the repetition as players will constantly be distracted by laughing over the newest line of dialogue they heard. Many shooters will throw swarms of uncharismatic enemy types at the player, butHigh on LifeandHalohelp shake things up.
Shooting hordes of enemies is a staple of shooter games, and that does not need to change. However, it would be nice if some of these hordes had a bit more life to them.High on Lifehas shown that lack of enemy variety can be alleviated by a bit of comedy, and it has helped make the game feel better overall. While comedy may not fit ina dramatic war story likeCall of Dutyor a zombie title likeBack 4 Blood, the developers could still liven up their enemies with some more interesting dialogue.
High on Lifehas been a wild ridefrom start to finish, and its enemies have created many laugh-out-loud moments for players to enjoy. It features some of the best grunt dialogue that the genre has seen in years, and it really helps distract from some of the game’s flaws. It has livened the shooter genre up a bit, and will hopefully lead to even more games including some colorful dialogue within their swarms of grunts.
High on Lifeis available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S
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