High on Life: High on Knife launched on October 3, adding several new levels to Squanch Games’ comedy first-person shooter. It also includes a direct jab at the God of War reboot’s puzzle hints, which often give away the solution.
High on Life mocks how God of War hints give the puzzles away
The High on Knife DLC takes place two years after the main game. It sees the protagonist helping their talking knife Knifey follow the return address of a letter from his homeworld. Early in the DLC, the player encounters a giant frog-like alien called Toxo. The goo he’s sitting in drains the players’ health, and they need to find a way to survive in it longer. Support NPC Suit-O will give players a tip if they are having trouble, but it also works in a dig at God of War’s Atreus.
“Hey there,” says the character, “Suit-O here! I’m gonna go ahead and give you a little God of War-style tip that just gives the whole puzzle away.” The AI then proceeds to explain how shooting the parasites feeding on Toxo causes them to drop a health pickup. Suit-O closes out his advice by saying, “A-Atreus out. Hahaha… Just kidding!”
High on Life is referencing how God of War’s NPCs don’t give players enough time to solve puzzles. Players have complained that if they take more than a few seconds to figure something out, Atrius will explain the solution. Developers presumably did this to keep anyone from getting stuck. However, it’s annoying for players who want to find the solution on their own. It also begs the question of why the game even has puzzles at all if it doesn’t let players solve them.
