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At the end of 2022, we were treated to perhaps the weirdest and most ingenious shooter ever made, High on Life. The theme, the ideas, the mockery of modern society, the satire – everything was top-notch with this game.
Three years fast-forward, and without great pomp or some significant marketing campaign, comes High on Life 2, a fully fledged sequel to the first game. I was really happy when the editor told me that the key for High on Life 2 is due and it will be entrusted to me. I was thinking: hell yeah, more talking guns, more fun, and more laugh-out-loud moments. What can possibly go wrong?
However, it is safe to say that after I witnessed the credits roll, I wasn't as happy and impressed as I was hoping for. Too high expectations? Probably. The developers decided to play it safe in some segments of the game? More likely. In any case, High on Life 2, although a very good game, stays in its predecessor's shadow.
Story
If you played the first game, you have a pretty nice picture of what you can expect from High on Life stories. The first one was about aliens who grew a habit of smoking humans out of pleasure, and our nameless and mute hero jumped in to save humanity and rid the galaxy of the dangerous G3 Cartel.
Why am I mentioning the story of the first game here, you might wonder? Simply because the writers didn't bother even to try to change the premise, even for a bit. In High on Life 2, instead of making humans a smoking pipe filling, now some questionable pharmaceutical company called Rhea Pharma (the main villains of the game) is trying to legalise human farming.
This company is using human brains to make some advanced pills, and, of course, our hero steps in again and, with the help of Gatlians (talking guns), saves the day. The premise is okay, and it gives the story a necessary plot twist, but a little creativity won't hurt anyone. I mean, isn't that the same premise just wrapped up in different shiny paper? Sure, it is, and it makes the storytelling a bit less creative.
Of course, if you put this aside, you'll still get the story with the best lines of insults, swears, mockery, and everything that made the first game great. Those small moments and interactions with ordinary people and their weird requests are still mega hilarious.
Voice acting is still top-notch, but for whatever reason, Kenny is not back in the sequel. For all the uninformed, Kenny is the first gun our hero interacts with in the first game, and his voice acting in general is the best ever. However, in the High on Knife DLC, he has been replaced by another Gutlian, Harper.
I did hope he would be back in High on Life 2, but unfortunately, it isn't the case. I won't say the other Gatlians are bad or anything; only that Kenny was one of a kind, and I'm deeply disappointed he isn't back.
The main theme of this story is, as it is widely known, humour and mockery of modern society, and Squanch Games didn't disappoint again regarding those values. The game is really hilarious, and if you liked the first one, the sequel can be labelled as 'more of High on Life'.
Gameplay
Regarding the gameplay mechanics, not much has been changed either. High on Life 2, like its predecessor, is a first-person shooter with the accent on fast movements and high-octane action.
The weapons you're using are Gatlians, the alien species that talk but cannot move on their own; they have to be carried around, though in this game, they have some sort of exosuit robots that can carry them when you're not there (nice touch, devs).
At the beginning of the game, you'll carry over three of the old guns: Sweezy, Gus, and Knify, while the rest of them are not around anymore. The game will offer a backstory on why they left and all that (they are intelligent beings, after all, and they can decide on their own where to go).
Some of those backstories will be hilarious; you'll see when you experience the one regarding Lezduit. However, your arsenal will be quite reduced at the start of High on Life 2, but do not be afraid; new guns and new funny companions will replace the old ones, and I must say, they didn't disappoint.
New guns won't be added just randomly; every single one will have its backstory and dedicated mission to acquire it, which gives them additional personality and special bonds you can make with them through the game.
A new mechanic is added to the gameplay as well, and it is a skateboard you'll acquire from the first in-game boss. Skateboarding adds speed to the encounters and additional verticality in combat, but I cannot say that it changed the gameplay drastically.
With the skateboard, you'll be able to reach some new places and explore more, and the environmental puzzles get another aspect with this mechanic. However, if you think the game will suddenly turn into a Doom clone and become super fast, that won't be the case. Skateboarding is equal to sprinting in the previous game, with the only difference being that you look cooler on a skateboard.
Regarding collectibles, everything is pretty much the same; only this time, you'll have additional collectables regarding your skateboard. You'll still be finding chests shown on a minimap, and the only challenge will be to get to those chests because you'll have to utilise all your abilities and the abilities of your guns to solve those puzzles.
The levels are designed the same way as before. You'll be able to reach all of them from your ship as the base of operation, and you'll fast travel to the desired locations using the special RV. Each location you discover will have its own set of collectables, and you'll be able to revisit them whenever you like, even after the main story.
The main gameplay loop is bounty hunting again; only this time, you'll be hunted as well, which adds a twist to the gameplay (to avoid spoilers, I won't explain why you are being hunted; you'll have to discover it yourself if you want to play High on Life 2).
The enemy design is changed, and kudos to the devs because they decided not to recycle old enemies, which, by the way, no one would see as a bad thing if they did. In any case, the enemies are new, and you'll have to employ completely new strategies to beat them, especially the bosses, who went through a true renaissance in this game.
Seriously, the boss battles are designed with such creativity; I couldn't believe my eyes at what I was seeing. For example, one boss will make a true Sherlock Holmes out of you, and you'll have to solve a real murder, discovering various evidence and questioning suspects, while the other will make you fight through the main menu of the game. Seriously, you have to see it to believe it. When it comes to boss fights, the game is pure gold.
To wrap the gameplay segment up, it didn't go through some significant changes or anything; it is still good old High on Life, but the developers added several new features and improved it just enough to make you feel completely involved in the game, making you feel you're playing a brand-new game, not just copy-pasted content.
Visuals, Sounds, and Performance
The original High on Life was a decent-looking game, but no more than that, and when High on Life 2 was announced, I was expecting improvements on this front, but sadly, it didn't quite happen. When you compare the two, you can even say that the first game looked better in some segments than the sequel, which is quite unbelievable considering a three-year gap between them.
On the PlayStation 5 version I played (not PlayStation 5 Pro), the textures look pretty bad, and they won't load properly; the draw distance is poor, and the colours look somehow washed out. I tried to change graphic settings, hoping for better results, but even though there are plenty of options there, none of them seems to change anything for the better.
You can change the render scale, turn motion blur on and off, change gamma and FOV settings, and even enable or disable chromatic aberration, but tampering with these settings will still leave you with average-looking visuals, which, for me, is kind of disappointing, probably because I expected much more from this game's graphics, but it is what it is.
I also experienced a couple of crashes and significant FPS drops, even during some boss battles, which sent me back to the beginning of the fight, and that was quite frustrating, not going to lie, but I believe the day-one patch, or some upcoming patches, will solve these issues.
Sounds, on the other hand, are completely recycled and transferred from the first game. I won't say they are bad; of course, they are genius and very fitting, but seriously, it is not commendable for a brand new game to use the same menu music, encounter music, and all the sounds in general.
It gives the impression that the developers were taking 'Okay, this isn't broken, and we don't have to fix it.' too seriously. But a new sound scheme would leave the impression of a brand-new game; in this case, you feel like you're playing some lengthy High on Life DLC. It doesn't have to be the problem, but I'm just stating the facts here, nothing more.
Conclusion
High on Life 2 is, at its core, exactly what it promises to be: more High on Life. The humour is still spot-on, the boss fights are extremely creative, and the new Gatlians and skateboard mechanics add just enough 'new' to keep the game engaging enough. When it leans into its absurdity and experimental design, especially during its standout boss encounters, it reminds you why the first game became such a cult hit in the first place.
However, the sequel plays things a bit too safe. The recycled premise, familiar structure, underwhelming technical performance, and lack of audiovisual evolution make it feel closer to an expanded follow-up than a bold next step. It’s still a very good and often hilarious shooter, but it struggles to escape the long shadow of its predecessor. Whether that will be enough largely depends on how much “more of the same” you were hoping for.
The Good
Sharp, outrageous humour- Highly creative and memorable boss fights
- Strong voice acting
- Fun new Gatlians and weapon backstories
- Skateboarding adds mobility and verticality
- New enemy designs
The Bad
Recycled story premise- Underwhelming visuals
- Technical issues (FPS drops and crashes)
- Reused sound design and music
