Subnautica 2 Preview
Everyone has phobias and fears. For some, standing on a tall ladder is too far above terra firma. When I think of a terrifying space, it’s those vastly deep and dark environments far below the ocean’s surface, where life is mostly blind, and the pressure is immense. Talk about claustrophobic. One of the wonders of Subnautica 2 is that moments after starting the game, I was headed down into the depths, and I could feel both wonder and my chest starting to tighten a little. Then the game helpfully reminded me I had a task to do, and I headed back to the shallows. Relief!
Subnautica 2 had a rocky development, but the game is now in Early Access and ready to play. A while back I attended a hands-off demo and presentation by the developers. They laid out a road map for what’s coming. This is important because in some ways Subnautica 2 definitely feels like just the beginning. The first Subnautica had a similar trajectory from Early Access to completion.
Hold Your Breath
Subnautica 2 is a standalone sequel but starts with a similar premise. This time around, you’re headed to a distant planet and crash land on an oceanic world where your crew of fellow explorers have gone dead or missing. Forget long expository cutscenes. The basics are laid out on a couple of title cards. As you explore, you’ll fill in plenty of backstory.
Your tasks are to build an ever-more-elaborate base and to explore the world for resources and clues. And if you play the game in the Creative mode (essentially a sandbox), a lot of the tech tree is already filled in, putting even less emphasis on survival. Subnautica 2 is playable solo or in co-op. This latter mode just might be the ideal as it allows for exploration, resource gathering and building duties to be split up.
Sometimes Subnautica 2 errs on the wrong side of information overload, trusting the player to make discoveries and connections. Players with experience in the first game or other survival crafting titles know the drill, however. Any repetitive task probably has a tool to make it go faster, and there’s probably a blueprint or computer or workstation that can build it. Subnautica 2 isn’t too precious about valuing realism over fun.
A Part of Your World
I’m not going to spend too much time going through the tools you can print or the habitats you can build, but they look great and help you succeed in the game’s most important task. Of course, that task is exploring the depths, its secrets, and life forms. There’s a narrative context, a bit of dramatic tension but the star of the show is the ocean world.
Like the first game, Subnautica 2’s art is stylized, vibrant, colorful, and detailed. Fish, aquatic mammals and invertebrates range from slight variations on Earthly creatures to fanciful new lifeforms that are beautifully animated. At the top of the food chain, the monstrous Leviathan returns. In some cases, the Leviathan are deadly hazards to avoid. Some of the Leviathan act as walls to the environment’s limits so far.
In all cases, Subnautica 2 retains the first game’s no-combat policy. Subnautica 2 might allow you to exploit or absorb the ocean’s resources but never to kill the Leviathans. However, the game does feature weapon-like tools or gear that allow players to distract, stun or otherwise temporarily render a Leviathan less dangerous. And in the end, player death is not the end, or even all that inconvenient.
Fluid Mechanics
While the Early Access version of Subnautica 2 is enjoyable and engaging, it’s clearly just the beginning, with a lot of content to come. The first game was incredibly well supported and rightfully earned an enthusiastic player base. Subnautica 2 builds on the polish and streamlined mechanics of the first game and looks even better, with more fluid movement and immersive spaces. It might not be full-featured just yet, but it’s still a great time to dive into Subnautica 2.
***PC code provided by the publisher for review***
