High on Life 2 is a direct continuation from the events of the first game, with you taking on the role of a bounty hunter, making space civilisation better one kill at a time. In the sequel you’re back to do it all again, with your freedom fighting sister, as you take on a big corporation to… prevent humans from being turned into drugs.
Your journey picks up with probably one of the most interesting intros I’ve played in a while, as you bounce between the perspective of the many roles an intergalactic hero takes on. The Bounty Hunter begins to realise that maybe it just isn’t for them, life starts at the top, featuring on the show “The Bachelor”, having a family and friends, hunting bounties, until it all just starts to blur together and fall apart.
Your space buddy Gene from the first High on Life offers you a bounty but this time it’s on your sister as she and her friends recently assaulted a human zoo in the hopes of liberating those inside and, this is where you start to discover the truth about what’s really happening.
On release there were a few technical hiccups, mainly with optimisation but as of the time of writing this I have had little to no real issues when playing the game a week or so after release. I do however have to reinstall the shaders everytime I open the game which takes a little bit of time but is quickly forgotten when you jump back in.
High on Life 2 still features the familiar combat from its first iteration, namely because the first two gun companions are literally from the first game, but as you get deeper into the story you begin to find new friends and new abilities. The first, most notably, would be the skateboard which makes traversing levels both quicker and much more fun. Grind rails, do gnarly jumps over large chasms and fight your way past hordes of enemies as you hit them with your fully customisable board.
There is a lot more going on in the world of High on Life 2, although originally the world was probably the main selling point of the previous entry with wacky, zany characters, humour and tonnes of skits and laughs it is almost improved on in every way with a much more fleshed out hubworld with extra tasks and collectables to explore and obtain as well as traverse with the new board.
If you prefer your space adventures to be a bit more on the serious side then do take a look at Jump Space, a ship focused adventure game that will have you building and battling through space on a much more sensible mission.
The new maps are much bigger and much more fleshed out with some story elements offering plenty to keep you not only entertained but interested. In some locations you can find little tucked away characters and interactions that make these places feel not only more alive but put you in these awkward scenarios that are downright hilarious or weird so be warned as you venture under bridges in the hubworld as you may find more than you bargained for.
Enemies that feature throughout High on Life 2 are a lot more varied than before, with some rehashes of older enemies mixed with plenty of new ones. A previous issue was that some of the enemies were very repetitive and left you wanting to actually just skip combat just to progress but I’ve found that with the new skateboard enemies are less of a mandatory engagement (most of the time) and more of something you can choose to engage unless it’s crucial to what’s happening.
In a very Borderlands way bosses are featured with little title cards and intros and have so far been quite interesting with different mechanics and features letting you take them on in whatever way you see fit. Some bosses will have opportunities to test out new weapons such as Travis who features a sort of jungle mechanic allowing you to shoot enemies into the air and damage them or send them off ledges.
One of the glaring differences in High on Life 2 is the omission of Kenny, your first Gatlian friend and weapon. With the controversy around Justin Roiland in 2023 he resigned from his position at Squanch Games and with that resignation came the removal of Kenny as a character so sadly you will not be seeing Kenny.
High on Life 2 is a vast improvement over its predecessor in many ways and will keep you locked into its fun gameplay and laughing at its crude humour all the way to the end of the game.
If you would like to try your hand at becoming a space freedom fighter and stop the human race from being turned into pills, you can find High on Life 2 on Xbox, Playstation and Steam.
