Excessive On Life 2 is doing the stuff you’d anticipate this sequel to do – it’s larger, extra full of jokes, much more experimental than the primary recreation, and now has a skateboard you should utilize at any time (naturally). Nevertheless it’s additionally doing one thing we didn’t anticipate: altering the primary recreation’s construction basically. Excessive On Life 2 is taking cues from Metroidvania video games, however utilizing them to its personal ends.
In an episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, Squanch Video games’ COO & Govt Producer, Matty Studivan, and Inventive & Artwork Director, Mikey Spano defined – amongst many different issues – about how the staff modified their considering to supply a complete new hub-based design for the sport.
“Our Design Director, Erich Meyr, and I early on determined we wished to do one thing that had Metroidvania parts to it, however we additionally wished to help telling actually tight tales,” defined Spano. “So, this time round, we tried to maintain all the Metroidvania parts within the hubs.”
Whereas the unique Excessive On Life was constructed round a single hub, Blim Metropolis, the sequel will take you to 3 totally different hubs, every with much more to them and, in traditional Metroidvania model, providing increasingly more interactions the extra you play and earn.
“It’s an enormous step up for us from the primary recreation,” stated Studivan. “For those who performed it and Blim Metropolis, it’s a extremely cool spot, however fairly small geographically.”
“We now have three decent-sized hubs in [High On Life 2],” provides Spano, “and every a type of hubs has numerous little facet issues you are able to do, NPCs you’ll find, tons of collectibles, tons of unlockable issues. And clearly with the skateboard; there’s numerous cool stuff associated to the skateboard that you are able to do within the hubs.”
The change is successfully about letting Squanch have their cake and eat it – the brand new construction implies that the staff can pack within the stupendously bizarre moments that made Excessive On Life beloved, while not having to derail the core story to get non-sequitur jokes in there. It’s a chic combine:
“By way of the way it all flows collectively, you’ve obtained your property base that you simply’re all the time returning to,” defined Spano. “And in there, you’re speaking to your crew about what you’re going to do subsequent. After which, you’ll be dropped down into the hub. After which from there, you’re navigating to a goal that you simply’re following. However when you get to a sure level, it triggers a extra linear expertise the place we are able to inform the story in a tighter method. We nonetheless all the time have selections that you simply’re making and stuff like that.
“However when it comes to ending a stage after which coming again with new power-ups, we attempt to preserve all that within the hub in order that we are able to inform a whole story while not having gamers to return again and listen to the identical issues again and again.”
The upshot is that Squanch can inform the story they wish to, however give gamers the liberty to step away and discover simply how odd the encompassing world is at their leisure. To assist create all that facet content material, Squanch took a really enjoyable strategy:
“One of many methods we have been ready to do this is that we do recreation jams on the studio, as a result of your entire staff is so inventive,” added Studivan. “And so, we had eight or 9 groups [jam] for per week – and I believe like seven of the sport jams are within the hubs on this recreation.”
It ought to make exploring the hubs rewarding in itself – with whole different recreation sorts hidden away, each discovery can turn into one thing new. We’ll get extra of what we discovered to anticipate from the primary recreation, too – Excessive On Life included whole, real-life motion pictures to observe, and that may return (with a movie show to observe them in). We additionally know that Squanch has licensed full video games (NES recreation Bible Adventures fashioned a pivotal a part of the demo we not too long ago performed) that may seem alongside the way in which.
“We’re spending much more assets and time on [side content]. It actually makes the world really feel such as you’re someplace lived-in,” stated Studivan.
The large modifications to construction are additionally about catering to totally different sorts of gamers. Those that simply need the story can bounce from primary mission to primary mission with out friction. Those that wish to do all the things can achieve this with out having to repeat missions, and at their very own tempo. And there are additionally those that may waver between fast blasts and marathon periods:
“So, with the missions, we attempt to preserve them at a sure size in order that in the event you’re like, ‘I’m going to go take down this bounty,’ you really can end it in an evening after which get again to placing your youngsters to mattress or no matter it’s that it’s a must to do,” stated Spano. “After which for the players that desire a extra free-form expertise, they know they will simply hand around in the hub for some time and do no matter they need and tackle missions every time they need.”
For a recreation that presents itself as unabashedly dumb, there’s a core of good, traditional recreation design considering sitting beneath all of the insanity. With that design in place, it permits Squanch to go as wild as they need with the concepts we, as gamers, will work together with.
Even within the earliest appears to be like on the recreation, we’re seeing how far they will push this – one boss struggle abruptly sees your enemy hack your recreation, sending you navigating your personal menu screens to struggle him off. And, better of all:
“That’s one of many extra regular components of the sport,” Spano stated. “This demo is early within the recreation. By Act Three it’s simply so off the rails and insane. I believe individuals are going to be actually shocked.”
I’m very a lot trying ahead to seeing how a lot weirder this will get – Excessive on Life 2 arrives for Xbox Sequence X|S and Xbox on PC on February 13, 2026, and can be out there on day one with Recreation Cross Final.
If you wish to hear a lot, far more concerning the recreation, make certain to take a look at the complete Official Xbox Podcast episode, which dives into how Squanch circled a sequel so rapidly, the troublesome artwork of writing comedy for video games, the advantages of switching to Unreal Engine 5 and… the marvel of Microsoft Excel.
Excessive On Life 2
Squanch Video games, Inc.
You’ve accomplished it. You’ve taken down an intergalactic cartel, introduced humanity again from the brink of extinction, and hunted harmful bounties to the far corners of the galaxy. Bounty looking has introduced you fortune, fame and love; however when a mysterious determine out of your previous reappears and places a value in your sister’s head, your comfortable life will get thrown into chaos.
Do you will have what it takes to threat all of it and produce down an intergalactic conspiracy that when once more threatens your favourite species (people)?
Excessive On Life RETURNS as you and the one that you love rag-tag staff of alien misfits shoot, stab, and skate your method via beautiful, harmful worlds all throughout the galaxy to explode the EVIL pharmaceutical conglomerate hell-bent on placing value tags on HUMAN LIFE!
