Squanch Games Announces High On Life 2 Launch: Game Pass & New Gatlians

The Sequel to the Absurdist Meta-FPS is Live

Squanch Games has officially pulled the trigger on High On Life 2, launching today directly into the Game Pass Ultimate ecosystem. For those of us who vibed with the original’s "joke-a-minute" pacing and sight gags, the sequel aims to refine that chaotic energy into something Narrative Director Alec Robbins calls the "science behind the funny." Our take? It’s not just about the volume of jokes anymore; it’s about how those jokes interact with the player’s agency.

New Gatlians: Writing for the Meta

The core of the High On Life experience—the talking firearms—gets a significant personality buff here. Robbins noted that the team is writing directly to the strengths of their voice talent, a strategy that usually results in much higher "hit rates" for comedy. Here’s the new lineup of Gatlians we’re getting our hands on earlier in the campaign:

• Sheath: The deadpan specialist.
• Creature: The unpredictable wildcard.
• Travis: A "selfish, pathetic coward" voiced by Ken Marino.

We see this in action during Travis’s introduction at a bar. Instead of a standard cutscene, the game forces you into a series of "drunken and disorderly" activities. It’s a smart move to build an organic bond with the weapon through gameplay rather than just exposition. Robbins also highlighted Tim Robinson (I Think You Should Leave) as a recurring favorite for the writing team, ensuring that "cringe-comedy" meta remains intact.

Balancing Gameplay and Gags

One of the biggest hurdles for any comedy-centric FPS is the "shut up and let me play" factor. Robbins and the team seem to have addressed this by leaning into "opt-in" humor. In a refreshing bit of design philosophy, the devs admit that if you aren't looking at a visual gag or if you choose to walk away from a bit, they’re okay with that. They aren't interested in taking control away from the player just to land a punchline.

Robbins cites Hideo Kojima as a massive influence on this front, specifically how Metal Gear Solid 3 marries mechanics with humor (like The End dying of old age). "Kojima is a big inspiration for me, and he’s kind of the king of marrying a joke with gameplay," Robbins says. This influence manifests in "interactive humor"—like the original game’s bicycle gag—where the joke only works because of player participation or subversion of expectations.

The "Line" and Shock Humor

We’ve seen plenty of games try to be "edgy" and fail, but Squanch Games claims to be avoiding the "hacky" shock humor trap. Robbins is clear on the team's internal compass: "I think shock humor is hacky, and the more sensitive a joke is, the funnier it needs to be for it to be worth it." The goal for High On Life 2 is to remain juvenile and crass without being mean-spirited, leaning into an open-minded world where characters are frequently genderfluid and the absurdity feels "kind" rather than sociopathic.

Big Swings and Cut Content

Not every "big swing" made the final cut. We learned that the team considered an "incredibly long, tedious side quest" with zero reward—a classic bit of anti-humor that was ultimately axed because it would have been a nightmare for the QA team to test. However, plenty of other bizarre concepts survived, including:

• The Human Petting Zoo: Featuring a "chilled-out" captive voiced by Cory Loykasek.
• Circuit Arcadia: An open hub world filled with world-building gags, like a slug-alien argument regarding a "first bath" ritual.
• The Murder Mystery: A fully-fleshed-out genre pivot tucked inside the game.

Our Veteran Perspective: High On Life 2 is clearly doubling down on the "collaborative" comedy that made the first one a sleeper hit. By integrating influences from Portal 2 and Mother 3, and giving players the freedom to "opt-out" of bits, Squanch Games is showing a level of maturity in their design that matches their immaturity in the script. It's a balance that’s hard to strike, but for Game Pass subscribers, it's a zero-risk download to see if the timing lands for you.