Justin Roiland’s departure from Squanch Games was a mess. There’s no other way to put it. But even with the creator of Rick and Morty gone, the studio's biggest hit, High on Life PS4, managed to claw its way onto Sony's hardware after a long stint as an Xbox exclusive. It was a weird time. People were literally counting the days until the exclusivity contract expired because, let’s be honest, the PlayStation library was missing that specific brand of "talking gun" chaos.
If you’ve been living under a rock, the game is basically a first-person shooter where your weapons have faces. And voices. And they won't shut up. You play as a nameless teenager who becomes a space bounty hunter after an alien cartel called the G3 decides to turn humanity into drugs. Yes, they literally want to smoke humans. It's dark, it's loud, and on the PS4, it’s a surprisingly decent technical feat considering how much the console's hardware has aged.
The Long Road to High on Life PS4
Exclusivity deals are a pain for everyone except the bean counters. For months, we just sat there watching Xbox Game Pass users have all the fun. Then, during San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Squanch Games just dropped the news out of nowhere. Boom. It was out.
The transition wasn't just a simple copy-paste job. While the PS5 version gets all the 4K glory and haptic feedback, the High on Life PS4 version had some heavy lifting to do. We're talking about a console that launched back in 2013. Optimization is the name of the game here. If the frames drop during a frantic fight with Douglas or Krubis, the whole experience falls apart. Squanch had to balance the vibrant, neon-soaked visuals of Blim City with the reality of an aging Jaguar CPU.
The results are actually pretty good. Honestly, it’s better than most late-gen ports. You lose some of the crispness in the textures, sure. You’ll notice some pop-in when you’re jetpacking around the Jungle region. But the heart of the game—the dialogue—is untouched. That's what people are here for. They want Kenny (voiced by Roiland originally, though the High on Knife DLC shifted things around) screaming in their ear while they try to platform across a toxic lake.
Performance Reality Check
Is it 60 frames per second? No. Don’t expect that. You’re looking at a mostly stable 30 FPS. If you’re coming from a high-end PC or a PS5, it’s going to feel sluggish at first. But for the millions who haven't upgraded their hardware yet, it’s playable.
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Load times are the real killer. On the PS4’s mechanical hard drive, you have enough time to go grab a snack while the game loads the Zephyr Paradise. It’s a stark contrast to the near-instant loads on modern SSDs. If you’ve upgraded your PS4 with an internal SSD, you’ll see a massive improvement here, but the stock experience is definitely a test of patience.
The Comedy Polarizes Everyone
Let’s talk about the humor. This game is a litmus test for your personality. You either love the constant, stuttering, meta-commentary, or you want to throw your controller at the wall within twenty minutes. There is no middle ground.
High on Life PS4 leans heavily into the "improvisational" style of comedy. Characters trail off, they talk over each other, and they break the fourth wall constantly. One of the first things you encounter is a guy named Gene who just stays on your couch and watches old B-movies. You can actually sit there and watch full-length films like Tammy and the T-Rex inside the game. It’s absurd. It’s also a licensing nightmare that I’m shocked they cleared for a PlayStation release.
But here’s a tip: if the guns are getting on your nerves, you can actually turn down the "chatter" frequency in the settings. Squanch knew that even the most hardcore fans might get a headache from Knifey screaming about wanting to stab everyone every five seconds.
Why the PS4 Version Still Sells
You might wonder why anyone cares about a PS4 version in 2026. The reality is that the "console transition" has been one of the slowest in history. Price hikes on the PS5 and the sheer reliability of the PS4 Pro mean a huge chunk of the player base is still on the older machine.
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Squanch Games didn't want to leave that money on the table. And they shouldn't. The game’s art style—a sort of gooey, psychedelic Saturday morning cartoon—scales down better than "realistic" games. A leaf in The Last of Us looks bad when you drop the resolution. A sentient alien slime mold in High on Life PS4? It still looks like slime. It works.
Gameplay Mechanics: More Than Just Jokes
Underneath the jokes about alien substances is a surprisingly competent Metroidvania. You don't just shoot things. You unlock different guns—Gatlian's—that have secondary fire modes used for traversal.
- Kenny: Your standard pistol with a "Glob Shot" that bounces enemies.
- Gus: A shotgun that fires sawblades and can create platforms on walls.
- Sweezy: Basically the Needler from Halo, but she can freeze time bubbles.
- Creature: Fires his own children to mind-control enemies or disable tech.
It’s the level design that surprises people. You’ll find yourself heading back to old areas once you have Gus to reach a chest you couldn't get before. It rewards exploration in a way that feels organic. The combat encounters can get repetitive—the enemy variety isn't massive—but the boss fights are genuinely creative. They feel like old-school Nintendo bosses reimagined for a mature audience.
The Controversy and the Future
We have to address the elephant in the room. The game launched amidst the legal troubles surrounding Justin Roiland. While the charges were eventually dismissed due to insufficient evidence, the bridge with Squanch was already burned.
This left High on Life PS4 in a weird spot. The game is his voice. His DNA is all over the script. When the High on Knife DLC came out, they shifted the focus to other characters and brought in new talent like Sarah Sherman from SNL. It worked, but the vibe definitely shifted.
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The PS4 version includes all the base game patches that fixed the initial "jank" found at launch on Xbox. It’s the "final" version of that original vision. If you’re a fan of Solar Opposites or early Rick and Morty, this is basically an interactive season of those shows.
Technical Specs for the Nerds
If you’re running a base PS4, you’re looking at a dynamic resolution that targets 1080p but often dips lower during heavy particle effects. The PS4 Pro fares better, staying closer to 1440p and offering a slightly more stable frame rate.
Texture filtering is noticeably lower on the base console. If you look at the floor in Blim City, it’s a bit blurry. Does it matter when a 6-eyed alien is trying to melt your face? Probably not.
Actionable Steps for New Players
If you’re just picking up High on Life PS4, don’t just rush through the main bounty missions. You’ll miss 60% of what makes the game special.
- Explore the Warp Discs: You can buy warp discs from Blorto’s shop in town. These allow you to summon entire locations—like a tiny skate park or a movie theater—into the middle of a level. It’s where the weirdest writing is hidden.
- Talk to Everyone: NPCs in this game have absurdly long dialogue trees. Just standing next to some random alien for three minutes might trigger a five-minute rant that’s funnier than the main quest.
- Check the Settings: Seriously, adjust the "Gun Chat" slider immediately. Start with it at "Normal," but if you find yourself getting annoyed during the combat-heavy mid-game, don't be afraid to bump it down to "Occasional."
- Watch the TV: The in-game TV commercials are gold. They were produced by various animation teams and are some of the best world-building in the genre.
- Don't forget the DLC: If you enjoy the base game, High on Knife adds a horror-themed twist that shows the studio can survive and thrive without its original founder.
The PS4 might be at the end of its life cycle, but games like this show it’s still got some kick left. It’s not the prettiest version of the game, but it’s the most accessible for millions of people. Just make sure you have some headphones; your neighbors probably don't want to hear your gun talking about its personal life at 2 AM.
The game stands as a testament to a very specific era of internet-infused comedy. It’s loud, it’s messy, and it’s unashamedly weird. Whether that’s a recommendation or a warning depends entirely on your tolerance for high-pitched screaming and alien anatomy jokes. But as far as the port goes, Squanch Games delivered a solid experience that respects the hardware it’s running on.