With a Skateboard in hand, I cruised through High on Life 2 and engaged with some of the wildest side content I’ve ever seen in a game. From bloody battle arenas to a hilarious Murder Mystery Weekend that would make Agatha Christie proud, I can confidently say that Squanch Games has improved upon the original in almost every way.
The level design is diverse and varied, and encourages you to use the brand-new Skateboard. The ever-evolving roster of characters is engaging, and the often-funny narrative means High On Life 2 is a genuinely great all-around shooter, though it’s bogged down by some technical issues—and what will prove to be a divisive ending.
From Hero To Zero
High On Life 2 picks things up right after the first game; you’ve defeated the G3 Cartel, an infamous, intergalactic drug cartel, and now you’re reveling in the glory. However, just when you thought you’re out, your own sister pulls you back in, and before long, you’re swept up in a radical, freedom-fighter campaign to save humanity once again. This time, they face the threat of being turned into pills by Big Pharma.
If the plot sounds outrageous, that’s because it is, but that’s standard procedure for Squanch Games, and they do it excellently. There are plenty of twists and turns in the narrative, and I won’t spoil any of them here, but the game is supported excellently by its incredible roster of memorable characters.
The guns are the obvious highlight; the Gatlian cast has some returning members like Creature and Gus, but the likes of Trevor and Sheath prove to be great additions to the roster. They all have their own distinct characteristics, and their stories evolve throughout the narrative just as much as yours. You’ll even face dialogue options throughout the campaign, and your Gatlians stand in as your various choices, with each answer befitting of their unique personalities.
Crucially, these living weapons aren’t just for combat. Each Gatlian also plays a role in exploration and puzzle-solving, offering traversal abilities, environmental interactions, and utility tools that open up new paths and secrets for you to uncover.
Of course, all of this comes together wrapped up in what’s meant to be a comedic package, and for my taste, it largely succeeds. Whereas the first title was hyper-focused on leaning into the absurdism of this alien world, leaving some jokes seemingly too outlandish or forced, High On Life 2 is a lot more casual with its humour. For me, it largely landed, and I can’t deny laughing out loud a fair few times.
It’s the casual moments throughout the game that served the most laughs, though, and really tied the whole experience together. You’ll run into countless NPCs that you can interact with and talk to, and the voice acting is consistently top-notch. High On Life 2 might be a fast-paced shooter when combat hits the scene, but trust me, slow down on occasion, take your time with the social interactions, and engage with the world around you.
Tony Hawk Who?
Most of you will show up to High On Life 2 for the comedy and roster of characters, but the gameplay is equally top-notch. Sure, you’ll be shooting countless amounts of aliens, but you’ll be doing that whilst hitting sick tricks on your brand-new Skateboard.
Early in the game, you get your hands on this revolutionary piece of equipment. Instead of sprinting, you’ll hop on your deck and start grinding rails and hitting crazy jumps, and it adds a whole new layer of depth to gameplay.
Thankfully, it’s not just a thoughtless addition, as Squanch Games has constructed the whole game with the Skateboard in mind. You’ll find grindable surfaces everywhere, and the walls of the futuristic, alien environments are coincidentally architecturally inspired by a skate park’s halfpipe.
Will High On Life 2 be the best skating game of 2026? Probably not, but it sure could be one of the most fun.
Exploration is immediately much more fun and fast-paced, but more excitingly, so is the combat. I liken the jump from HOL1 to HOL2 to that of Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal: The original was slower and more deliberate, whereas High On Life 2 demands constant movement.
With that in mind, you’ll be jumping between rails and surfing along walls, all whilst switching between Gatlians and defeating waves of enemies. Speaking of, there’s a solid-enough variety throughout the worlds, at least visually speaking, but they do tend to fall into the atypical groups of melee, tanks, ranged, and snipers.
Variety Is The Spice Of Life
The real variety is instead in the level design. I touched on it briefly, but the world of High On Life 2 is a joy to explore, and it’s the missions where the game comes to life. There’s true variety to what you’ll engage with as you hunt down some of Big Pharma’s leading targets. You’ll have to figure out a murder mystery aboard a luxury cruise, win a shootout at Murder-Con, and even head back to Earth. It’s not just the environments that change with each location, as gameplay does, too, and it rarely ever overstays its welcome—well, aside from the ending.
I can’t decide if I love or hate the ending to High On Life 2, and it’s difficult to speak about without spoiling anything. All I can say is that gameplay takes a backseat in what proves to be a major disruption to the pacing. It’s narratively satisfying, and the game is tied up with a lovely bow at the end, but it’s bound to be divisive for plenty of fans.
Even when it does slow down, the game is generally gorgeous to look at. Sure, some character models can appear a bit in the uncanny valley realm of things, and their animations can be stilted at times, but the overall world of High On Life 2 is a joy to behold. Colours are sharp and vibrant, and there’s a surprising amount of detail to the world around you. The sound design can be a little bit lacklustre at points, with music playing where it might not be thematically appropriate, but it hardly detracts from the experience.
What does detract from the experience, though, is the game’s performance. I experienced nine, yes, nine crashes during my 10-hour playthrough, though thankfully, the auto-save feature is incredibly forgiving. I also fell through the world twice, once on purpose as I was skating around the map edges, but another time I just clipped through a wall and fell into the blinding abyss.
Squanch Games promises fixes for day one and beyond, but it would be remiss to neglect such fine and disruptive details.
High On Life 2 Review Verdict
High On Life 2 is a joyous romp through space with an excellent roster of characters keeping you company along the way. The world is bright and colourful, with the new Skateboard making it a blast to explore, whilst the Gatlians are great to fire and fun to listen to.
It might hamstring itself with poor performance issues and glitches, but the varied missions and genuinely engaging narrative helped me overlook what could have bogged down plenty of other games. I might have sped through it for the review, but I’ll undoubtedly be going back to explore what else High On Life 2 has to offer—if not to just talk to the countless NPCs some more.
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High On Life 2
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High On Life 2
