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High on Life is a sport that lots of people love, however I simply could not get on with it due to its at-times obnoxious comedy and gradual, clunky gameplay, so I did not know how one can really feel going into Squanch Games’ first-person shooter (FPS) sequel. High on Life 2, nonetheless, is a exceptional step up in high quality from the unique, and it is felt proper from the start.
Review information
Platform reviewed: PS5 Pro
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
Release date: February 13, 2026 (April 20 on Switch 2)
The system of High on Life 2 stays principally the identical, however as a substitute of searching down bounties, you are searching the ranks of a corrupt pharmaceutical firm so as to discover out the id of its CEO, and, y’know, kill them too earlier than the large courtroom listening to to legalize people to be used in medicine takes place. This almost-episodic construction not solely retains issues fairly brisk all through the runtime of the sport but additionally permits it to take wild swings that, for essentially the most half, stick.
You’ll be fixing homicide mysteries on costly yachts, touring via varied conventions, and casually operating into your goal on the road. Each of the principle hunts felt wholly distinctive. And that is helped by a singular chapter design, with my spotlight – the finance wizard goal – embedding basic tropes, genres, and references in a manner that feels way more significant than your standard “lol remember retro games” throwback.
Funny video games
Chances are, the way you felt about High on Life got here right down to its stars, the speaking weapons often known as Gatlians. Personally, I discovered Justin Roiland’s Kenny to be nigh-unbearable due to the voice efficiency being the annoying voice he does in Rick and Morty.
High on Life 2 brings many of the sentient weapon forged again, and whereas I nonetheless discover Betsy Sodaro’s Skweezy to be a bit an excessive amount of, the return of Michael Cusack as Knifey and Tim Robinson as Creature had been welcome returns. And the brand new additions – particularly Ralph Ineson as Sheath and the duo of Travis and Jan – are the highlights of the sport.
Comedy is tough in video games, however High on Life 2, for essentially the most half, is a far funnier joke. There are nonetheless occasional stinkers that made me roll my eyes, however for essentially the most half, I discovered myself chuckling extra, be it from the random non-player character (NPC) dialogue, dumb aspect quests, or the information experiences from Jason Testicles recounting what you simply did on a mission. Although my absolute favourite jokes within the sport had been ones that had been so dumb, like your hideout having a “Crane Machine” based mostly round sitcom Frasier or a subplot about Jar Jar Binks (no relation).
Skate or die
Where High on Life 2 steps up essentially the most, nonetheless, is the gameplay. Gone is the gradual, clunky, awkward shooter of the unique, and it is all due to a plank of wooden. High on Life 2’s skateboarding mechanic is a game-changer; ranges have ample alternative so that you can grind and slide about whereas dispatching enemies at will. What was as soon as sluggish now feels akin to area shooters of years previous and is uber satisfying when you get skating down. Although it actually would’ve benefited from gyro aiming.
My solely want is that the weapons felt pretty much as good because the skating. While a few of them get rather a lot higher as soon as you’ve got stacked them with upgrades (Creature is a robust instance of this), for essentially the most half, the weapons – principally Skweezy and Gus – lack a lot influence. Gus, specifically, is a contender for one of many worst-feeling shotguns I’ve utilized in a shooter for the way weak he feels, to the purpose the place I solely ever actually used him for his disk means, which I cherished. Just like with the comedic chops, the brand new weapons launched on this sport, like Sheath – which is a Halo Battle Rifle – and Bowie – shocker, a bow – had been the highlights of the sport.
High on Life 2 has an unimaginable intro that packs a ton of storytelling and gags into an efficient tutorial phase, chronicling the G3 killer on the top of their fame earlier than the occasions of the sport carry all of it crashing down.
High on Life 2′s peak is its boss fights. The majority of them are completely gratifying and wholly distinctive, out of your normal gunfights to puzzle-based encounters and a last boss that could be a true gauntlet of how properly you understand your weapons. Senator Muppy Doo specifically is a spotlight, because it has him embed himself in your swimsuit, and you need to proceed the battle via the pause and settings menus, with a conclusion that I can not say I’ve ever seen in a sport (properly, I’ve, however it’ll make sense while you get there).
Also, the breadth of dumb aspect stuff returns. You can nonetheless go to the flicks, however this time round, there is a choice of emulated retro video games (with classics like Super 3D Noah’s Ark, Bible Adventures, and Gourmet Warriors) in addition to the likes of pace courting, the comedy membership, and serving to out random residents all over the world. I obtained tremendous into the skateboarding time trials current in every of the hub areas, making an attempt to get the best instances doable, and I spent an embarrassing period of time watching previous commercials in my room (however the Glover N64 industrial popped me huge time).
The King Is Half-Undressed
Unfortunately, High on Life 2 feels prefer it might’ve used just a little longer within the oven. Firstly, the visuals – whereas usually handsome stylistically – have that smeared-in vaseline take a look at instances. I additionally discovered the sport both manner too vivid or unattainable to see after I had HDR enabled, with no option to truly regulate the HDR in-game apart from a normal gamma slider, so I needed to disable it from the console settings to make it much less obnoxious.
Performance points weren’t at all times current, however when the framerate points hit, they actually hit. There’s a selected boss that takes place in a subject, which might be the longest boss battle within the sport as it’s, however the framerate completely tanked throughout this phase, making what ought to’ve been a spotlight to cap off an incredible part of the sport an annoyance.
This was on PS5 Pro too, thoughts you, so I can not think about what the bottom PS5 or Xbox Series S variations are like. There is not even a efficiency possibility both, simply which upscaling mode you want to use – however frankly, I did not see a distinction between PSSR and TSR in both efficiency or appears.
Worst of all, nonetheless, had been the glitches. Multiple instances, I might get caught within the maps or fall via the bottom, together with one the place I used to be amid an incredible aspect quest about going to the zoo with one other character, however as soon as I reloaded my final checkpoint, I used to be locked out of the mission. I additionally would sometimes get random freezing; whereas the sport by no means crashed, these might final for an excellent 20 seconds at their worst. The glitches obtained even worse in the direction of the top of the sport, with the ultimate boss bugging out on me a number of instances, between my weapons totally locking up or the bottom simply straight up disappearing, sending me right into a freefall.
High On Life 2 received me over in methods I did not count on when it was first introduced. It’s a funnier, bolder, and – crucially – sooner sequel that turns it from a novelty into a robust FPS contender in its personal proper. But it is also a sport that might’ve severely used some extra time in growth so far as efficiency is anxious.
Aside from these points, it is a splendidly imaginative FPS marketing campaign with a Ratchet & Clank-esque stage of playfulness with regards to weapons, set items, and ranges, and it has turned me from a naysayer to somebody who’s wanting ahead to the subsequent one.
Should you play High on Life 2?
Play it if…
Don’t pt if…
Accessibility options
High on Life 2 has plenty of accessibility options, like talking indicators, subtitles, and UI dimension choices, and an possibility for “hyper legible text” for the subtitles, which provides it a bolder font.
There are colorblind choices for Deuteranope, Protanope, and Tritanope with a slider to tune how extreme these are. But conversely, a scarcity of rebindable controls and lackluster enter settings fall a bit flat.
How I reviewed High on Life 2
I performed High on Life 2 for 18 hours. In this time, I completed the principle marketing campaign, all the skating challenges, and delved into an excellent quantity of aspect content material just like the journey to the zoo, escape room, and comedy membership.
I performed the sport on a PS5 Pro between a Samsung Q60D TV with a Samsung HW-T450 soundbar and a Samsung Odyssey G5 gaming monitor with a PlayStation Pulse 3D Headset.
First reviewed February 2026