Subnautica 2 (Early Access)

Ever since I played the very first Subnautica, I knew that Unknown Worlds Entertainment had come up with something special. The feeling of seeing the ocean in every direction, knowing that you have to survive completely stranded on an alien planet and utterly alone, is gripping. Using a well-designed resource management system, you had to find minerals, metals, and other materials to craft new tools and all of this took place in beautiful underwater environments. At the same time, the game had a darker side; not all the creatures you encountered were small and harmless as the ocean also contained gigantic predators reminiscent of those that roamed the Earth millions of years ago. You were no longer at the top of the food chain, but significantly further down.

Expectations for Subnautica 2 were sky-high as a result of the brilliance of the first game and the entertaining adventure Below Zero. I enjoyed both previous titles, but I also understand that the standalone spin-off wasn't a proper sequel and was a bit smaller in scale. This time, the scale is back on a par with the first game, and the second is expected to grow during its Early Access period. Here, Unknown Worlds plays with biomes where the ocean completely engulfs you and you can see neither the bottom nor the surface. It is precisely in these situations that exploration becomes extra eerie as you don't know where all the strange noises are coming from, and the shadows engulfing you might be an illusion rather than a giant monster.

Just like in the first game, you start with a sort of crash. Your life pod sends you to the surface after a tutorial section and you can quickly get started with resource gathering and exploration. Just like in the first game, your first base is a half-functional escape pod from the mothership. Most things are the same as you upgrade your equipment, acquire basic tools, and venture deeper into the ocean. This time, you don't need to worry about a reactor explosion on the horizon. You will, however, find the remains of your spaceship scattered across the seabed and you cannot build everything in your lifeboat, as instead you need to build a base where you can craft more resources, tools, buildings, and other items. It should be said straight away that base-building is more integrated into the experience this time round and it isn't as standalone as it was in the first game.

However, I have no problem with a greater focus on base-building as I enjoy constructing buildings and creating my own settlements. Materials and other items are also fairly easy to obtain because the buildings are cheap, which means you can quickly set up a functional base. The improvements to the building tool make it less fiddly to expand, rotate, and adjust the base exactly as you want it. It's also the building process required to create a sort of hangar and craft your first vehicle, where the one I tested is called the Tadpole and is somewhat reminiscent of the Seamoth. It is, however, considerably more customisable and you can even tailor the chassis where installing components works much like in the first game. This results in a fairly comfortable gameplay loop where much feels familiar.

I do, however, want to give a shout-out to both the graphics and the atmosphere. It's a beautiful game with a stunningly lovely sky where the sunrise must have been directly inspired by Star Wars: A New Hope with its twin suns, and it's hard not to be awestruck by the visuals. This is a technically competent game with excellent production values, and just like in the first game, the music is electronic with a lovely retro feel. I remember when I jumped into the water for the first time in Subnautica and was spellbound; I'll remember that with the sequel too.

When you're initially battling the darkness, scanning creatures, and trying to understand why things happen on this new planet, the game is at its best. You have all the time in the world to explore and do whatever you like, and yet there is a story. You have an AI called NOA that helps you pinpoint missions and other things to find. It glitched out a bit for me and I'm not getting any more of those missions but it might also be because I've progressed too far. This AI isn't quite what it claims to be and at the same time a mysterious disease is spreading across the planet. You'll see sea creatures and entire biomes covered in this virus and the parasites linked to it. The biggest marker of this is a gigantic tree on the horizon, completely covered in these grey spores and a grey slime. It has replaced the crashed spaceship from the first game as a massive landmark.

You cannot travel wherever you like in this Early Access version as there are clearly marked areas you cannot explore. You'll receive a warning and you may well die. Thankfully, death isn't the end. Your body is cloned again and you're free to find your capsule and your items, not unlike the system in the first game. It's up to you to investigate why you crashed, what role your AI played, and possibly to cure the disease ravaging the ocean. You will certainly have to escape at some point but I haven't got that far yet, and there isn't that much content in this Early Access version anyway. What is there, however, is very good and engaging. If you don't want to deal with hunger and thirst, there are alternative modes without these and simpler base-building.

I also like how recordings left behind refer to places you've visited. One of my favourite spots was a giant shell that, if disturbed, snaps shut and you can get trapped inside. Finding a log and hearing other survivors and their attempts to escape was entertaining, to say the least. Another place I liked was a completely devastated environment surrounded by rather large and dangerous fish. The current king of biomes is still the starting area as it's just as pleasant, bright, beautiful, and harmless as in the first game. At the same time, you know that beyond these areas lie dangers unlike anything you've seen so far, where one of the most dangerous places I visited was an area filled with lava and volcanic activity. You won't always be able to get everywhere, but there is plenty of help available at the start thanks to oxygen-producing plants. You don't necessarily need your vehicle at the beginning of the game and I managed quite well for over five hours without using such aids.

So far, I've been talking about things you're familiar with, but there are also new features. A new addition to the concept is genetics, where you can build up your character with abilities gained through special plants and data banks. This is done in the game by mixing DNA; more specifically, it works in such a way that you have two types of these bonuses. The first is abilities your character gains, and the second is passive bonuses. You'll have a wide range to choose from, for example, at the start you can choose between leaving a trail behind you so you can find your way out of caves more easily, or moving faster when swimming along the seabed. In addition to this, there is also a more story-driven way to gain new abilities and these are the ones you receive from plants you cure of the virus. These grant you quite powerful abilities, such as being able to withstand heat better. This opens up the previously mentioned area with lava and volcanoes for exploration and I hope there are more of these than there are locations, meaning you, as a player, get to make a few choices.

Technically speaking, the experience is more polished than the first game, but there are bugs, including missions that stop appearing, fish that go through the ground, and a few other things. However, it's rarely so disruptive that I think about it. The only one that's affected me is the story-driven bug where I don't get any further guidance on where to go. My suspicion is that either there are no more locations or this version of the game has a glitch. Audio-visually, it's all top-notch; both the music and all the cool sound effects are superb and I like what I see and hear for the most part, despite a few glitches. However, I haven't managed to get the multiplayer mode to work in the version of the game I have. It's co-op with up to four players you can team up with and that's something I'll be testing after the official launch of this Early Access version.

To sum up my time with the Early Access version of Subnautica 2, it's worth playing and will likely turn out to be a fantastic game. Just like with the first game's Early Access version, we don't know how long it will take or what upgrades we'll see in the future. From what I've tested so far, I feel both satisfied and excited about what's to come. It's beautiful, sounds great, and encourages exploration, and resource gathering and base building are both simple and intuitive. At present, your base is mostly affected by whether it has power or is under attack. I imagine future updates might expand on this as it's an aspect, alongside the limited exploration, that demonstrates this is a project designed to be built up as you play. I hope the developers incorporate a wide variety of weather types into the game because I'd like to see a good mix of rain, thunderstorms, sunshine, fog, and much more. I'd also like to see temperatures fluctuate in certain biomes, which would sometimes require you to adjust your choice of DNA.

At present, Subnautica 2 is a limited version offering at least 6-12 hours of gameplay. With the multiplayer mode included, you can certainly get significantly more hours out of it, but over time, the developer will be adding the remaining vehicles, tools, resources, biomes, and narrative. There is a lot missing, and you need to consider whether you want to dive in now or wait until more content is in place. I was quite happy with my time playing, but it's clear that this is far from finished and it may be a while before we see Version 1.0. However, I'm pleased that what's available is in a much better state than in the first game and offers more content. For that reason, I can tentatively recommend this to you, as you'll get it at a lower price than when the 1.0 edition arrives.

The oceans are eerie, and I don't think Subnautica 2 has lost what made its predecessors unique and great. You should be aware, however, that you get very little of the story - more of a starter than a main course and dessert. It's this limited content and technical issues that mean I cannot justify a higher rating. However, I am extremely optimistic about this project and hope to revisit the game once it is released in its full version.