High On Life 2 is full of big, zany set pieces and laugh-out-loud moments, but there’s one mission in particular that stands out above all others – and you don’t even need to fire a shot.
Just a few hours into the campaign, you’re sent on board the Pinkline Panacea in pursuit of Larry Pinkstock – a billionaire you suspect is bankrolling Rhea Pharmaceuticals’ plan to make humans into pills and sell them. Just go with it.
On entry, you’re forced to hand over most of your guns, except for Travis, the Gatlian who recently separated from his wife and gave you the ticket to board the luxury boat. Every law of first-person shooters suggests that what’s to follow will be your chance to learn how to use Travis in a series of big old shootouts.
However, instead, you’re welcomed to a murder-mystery evening alongside bigwigs from across the universe, and the murder in question is that of Pinkstock himself. Travis is accused of the crime, so you’re tasked with figuring out what happened, which of the bougie guests is responsible, and clearing Travis’ name.
I went in fully expecting this to be another one of the silly distractions High On Life is known for. In a game about talking guns, nothing is off the table when it comes to setting up the next gag, even if that means dragging you into an unexpected sidebar.
But what actually unfolds is a genuinely intriguing mystery that takes thought and patience to unravel.
The best mission in High On Life 2 is not what I expected
I started by interviewing the four suspects, asking them a list of questions, and while some are clearly sketchier than others, there’s nothing conclusive. You only get one shot to have your big Agatha Christie moment; otherwise, you fail, so you can’t just take a wild guess.
Then, it’s all about searching the room for clues, many of which are tucked away in places that are easy to miss. Each new discovery opens up a new line of questioning, revealing more about each character, their relationship to the victim, and possible motives.
Every piece of evidence feels like the smoking gun, only for it to be immediately shot down, once I eventually grilled the potential perpetrator. I was convinced I’d found the guilty party until one shocking revelation meant that it would have been impossible for them to hold the murder weapon.
This left me scratching my head far more than ever expected in a game that had me getting blackout drunk with a lonely pistol-shaped alien just 20 minutes beforehand. But after examining all of the findings, wandering around the room a few more times, and bashing my head against a wall, I finally found the evidence that tied it all together.
I gathered the interviewees together and delivered my final verdict, and successfully nailed the right suspect, complete with means and motive.
The whole thing probably took less than an hour to complete, but it stayed with me throughout the rest of the story. Naturally, by the end, it’s all played for a laugh, and characters caught up in the case are as cartoony as you’d expect, but I was blown away by just how in-depth the mission was when it could have easily been thrown away.
Nobody would raise an eyebrow if the murder was solved in a couple of minutes and we moved on to the poop joke; in fact, it would be completely on brand, but the sheer commitment to the bit made this one of the most memorable missions in a first-person shooter for quite some time.
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