Last week I was fortunate enough to be able to get a little hands-on time with Sludge Life 2, developed by DoseOne and published by Devolver Digital. Normally I would be able to open up with a little about what the game is about, however, with Sludge Life 2 being in active development, I am going into this one quite blind, so with our very limited time, let’s take a trip and live our best Sludge Life.

Sludge Life 2 is a first-person, non-linear, action, open-world sandbox game that is packed full of experiences. Waking in a rather trashed hotel room in the Ciggy City Suites, you find yourself on a mission to find missing artist Big Mud and get him to his video shoot.

With very little to go on and no recollection of what happened the night before, it’s up to you, Big Mud’s manager, Ghost, to unravel what has happened and where Big Mud is to be found. Being that I had limited time, I wanted to focus more on what Ciggy City had to offer, so I set off on my own little journey of discovery in the hopes of learning as much as possible.

Gameplay is very heavily focused on exploration and interaction with the people of Ciggy City. For me, staying on mission was hard to do, with no visible goals or objectives other than what I was discovering along the way. A lot of the time I felt just completely lost and unable to make any progress until I made the discovery that I could indeed find people in the city with clues, provided I had a ciggy to swap for the information. This appeared to be the currency of the game. On occasion, I would come across a slug that was often tucked away, so I immediately assumed them to be a type of collectible.

I also found a tonne of spots where I was able to pick up a can of spray paint and throw up some cool graffiti, and though I wasn’t able to collect enough of them in my time with the demo, these are tied to unlockable items. Picking up a camera I was able to start taking photographs in the game, and though I’m uncertain, I feel as if this is used to serve as a journal of sorts to document your journey throughout the game.

Eating a shroom will give you a limited-time out-of-body experience, which I can only speculate on, but I see this being used to help you find your way to where you need to be going. I just found myself getting lost in the experience and enjoying the ride, floating about the city, and taking in the sights.

The cartoon art style used in this game is the same as the original Sludge Life, which for me was very reminiscent of the 90’s MTV show, Beavis and Butthead, mixed with some early Simpsons. The game has a great variety of locals for you to explore, from the suites in your hotel to bars and rather dysfunctional restaurants.

In-game audio is very complimentary to the visual style in use, and it provides a great soundscape that you can easily find yourself being absorbed in the general vibe of the game world. Though I would have loved to hear voice acting when interacting with the residents of Ciggy City, the gibberish conversations didn’t take anything away from the overall experience.

Sludge Life 2 is a rather colourful adventure packed full of exploration and discovery as you unravel the mystery of missing artist Big Mud. My overall experience with the game was very fluid and enjoyable, aside from the occasional wall clip and falling to my death, which to be honest, this early on, I expected to see a lot more of. For the fans of the original Sludge Life, I say this; get that wish list ready. You’re not going to want to miss this. A big “Thank you” to DoseOne and Devover Digital for allowing MKAU to get early hands-on access. We look forward to experiencing all that Sludge Life 2 has to offer.

Written by: Gary Nielsen