Subnautica 2 (PC, Xbox)

[Osprey]

There were rumors and leaks, so we knew that it was coming, but now it's been officially announced.

https://gamerant.com/subnautica-2-release-date-online-co-op/

Not much info is known except that it's a whole new world and will have a 4-player online co-op mode. I imagine that it'll be like Grounded (which was like Subnautica on land) and allow you to play through the game solo or with a few friends.

Unfortunately, it's still likely a long ways away. Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero were both in Early Access for about two years, so this one entering Early Access in 2025 may mean that it won't leave it until 2027.

Click to read more...

 

[robertmac43]

Excited for this one!

 

[NyQuil]

The original is a legendary classic.

Hopefully they've learned their lessons from Below Zero which just didn't quite capture the gravitas of the original.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

God ddaaaaaaaaaaaammmmn. I love Subnautica!!! So hype for this one. Probably instant #1 game I'm looking forward to now.

The 1st Subnautica is definitely in my top 7 favorite games ever. Below Zero was a let-down, but I'm pretty optimistic about them doing a proper sequel compared to a stand-alone "DLC" as they did with BZ.

I wish it was coming out on PS5, but I'm definitely going to be re-newing my Game Pass subscription for this one.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Not a criticism but just curious, what do you guys like about these types of games? Theres no real story or characters from what I could tell. It’s just resource mining.

I played Subnautica for an hour or so and found it pointless and boring. To each their own of course.

 

[Osprey]

Not a criticism but just curious, what do you guys like about these types of games? Theres no real story or characters from what I could tell. It’s just resource mining.

I played Subnautica for an hour or so and found it pointless and boring. To each their own of course.

There is a story. It just takes a lot longer than an hour to start to reveal itself. It happens slowly as you play, discover new locations and listen to audio logs. It's not one of the stronger parts of the game, but it's there.

Yes, there's a lot of resource mining, but unlike with, say, Minecraft, there's a purpose to it. You need to craft and upgrade tools and vehicles in order to access and survive new areas and, ultimately, progress the story. It can be rewarding to explore strange and colorful biomes that you couldn't before because they were too deep and/or dangerous for you. If you've ever thought that it might be neat to descend into the Mariana Trench and see what strange lifeforms and plants are down there, this game lets you do that (albeit on a fictional ocean world). It can also be rewarding to build an elaborate underwater base to call home and dock your vehicles. Instead of just being cosmetic, though, it can make life easier for you by eliminating some resource mining (especially for food and fresh water, since you produce them in your base) and making it easier to find other resources, so the game arguably gets a little less resource miney as it goes along.

I can understand if all of that isn't your cup of tea, but there is more to it than what you experience in the first hour at the safe starting location.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Not a criticism but just curious, what do you guys like about these types of games? Theres no real story or characters from what I could tell. It’s just resource mining.

I played Subnautica for an hour or so and found it pointless and boring. To each their own of course.

I love games where you can explore, but I generally don't particularly gravitate toward Survival games. Something about Subnautica is just the perfect storm.

Specifically with Subnautica I really like the atmosphere and the world they built. The visuals are beautiful, every different biome is unique and vibrant. The creatures you encounter (both dangerous and friendly) stick out and are alien, while also maintaining a semblance of familiarity to earth. If you only played for about an hour and never left the safe shallow zone then you won't be able to really experience the real depths of the environment (pun intended).

I don't find the game terrible in the sense of resource mining. As Osprey said, the resource mining is actually purposeful. You need to improve your equipment to access new areas and build different tools to explore, as well as improving the quality of your base.

I also really love the quietness and solitude of the environment. Many games, especially multiplayer, are very intense and action oriented so being able to explore at your own pace and build as much or as little as you want is something I like.

When you start to get further into the game there is more storyline and other character development. You don't interact directly with the other characters, but the audio and text logs that you get make you feel like you are getting to know them. I've always found the history of what happened on Planet 4546B pretty interesting as well, but it takes a bit of time to start to learn about it. When you get the radio call from the ship that is coming to the planet is when you really start learning more about it.


I think one of the biggest things that I love about this game is just that you can feel the dedication and passion poured into the game by the developers. They carefully crafted every aspect of the world, the story, and the gameplay. They built in a system for players to give real-time feedback on the game from the pause menu, and appeared to really care about and consider the feedback that they got. Below Zero was a bit of a dud, but I thought it was incredible how the developers Unknown Worlds acknowledged this, and even went back to add in some QoL and content updates from BZ into the original game after the fact. Never really heard of a developer doing that before.

 

[NyQuil]

There’s less hand holding with no automapping feature so it has a bit of a retro gaming vibe as well.

 

[Osprey]

I love games where you can explore, but I generally don't particularly gravitate toward Survival games. Something about Subnautica is just the perfect storm.

Same. Survival games are kind of hit or miss with me. I played about an hour of Raft last year, but it didn't grab me and I abandoned it, so I can relate to x Tame Impala. Subnautica is one of the few that really grabbed me. Grounded is another. I guess that I'm more drawn to survival games when they feel like RPGs, with character and story progression, rather than straight sandbox survival (though Grounded literally features a sandbox that you have to survive in, but you know what I mean). Also, I like when they're a little more forgiving (in Subnautica, you can generally survive attacks from even the biggest monsters and get away from them to repair) and it's relatively clear what you need to craft certain things (i.e. no experimentation required) and why. Subnautica is nice because it's challenging but still relaxing, the resource collecting encourages exploration without becoming tedious and the crafting/building is rewarding without being frustrating. It's just a well balanced game, IMO.

 

[Seedtype]

Subnautica was pretty good, however I could not get over my weird fear of the ocean. So I'm sitting this one out lol.

 

[Osprey]

Subnautica was pretty good, however I could not get over my weird fear of the ocean. So I'm sitting this one out lol.

Earlier this year, I watched a YouTuber who was deathly afraid of the ocean play Subnautica. For literally 5 minutes, she stood on top of her escape pod, afraid to jump into the water for the first time. Once in the water, she caught a fish, named it and carried it around in her hand as much as possible to keep her company, like an emotional support animal. She never really got comfortable until she built her first vehicles, especially the one that you could enter to escape the water. Of course, by that time, she started to encounter leviathans and she was like "nope, sorry" and stopped playing the game.

 

[Seedtype]

Earlier this year, I watched a YouTuber who was deathly afraid of the ocean play Subnautica. For literally 5 minutes, she stood on top of her escape pod, afraid to jump into the water for the first time. Once in the water, she caught a fish, named it and carried it around in her hand as much as possible to keep her company. She never really got comfortable until she built her first vehicles, especially the one that you could enter to escape the water. Of course, by that time, she started to encounter leviathans and she was like "nope, sorry" and stopped playing the game.

Haha, that's when I basically stopped:

I knew I was in Leviathan territory with my little sub thing. I had gotten out to get something and I heard a loud roar. I was already on edge and I immediately hit the pause button.

I'm like, 'okay I'm gonna turn around and I'm gonna face this.' Then I did, and I saw that the Leviathan had my sub in its mouth, and I was like NOPE! and I uninstalled. Heh.

 

[NyQuil]

Subnautica was pretty good, however I could not get over my weird fear of the ocean. So I'm sitting this one out lol.

It actually helped me with it. I'm not good around sharks.

In any event, I've taken up snorkeling and stuff to deal with it.

I'm like, 'okay I'm gonna turn around and I'm gonna face this.' Then I did, and I saw that the Leviathan had my sub in its mouth, and I was like NOPE! and I uninstalled. Heh.

My first encounter was at night so I didn't even see it coming. Wasn't attuned to the roars or anything at this point.

Went to the tail section of the crashed mother ship with my Seamoth which is not a good place to be. It came out of nowhere and started eating the sub from the front.

Needless to say, I was scared shitless as it popped up in my forward lights, ejected and took my little seaglide all the way back to my escape pod and just sat there for a couple of minutes.

In my most recent game, I kept hearing roars but didn't turn around. Finally I was at the resource area I was combing and as I turned, it was right behind me, just feet away. I saw it turn to go back to where it came from. Still don't know why it did.

 

[NyQuil]

I’ve found the learning curve fascinating.

As you get to know the denizens of the deep, you begin to understand their behaviour and the distances you have to maintain.

When to turn the lights off, etc.

Eventually you don’t really feel scared at all, because you have all the knowledge.

Can’t ever beat the first play through, when even going deeper and deeper seemed creepy.

It is still tremendously annoying when one of those alien interceptor things teleports you out of your Prawn and it goes sinking to the bottom.

I do like to use the grappling hook to attach myself to those octopi things and then claw them to death.

 

[Seedtype]

It actually helped me with it. I'm not good around sharks.

In any event, I've taken up snorkeling and stuff to deal with it.

Hey, that's cool. That was apart of my idea as well when I gave the game a serious chance. Sharks are a big part of my fear as well(though I appreciate we need to leave them alone and give them a chance to bounce back).
I just thinking seeing my little sub in the things mouth just broke my brain, heh.

But seriously, Subnautica is a great game that makes great use of it's scifi setting. It's also really immersive. If schools ever have required video games to play, Subnautica should be one of them.