I plunged into Subnautica 2 Early Access and can't wait to go deeper

Date:
Sun, 16 Aug 2026 18:05:00 +0000

Description:
I dipped my toes in Subnautica 2s early access but now want to sink into it.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Alarms, warnings, and panic surround you as you make your way to an escape pod to quickly blast from the plunging depths of an unknown ocean to the surface. Then you stick your head out of the pod to be greeted by a vast expanse of water stretching into the horizon.

So its business as usual for Subnautica 2 , following in the footsteps (or should that be fin flaps) of its predecessor; sea-based survival game Subnautica . Only rather than the burning wreckage of a giant ship in view, Subnautica 2 has a mushroom-shaped coral structure as its focal point, suggesting things could get a lot more weird. (Image credit: Future) For a start, you're no longer a lone survivor; rather youre awoken by AI system Noetic Advisor (NoA) and designated as a Qualified Investigator tasked with working out why youre not on the intended planet your colony ship was targeting, why theres no colony established, and finding out if youre not the first to be awakened from an artificial slumber, then to establish a foothold on this watery planet for the colonists still asleep leagues below the sea. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: All thats quite an ask
for someone in a tiny pod with only a few bits of kit. Fortunately, you're armed with a fabricator that can make quite a bit from harvested materials. Sea scraping (Image credit: Future) So you pop the hatch and get exploring
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Youll plunge into the drink to collect basic materials, like scrap metal and bits of flora and fauna, returning to the escape pod and its fabricator to make basic tools and kit, as well as food and water. Subnautica 2 is still very much a survival game where you have to keep an eye on your QIs hunger
and hydration levels unless you want to slowly creep towards death.

I found the process of accumulating stuff to be a little more intuitive than that of the first game, with a feeling like you know what materials youre going to get when you swipe or grab at a plant or rocky outcrop. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. (Image credit: Future) Poking around more of the starting area reveals blueprints for new items for the fabricator to fabricate, eventually leading you to a scanner.

From here you can scan pretty much anything and everything, revealing more information about the various plants and aquatic life around you. More importantly, this lets you scan other objects and equipment left by previous colonists who were also trying to survive on an unexpected and unknown
planet.

Doing this soon unlocks base building, which is a key to really getting into Subnautica 2 . What to read next Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on the Nintendo
Switch 2 is so close to perfect I think Seed is the dawn of a new age for
MMOs after spending one month building a metropolis with strangers, this imperfect yet addictive life sim feels like the next big thing Outbound review: a fun road trip that doesnt quite have the mileage to go all day (Image credit: Future) Base building has been improved and streamlined in
that you can now modify components like rooms and corridors, stretching or narrowing them, as well as having the means to move and relocate modules, which should prove to be a nice upgrade for players coming from the more
rigid templates of Subnautica .

As base building moves the game forwards, I definitely appreciated the flexibility to building; not least of all because I borked the layout of my initial base by missing a blueprint for a room module and trying to fudge together a structure of corridors. Diving deeper, familiar feelings (Image credit: Future) I will say that knowing how to advance objectives might not
be immediately clear to newcomers.

After some initially very obvious objectives, like seeking out a black box from another would-be colonist, a lot of information is squirrelled away in menus of the QIs PDA. This may be by design, and I liked digging around for clues but the odd nudge on what to do next might be appreciated by folks without an abundance of patience.

Equally, theres a lot other information that gets thrown ones way. A computer voice linked to the in-game PDA gives you pings of when youre running low on oxygen or need substance, which can be handy if youre focusing on what's out in the deep blue than the info on the HUD. But another robotic voice, the third in the game so far once one counts the PDA and NoA voices, constantly tell you about the status of your base when youre near it or welcomes you aboard each time you go in and out even for the briefs of moments, which can get a little grating.

If this is sounding very familiar to Subnautica then youd be right; in its early access stage, Subnautica 2 is understandably a work in progress and the things to separate it more distinctly from its predecessor are likely to come later on down the line.

While theres the promise of much larger and diverse biomes and things to explore in the future, where Subnautica 2 feels fresher is in the sea life. Theres just a lot more to see, and it feels like youre diving into an aquatic ecosystem then just a watery world with a handful of marine creatures big and small.

To me, the life in Subnautica 2 feels, well more alive. Im not sure there are super-deep systems at play governing the sea life, but they feel more interactive and reactive to each other. Image 1 of 9 (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) Image 1 of 9 View Original Image 2 of 9 View Original Image 3 of 9 View Original Image 4 of 9 View Original Image 5 of 9 View Original Image 6 of 9 View Original Image 7 of 9 View Original Image 8
of 9 View Original Image 9 of 9 View Original It's great to look at too, with more advanced lighting and geometry courtesy of Unreal Engine 5 offering a visual upgrade over Subnautica , but retaining the games art style. This did mean that I found Subnautica 2 doesn't run all that well on my Steam Deck ; its playable but feels a bit jerky and stuck around 30 frames per second. I hope Unknown Worlds can do a bit more optimization for one of my favourite gaming devices .

I also feel theres more potential to the story, even if some of it feels a
tad tropey. The NoA AI is more emotionally charged than one might expect of a clever computer, leading you to naturally feel less inclined to trust it.

As you push out to failed outposts more story chunks pop up as you uncover whats happened to previous QIs and colonists.

This made me wonder if this will be a story about a rogue AI system. But then theres the whole system of acquiring adaptations from alien life so that your QI can survive the rigours of this planet.

Naturally, this led me to wonder if the story will have more of a pseudo body-horror element, as one wonders how far away the player character is
going adapt from being a true human. (Image credit: Future) On top of this, theres a strangeness to Subnautica 2 s flora and fauna that, oddly enough, reminds me a little of the fugal life in Keeper ; usually such weird life is seen as more of a danger than potentially a key part of the ecosystem.

This is complicated further given theres a virus thats infecting and
effecting the world, with some areas being dense with viral bloom. Its
unclear if this is a planet under ecological collapse or if a state of equilibrium has been established.

I reckon if Subnautica 2 can blend all these elements together it could have
a story that is well worth plumbing the depths of. Eye on the horizon (Image credit: Future) And thats where Ive landed with the game as it stands; theres plenty of scope to Subnautica 2 to build on already solid foundations of its predecessor, and that of its early access state. More biomes and areas to explore, a fully fledged story, extra tools and things to build and discover could all make for a superb successor to a hit in the survival game genre.

The question is should you play it now or wait? I think if youre a one-and-done type of player, its worth waiting for the full release of Subnautica 2 ; such a date for that hasnt been marked yet.

If youre a fan of the original and have been itching for a new sea-centric survival soire, then Subnautica 2 can offer you a good 20 hours of exploring, and more if youre a big base builder.

On top of this, and I appreciate Ive buried the lede here, theres a co-op
mode so you and a pal can try your hands at surviving together. Ive not been able to test this, but I imagine itll make for a less isolating experience
and easier resource collection.

So theres a lot to like with Subnautica 2 , and Ive enjoyed my dive into it. But Im also awash with enthusiasm to see how it builds across the early
access stage into its full release. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add
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