The Metroid Prime Inspiration You Missed In High On Life

"High on Life" is already proving to be divisive for both critics and players. The sci-fi first-person shooter comes from Squanch Games — headed by Justin Roiland of "Rick and Morty" fame — and follows in the footsteps of Squanch's previous FPS-comedy title, "Trover Saves the Universe."

While the game boasts relatively solid first-person exploration and shooting mechanics, many have found themselves turned off or outright annoyed with the talking weapons who regularly break the fourth wall with their observations on game design and criticism, delivering dialogue with what might be called unbridled enthusiasm.

All the same, "High on Life" seems to be performing relatively well, and it may owe some of its strengths to one of its biggest inspirations. If you do happen to be interested in playing the wacky new shooter, you might be pleased to know that the game has taken some cues from Nintendo's amazing "Metroid Prime" series.

In a chat with Digital Trends' Giovanni Colantonio, the Chief Creative Officer of Squanch Games, Mikey Spano, mentioned "Metroid" as a touchstone for the game. As Colantonio played a preview version of "High on Life," he found himself prompted to ask whether Spano meant "Metroid Prime" in particular. This observation then caused Spano to quip, "It's like 'Metroid Prime,' but funny!"

"'Metroid Prime' is the overall theme we were going for," Spano explained. "We had the limitation of a smaller team, so we thought we couldn't do this huge interconnected world. So we kind of fell into doing more of a structure like 'Metroid Prime 2: Echoes' where you have a hub," Spano went on. "So from there, you can go to different planets that are all connected through the house, but they're not connected to each other."

From Spano's explanation, it sounds like he actually means "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption," which allows players to explore multiple planets as they are unlocked rather than a single world — but it's worth remembering that nearly all "Metroid" games feature interconnected biomes. Either way, taking an influence from one of the best FPS franchises ever might be enough to convince gamers who are a little unsure about the comedic elements of "High on Life" to give the game a try.