High On Life 2 Review (PS5) – High On Its Own Supply

High On Life 2 PS5 Review. Time for a second dose of zany gun-talking ebullience courtesy of High On Life 2 from developer Squanch Games. The first game introduced us to Gatlians, the cuss-spewing and irreverent-talking firearms, and contained a colourful and hypnotic FPS adventure that never relented, even if at times you did want it to shove virtual cake into its pie hole. This time, High On Life returns with a straight follow-up and has decided to double down on its brand of adolescent-fuelled aura and crass humour, this time with a skateboard to thrash about with. Does High On Life 2 inject itself with a renewed vigor, or is it time to reach for the mute button on your TV controller?

High On Life 2 Review (PS5)- High On Its Own Supply

Continuing from the events of the first High On Life, High On Life 2 places you in the role of a mute bounty hunter, who along with their band of fellow bounty hunters are acclaimed due to their heroic efforts in preventing the G3 drug cartel from turning humans into a drug capsule high for aliens. This time you’re tasked with rescuing the protagonist’s damsel in distress sister because aliens want to use her as a highly promoted over-the-counter medication.

So yes, High On Life 2’s premise is as nutty as the first game, and there’s no shortness of nuttiness throughout either. There are new Gatlians too mixed in with standbys from the first game, and they’re a jolly lot with their incessant potty mouths and horniness.

The story of High On Life 2 goes to unexpected places, even despite the quasi-haphazard approach to the premise. There’s a superhero movie or Borderlands-like slapdash feel, where the Gatlians are enshrined as heroes after their previous exploits, but are now trying to vanquish a new threat, although “new” seems like an exaggeration when the “High” in High On Life indicates a hallucinogenic drug-centered core to the franchise that limits its potential.

Obscenity Overload

Humour in High On Life 2 hasn’t changed one iota from the previous game. Gatlians still spout off at the mouth a lot, but it is at least commendable that they each speak specific lines of dialogue when they are individually selected.

Examples of the humor will definitely give you an indication as to High On Life 2’s immaturity. Sweezy at one becomes unusually excited about entering a hole, something of an innuendo that your thoughts will drum up when you think about it. Jen and Travis are a bickering duo, who at one point start going back and forth about Travis’s hemorrhoid cream. Random encounters with NPCs brings out the best of the game’s chortle-worthy moments due to their randomness, such as an employee who has a foot fetish, and a green alien who is eager to flash you.

The dirty jokes and sophomoric humour might elicit a chuckle and they are amusing, but the general comedy within is rarely ever clever or witty, instead residing on the side of crass.

The guffaws as well as the general presentation of High On Life 2 compare firmly with Borderlands due to the fact you play as a bounty hunter and there’s a wafting pretentiousness to it when trying to be funny. The clear adolescent appeal to High On Life 2 is overbearing to say the least, yet you may indulge in all the silly nonsense and not care about any substance the Gatlians spew out……not literally!

Unlike Borderlands though, at least High On Life 2 has jokes instead of quips to entertain, so the game’s humour qualifies as genuine regardless of whether your tastes adhere to it or not.

The Gusto Of Gatlians

A host of new and returning Gatlians make the rounds in High On Life 2. Old standbys from the first game like Sweezy, Gus, Knifey and Lezduit join up with debutants Harper, Travis and Jan, Bowie and Gun Sheath. The best of the new Gatlians has to be Travis because of his gumshoe-like Fedora and he is central to one of the best sections of the entire game. Travis can be as crass as the others, but he can be very gentlemanly too-or maybe that’s just his looks.

As well as their diverse personalities, each Gatlian embodies different weapon types with cool primary and secondary firing options. Sweazy’s secondary slow-motion time bubble that traps enemies and objects returns, as does Gus and his explosive shotgun primary weapon fire. New Gatlian Bowie is a bow and firing arrows with him into enemy torsos is very nice, as his secondary fire spits out portals you can fire into to destroy objects and damage bosses. Flint is awesome because he’s a flamethrower who can be used to devastate foes in flames. Travis And Jan are great when used together due to the high fire rate and the amount of carnage that ensues when you use them together.

The new additions are good overall, they aren’t too imaginative. Sure, they don’t need to be Ratchet & Clank levels of creative, but they could be a twinge more exciting.

Too Cool For School?

One of the biggest new features in High On Life 2 besides the new Gatlians, is the fresh new skateboard you can tear about in. The skateboard is effortless to control, a bit too effortless. Actually you can barely feel you’re riding a skateboard, and although you can use it to grind and ollie with panache, it feels underutilized outside of challenges and purchasable decals. Clearly this new skateboard is an attempt to make gameplay extra cool, but while it has its purposes, the skateboard could’ve felt a bit more like a skateboard and less like a cloud you’re riding on.

Another way High On Life falls short is in how it feels to play. There’s a lack of true impact and oomph to Gatlian fire a lot of the time. Yes, it’s satisfying to use Bowie for sending arrows into torsos and Creature’s minions do a great job at leeching off bosses, but there’s a hollowness to the gunplay that feels a bit off.

The routine you’ll mostly undertake is underwhelming too. There are many Rhea Pharma fiends and drones to eviscerate, but High On Life 2 loves throwing you into boss battles, and whilst they are memorable they’re one-dimensional when it comes to the tactics regarding how to defeat them. Just use Creature’s creatures to suck the life out of them because you can see a sizable chunk of the boss’s health bar lop off the more you use them. Give Jan and Travis a go too for hectic thrills if you want to as well. The point is there’s nothing clever or remarkable about the bosses from a hands-on standpoint, even if they look diverse and cool to fight.

As for the game’s bosses, they are numerous despite the one-dimensional tactics it takes to defeat them. Tiffany is a constant source of aggravation as her and her cronies will turn up several times throughout the story unexpectedly because she’s very hard to put away. There are an array of rich and successful bosses like billionaire Larry Pinkstock, finance wiz James Stevenson and movie star Bronkin Bucko.

There are moments of unpredictable awesomeness, like a boss you need to stomp out on a menu screen, and one of the bosses can be dealt with far quicker than you could ever imagine, but altogether they are a memorable lot.

Platforming And Presentation Perils

Platforming and puzzle solving can be a nuisance sometimes because trying to find out what Gatlian does what and experimenting can take time, though when you get your head around the functions of each Gatlian the puzzles will be easy. There was one little part where you need to open what is essentially an invisible door and to solve it you have to use Creature’s minions and guide them with a laser pen. It felt like such a protracted and tedious solution when it would’ve been better to use another Gatlian to shoot a switch to disable the wall instead.

Examples like this indicate the dregs of puzzle platforming in High On Life 2. Yes, it feels good to make use of each Gatlian’s secondary abilities to solve puzzles, yet moments of confusion and stoppages of momentum make it a hassle to deal with sometimes. Nothing breaks the flow faster than coming across an obstacle that requires a specific Gatlian to bypass. At times the solutions can be rapid and annoyance-free, yet other times they force you to experiment too often through trial and error and plentiful plummeting into level abysses.

The visuals in High On Life 2 are hit and miss. You are taken through a smattering of colourful and imaginative environments that reinforce the dreamy and hallucinogenic vibe High On Life is all about. For instance you spend a chunk of the game exploring the innards of a creature to rid it of pestilence, and another section has you trying to prevent a Gatlian from execution in a medieval-inspired village. High On Life 2 is chock full of memorable settings and diverse eye candy.

What is far less impressive are the character models when interacting with NPC throughout the worlds you visit. They look like sprites befitting a PS3 game, lacking in depth and detail. The general look of the game isn’t very impressive either despite the impressive range of environments you get to explore.

Hampering the game’s presentation further are the technical problems including stutters and crashes that’ll snap you back to reality from the High On Life 2’s alluring drug-addled haze. At one point during the investigation sequence it was unclear whether you’ve made all the enquiries you needed to because you weren’t given clear guidance, which compelled a checkpoint restart. It’s frustrating for High On Life 2 to be hamstrung technically when much of its content is pleasurable, yet it is a game that can too often feel high on its own supply with detrimental side effects.

High On Life 2 is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.

Review copy was generously provided by the publisher.