High On Life 2 Review

If you played the first High On Life, you already know what kind of ride you are signing up for. Squanch Games built its name on crude jokes, talking guns, and a sci-fi universe that feels like it was designed during a late-night improv session. The original game leaned heavily on its humor to carry a fairly straightforward first-person shooter.

High On Life 2 picks up years later after High On Life and tries to prove that the studio is more than just a one-joke concept. This is very much a direct sequel. Your bounty hunter is no longer a nobody stumbling into galactic chaos.

You are famous. You have wealth, status, and a reputation for taking down the G3 cartel, the group that was turning humans into drugs. That victory reshaped the galaxy, at least on paper. Smoking humans is outlawed now.

Of course, that would make for a boring sequel to High On Life.

So the game does what sequels often do: it strips you of everything and throws you back into trouble. This time, the galaxy’s version of Big Pharma is crushing humans into pill form. On top of that, your sister Lizzy is involved in a human rights terrorist group, and you end up branded as an outlaw.

You are fighting to save humanity again, but now you are technically on the wrong side of the law. The game even has you battling a faction literally called "the good guys," which tells you exactly how self-aware the writing wants to be.

The story jumps forward about five years from the first game. You start as a celebrity bounty hunter, only to watch your comfortable life collapse almost immediately. Whether your sister is kidnapped by an alien pharmaceutical conglomerate or leading a resistance group depends on how far into the plot you are, but either way, she becomes the catalyst that pulls you back into the mess. You go from galactic hero to wanted criminal in a matter of missions.

There are some genuinely surprising twists in the narrative of High On Life 2 that are best experienced without spoilers.

The game plays with tone more than the first one did. It still loves its crude jokes, but it occasionally shifts into more serious territory before snapping back into absurdity. The family drama is handled better this time. It never becomes a deep emotional story, but it does feel more intentional.

Most of the action takes place on a Halo Ring-style world called Circuit Arcadia. The moment you see it, the game basically winks at you and says, "Yes, we know what this looks like." Circuit Arcadia is the central hub and the largest location in the game.

Instead of jumping between many smaller worlds, the sequel opts for a denser, more focused environment. At first, that might make you worry that there is less variety. Eventually, you realize the space is just bigger and packed with more detail.

When it comes to gameplay, High On Life 2 is still a first-person shooter at its core.

You use sentient alien weapons called Gatlians, each with its own personality and commentary. You begin with returning favorites like Knifey, Weezy, and Gus. Later, you pick up new weapons such as Sheath, and you end up with six guns in total. That number sounds small, but each one behaves differently and comes with their own primary and secondary abilities.

Combat revolves around juggling these weapons and their alternate fires. One gun can vacuum up health drops and power-ups around you, adding a layer of strategy to fights. Others have crowd control effects or explosive capabilities.

You are encouraged to swap frequently, not just for mechanical reasons but because each weapon constantly reacts to what is happening. They comment on your actions, the environment, and even the dialogue in conversations. It is impressive how often they have something new to say.

Traversal is where the biggest new addition comes in: the skateboard. Early in the game, you steal a boss’s deck in a ridiculous encounter, and from then on, it becomes your main movement tool. The board acts as the world’s fastest sprint button.

You can grind rails, wall-ride using a grip meter, leap into the air, and even weaponize the board by slamming it into enemies or throwing it at them.

In large open combat zones, the skateboard feels great. You can chain rail grinds into grapples with Knifey, launch yourself into enemies, and stay constantly in motion. It makes you feel powerful. In tighter spaces, however, it can feel awkward. Sometimes you move so fast that you miss environmental details or overshoot platforms. There are even spots that require full speed to reach, which can feel like strange design decisions.

Platforming plays a larger role this time. Optional challenges often revolve around more difficult traversal sequences that test your ability to combine skating, grappling, and double jumping. These segments are some of the most enjoyable parts of the game, especially when they are tied to side content rather than mandatory progression.

Exploration is more open-ended than before. Between main missions, you can revisit previous areas and poke around. Side content is not always clearly marked. You discover activities, puzzles, and hidden conversations by simply wandering. This approach can feel refreshing if you like stumbling onto surprises.

You can earn pesos by completing missions, exploring, and taking part in optional activities. You can use these to buy better weapons and armor at stores. You can boost your health, shield capacity, and abilities.

There is no system for heavy grinding. If you pay attention to the main story, you should be able to handle most situations without too much trouble. Optional content gives you more freedom to make changes and improvements.

Customization goes beyond stats. You can change the look of your skateboard with new decks and colors. Later, you unlock costume options that let you dress your bounty hunter in absurd outfits. It does not affect gameplay much, but it adds to the fun of inhabiting this strange universe.

As for enemy AI, it gets the job done but does not impress. Enemies spot you and shoot. They are not painfully dumb, but they are not clever either. In larger arenas, the movement system helps hide this weakness. In cramped areas, the limitations are more noticeable. Combat is fun because of your tools, not because the enemies are outsmarting you.

Humor remains the defining feature of High On Life 2, following in its predecessor's footsteps.

This is still a game packed with dick jokes, fart jokes, and endless meta commentary. The difference is that the writing feels more controlled. In the first game, some jokes dragged on too long. Here, there is a better balance between quick hits and extended bits. There are hundreds of small comedic moments scattered around Circuit Arcadia, from random NPC lines to bizarre mini-stories.

That said, not every joke lands in High On Life 2. Some feel familiar or forced. Whether you find the game hilarious or exhausting depends entirely on your tolerance for this style of humor. If the first game annoyed you, this sequel will not change your mind. If you loved it, you will likely laugh even more this time.

Visually, High On Life 2 looks strong overall. The alien environments are vibrant and detailed. Neon cityscapes and strange creatures fill the screen with color. Circuit Arcadia feels alive and busy. The guns themselves are well-designed and animated. However, human character models look noticeably weaker, almost clay-like, compared to the aliens.

Performance is where things become inconsistent. On high-end PC setups, you can enable features like DLSS and frame generation to smooth things out. Even then, there are occasional dips and noticeable pop-ins.

On consoles, performance depends on the platform and settings. Some players have said everything went smoothly, while others have had crashes and camera problems when they did certain things, like using the in-game scanner.

Bugs range from minor visual glitches to more frustrating problems like enemies spawning inside walls or quests failing to progress until you reload a checkpoint. It is unclear how much of this will be addressed with patches, but performance concerns are something you should be aware of going in.

Audio is a mixed bag for High On Life 2.

The voice acting is strong across the board. Even with changes in cast, the weapons retain personality. Dialogue delivery feels energetic and natural. The guns constantly improvise, break the fourth wall, and react to your choices in conversations. Sound effects for weapons are not memorable. Music leans into alien-style warbling tracks that fit the theme but can become grating after long sessions.

Some tracks feel overproduced in a way that draws attention to themselves rather than supporting the action. In the end, High On Life 2 feels like a studio trying to redefine its identity. It is bigger in scope but more focused in design. It expands on traversal, improves pacing, and improves the writing.

At the same time, it struggles with technical hiccups and uneven humor. If you enjoy sci-fi comedy and do not mind crude jokes delivered at high speed, you will find a lot to like here. The skateboard alone adds a new rhythm to combat and exploration. The denser world design encourages you to wander.

The sentient guns remain the heart of the experience. If you are new, be prepared for a game that never stops talking. It is Call of Duty filtered through a late-night comedy sketch. It is bold, messy, and occasionally brilliant. Sometimes it overreaches. Sometimes it hits exactly the right note.

High On Life 2 does not reinvent the genre, but it does feel like a confident step forward from its predecessor. You just have to decide whether you want to spend fifteen hours saving humanity with a group of chatty alien guns commenting on every move you make.