Review High on Life 2 reignites the Unreal Engine 5 image quality/performance debate

Digital Foundry • February 13, 2026 • technology

Key Points:

Digital Foundry's review of High on Life 2 highlights Unreal Engine 5's technical limitations, with the game running at low internal resolutions (around 720p on PS5 and 792p on Xbox Series X) and relying heavily on upscaling to maintain 60fps, which is not consistently achieved on any console.
The PS5 Pro and Xbox Series S versions show minimal improvements or significant downgrades respectively, with Series S notably stripping out Lumen global illumination and reducing shadow and texture quality, impacting the game's visual identity.
Despite technical compromises, High on Life 2 delivers a creative and fresh shooter experience with smooth combat, innovative traversal mechanics like a first-person skateboard sprint, and significantly improved stylized visuals compared to