High On Life 2's Intro Is One Of The Best Video Game Openings Ever

"High On Life 2 doesn't assume that you've played its 2022 predecessor. Instead, the intro to this comedy-filled sci-fi FPS about humans being turned into drugs provides a crash course on what happened in the last game. It does this via an intro that is structured as a series of vignettes and moments seamlessly stitched together into one extended opening montage."

"At one point you're fighting a giant monster, then you're on a talk show, a second later you're back in a limo with your mentor-turned-agent from the original game, then back to the monster fight. A quick cut later, you're doing a commercial, then you're zipped away to an obstacle course, back to the talk show, and so on. This introduction sequence isn't just fun and funny; it also does a great job of teaching you the basics of High On Life 2."

"Learning how to jump and run on a Wipeout-like televised obstacle course and then seconds later, though possibly years later in-game, using those skills to climb across buildings as you chase a giant monster not only taught me the controls, it also quickly established what the main character has been doing since the first game. On top of that, it's all technically impressive and fun to behold as the game hops between wildly different scenes in a few frames without hitching up or breaking."

Some games begin slowly to teach controls, but High On Life 2 immediately thrusts players into chaotic, joke-heavy set pieces. The intro acts as a stitched montage of vignettes—monster fights, talk shows, limousines, commercials, and obstacle courses—that provides a crash course on prior events without requiring prior experience. Core mechanics like jumping, movement, shooting, grappling, and melee are taught through contextual challenges and later reused in gameplay. The sequence transitions rapidly between wildly different scenes without hitching and includes dark, topical humor, including a Jeffrey Epstein joke during a hyper-fast murder montage that underscores the protagonist's celebrity ennui.

Read at Kotaku