High on Life 2 Review

Guns-a-blazin’ (and a-talkin’)

We’ll freely admit we never finished the first High on Life. Maybe it was the cancellation of Justin Roiland, or maybe it was the sense it felt incomplete as a game and lacking in certain design aspects in favour of its comedy and cast, but it dragged us along for a bit with its Gatlian tale and the fate of humans as a drug for aliens. You know, Rick & Morty-level stuff made gameplay.

High on Life 2, however, feels less like a cartoon comedy team trying their hand at games for the first time, as fans, and more like a determined team who learnt a lot from the first outing and are now more than willing to throw everything at a second attempt. Problematically, that “everything” often becomes too much, and in short supply, with gaping moments of static in between. It’s a weird way to think of the game too, because traversal in High on Life 2 is modern Doom-like and now has us gagging for a proper first-person skateboarding or snowboarding game because of how fast, smooth and great it feels. The world and level-design around this is fantastic but eventually begins to feel a bit short-lived, to maintain a design theme.

Comedically, also, a lot of this type of humour is rinse-repeat and while the game’s overall self-awareness and reverence to the medium is awesome, it does eventually wear thin, which is a huge issue with comedy-based games in general. Thankfully, High on Life 2 has put gameplay first and gags second, it’s just that for a game about aliens and humans and… life, it lacks heavily in that department.

If a third game can nail the balance we’ll dissect the lack of below, then it could be something truly special.

High on Life 2

Genre: First-Person Adventure
Developer: Squanch Games
Publisher: Squanch Games
Release Date: February 13, 2026 (April 20 for Switch)
Classification: R18+
Author: Stephen Farrelly
Date: March 12, 2026

Circus of Values

If you never played the first or, like us, never finished it, High on Life 2 has you covered out of the gate. Its entire intro is actually pretty clever and presents to the player a massive playspace to immediately trounce around in with three carryover Gatlians by your side in Gus, Sweezy and, of course, New Australia’s favourite son, Knifey (as voiced by Michael Cusack, creator of Koala Man -- read our “Would you like to know more?” box out for… MORE!). The entirety of the game’s opening sequence serves as both a tutorial as well as a teaser for its high-octance movement and shooting. Both of which it consistently excels at throughout the full experience, but we also get a small taste of that “static” we mentioned in our own opening salvo. There’s a genuine want for more fluidity of everything and while the Zoo playground the above takes place in does have life, as set-dressing it’s relatively barebones. 

"A lot of love and design care was placed into who you’re firing your beloved sentient weapons into, because targets need to be worth each of your weapons’ time..."

We mean, the fact we want more dynamic and animated life around us should suggest we kind of love this world and have our own high hopes for it.

The same shouldn’t be said of the game’s enemies, at least in the early throes, as they have a great range of movement and lots of character. They’re also not always one and done after taking them out and can often come with the need for multiple quick attack strats. They do eventually become predictable and easy to dispatch as you ‘level up’ yourself and your Gatlians, but we’ll get to that soon. For now, it’s worth noting a lot of love and design care was placed into who you’re firing your beloved sentient weapons into, because targets need to be worth each of your weapons’ time as the Gatlians are the absolute stars of this joint.

Would you like to know more?
If you're unaware of Dapto's favourite son, Michael Cusack, chances are still that you've seen his work somewhere else before. Specifically, he cut his teeth on the webtoon series "Damo and Darren" which was an Australian Beavis and Butt-Head-like that drew its comedy from Aussie slang and dreg culture. He also did "Bushworld Adventures" for Adult Swim which was a twisted take on Rick & Morty that is entirely worth your time for its disturbing take on an already disturbing (at times) show.

Oh, Travis

Ken Marino’s portrayal as the Gatlian Travis is award-winning stuff. Return players will likely have their favourites among J.B. Smoove’s Gus, Betsy Sodaro’s Sweezy and the earlier-mentioned Cusack’s Knifey, and while it’s hard not to look past our Dapto-founded legend in Cusack, for ours it’s Travis who steals the whole show.

His story of breaking up with his partner, Jan, and our burgeoning friendship with him drink after drink after drink, is almost up there with Arthur’s first bender in Red Dead Redemption II in Valentine. It’s simply that good. And definitely not something we’ll spoil. 

"These guys are your voice, ears and emotions, all in one, and they never fail to deliver..."

Not merely weapons, each of the Gatlians come with their own stories and personalities, as well as reactions to either random or specific events, meaning cycling through them on a regular basis will always give you something new. The art and animations and basic care that has also gone into each is to be applauded as well. These guys are your voice, ears and emotions, all in one, and they never fail to deliver. Moreover, their respective firing traits are all unique and come with multiple variations or secondary fires which can allow for systems stacking and a lot of on-the-fly switching, which helps in chaotic firefights and skirmishes, and bosses (read our second “Would you like to know more?” box out for… MORE!). 

By the time Bowie joins your arsenal (his quest is a particular standout for gaming nerds and those who grew up in the N64/PSOne era), the cast around you is loud and proud, though can also become a bit much. It’s a weird situation to be in because this is a comedy game with great writing and great performances, but depending how you play, it can be as simple as a quick watch or a classically overly drawn-out SNL skit that simply winds up feeling choreish and, we hate to say it, cringe. Don’t get us wrong, it’s not that most dialogue or gags don’t land, but comedy isn’t a specifically drawn out artform and being comedy-heavy in a game is fraught with danger, with few attempts genuinely nailing the experience. And often that’s because those that do, keep it relatively short and simple -- something like The Holy Gosh Darn comes to mind. High on Life 2 is hilarious, but it can often present the audience with too many awkward pauses.

Would you like to know more?
Boss battles in High on Life 2 are great, and generally very unique. But nothing quite beats having your suit's OS taken over by a shrunken down Richard Kind (voicing Senator Muppy Doo) and having to chase him through sub menus and actual code. When High on Life 2 cracks jokes about tech, games and game design in general, it's usually very good. Other standouts include fighting a dragon-riding biker, and an ever-respawning alien cult leader among many others.

Dialogue X Dead Air

The game’s makeup is simple -- you’re on the run and now a revolutionary political and ethical assassin going after big pharma. This means you need to hide out and are no longer welcome within the Bounty Hunter fraternity you became the star of in the first game. This also means Bounty Hunters are coming after you, though not necessarily for the price on your head, but more as a point of pride -- a gag that survives the duration of the game to great applause. So, in typically modern videogame fashion, you have a secret base that you can build out and even customise with odds and ends, such as ‘fish’ for a giant aquarium, your bed with pillows fashioned after characters from the comedy TV series, Frasier (via a Frasier Crane Machine claw machine, natch) and other elements picked up from your jaunts.

"You can visit various locations on a Halo-esque ring inhabited by myriad species of aliens (to us)..."

Said jaunts take place from within a space Winnebago where you can visit various locations on a Halo-esque ring inhabited by myriad species of aliens (to us). These include Circuit Arcadia -- an admittedly great-looking sci-fi city that could be so much more if its denizens and life weren’t so, sorry to say again… static. A beach side resort where you’ll actually go on a cruise. An Expo expo that includes a Parking Expo where it’s every species for themselves, and their elected vehicle spot. The earlier-mentioned Bowie mission which takes place via a secret portal into a low-poly game-world. Fully skateable sewers, a shopping mall, the cinemas (where you can watch actual movies), a speed dating location that can end in ‘sealing the deal’, an Escape Room experience that is actually very funny and much, much more.

There’s even a mission on a ranch in Wyoming, because why not?

The thing with all of these is they’re great in isolation and when smashing through them, they’re fun and punchy and hold a solid comedic and gameplay line. The deeper in you get to the narrative, or Golden Path, too, the more difficult skirmishes become. But this is a videogame with sandbox playspaces, meaning it has additional content for the collectors out there and even features Metroidvania-lite discoverable areas -- most of which are either fun puzzles or tied to a gag, but when the game leans heavily into the ‘replay’ aspect, that’s when the dead air hits, and hits hard.

And that’s because High on Life 2 is not a small game, by any measure.

Size Matters

It’s a tough one at the end of the day, because if you play this thing in a fairly straightforward manner and eschew its hidden stuff, most of which is superfluous to the whole experience anyway, you’ll get most of its written point, the overall gag and a pretty compelling adventure. If you decide to take part in all of its reverent videogamey bits that are definitely there in homage, jest and even deliberate annoyance, you can also see a subtle and oft hilarious layer of tongue-in-cheek design. But these are often fleeting and strewn about the place in difficult-to-find hideyholes. We spent the better part of an afternoon just skating through the world looking and discovering and when the mics are gone and the lights are down, so are the laughs and High on Life 2’s world just genuinely felt empty.

"Squanch is definitely in a bracket of growth that is easily trackable and we can’t wait to see what the studio does next..."

That’s not to say the time in it when it had purpose wasn’t fun, it’s just unbalanced on the whole, and even if it were a deliberate prank on players and didn’t fully land in our eyes.

Still, the overall product here is very good and a massive leap over its predecessor. Squanch is definitely in a bracket of growth that is easily trackable and we can’t wait to see what the studio does next because from an art, presentation and writing perspective, this team is very talented. It might just need to learn to self-edit a bit, pick a less ‘all over the shop’ lane (or set of lanes) and pour everything into something that flows more naturally and seamlessly in whatever it does next. And whatever that is, we’re here for it.

What’s Boss?

  • Gatlian Cast is excellent, both in character and fire-power
  • First-person movement is fast and fluid and fun
  • When the game's comedy hits, it's very good
  • Frasier Crane Machine (and pillows)
  • Every boss-battle and region is different and often innovative

Not Boss Enough?

  • The game's comedy can dry up
  • This is based on the size of it which might just be a bit too big
  • Lacks a bit of dynamism around its peripheral life
  • Can become a bit repetitive after awhile
  • A visual mixed bag

Squanch Games returns with its comedy-based FPS adventure featuring talking weapons. Now on-the-run, the player and their Gatlians face new dangers across a number of nique spaces with myriad gags in tow.

Learn about our reviews

About the Author

Written By Stephen Farrelly
Stephen Farrelly is a veteran journalist and editor with more than two decades experience in the worlds of gaming, entertainment, lifestyle and sport. He is a proud pug dad, loves art in all forms (particularly street and tattoo culture), and is the director of Swear Jar Editorial and Media Pty Ltd, this site's owner and publisher. When not dispensing words, he's also dispensing boutique beers as a taproom fixture at Bracket Brewing in Marrickville, NSW...
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