Subnautica 2 Preview — First Impressions from Early Access

There was a time when I played so many survival games that I almost lost interest in the genre altogether. Still, the original Subnautica impressed me so much that I would call it not just the most interesting game of its kind, but also one of the most memorable and important games overall. That is exactly why I, along with hundreds of thousands of other fans, had been waiting so impatiently for a full-fledged sequel. The moment has finally arrived: Subnautica 2 is now available in early access on PC and Xbox Series X/S. Time will tell whether it can surpass the original, but I am ready to share my first impressions right now — after spending time with the preview version.

The first thing worth noting is that, even in its unfinished state, Subnautica 2 is an exceptionally polished release by early access standards. This is important to clarify, because several factors had previously shaken confidence in the project.

First, between the original Subnautica and its direct sequel, the standalone game Subnautica: Below Zero was released. It would be wrong to call it bad, but it never reached the level of the original due to a number of questionable decisions: for example, the developers tried to make a more traditional narrative adventure rather than a sandbox, which caused the first game to lose some of its unique charm. After Below Zero, there were concerns that Unknown Worlds Entertainment might have lost its touch.

Second, it was troubling that the development of Subnautica 2, which had been going on for years, was accompanied by loud corporate scandals involving Unknown Worlds and Krafton. At one point, Unknown Worlds' leadership was suddenly dismissed, and an attempt was made to delay the release under the pretext that the project was still too rough. Then a lawsuit began, which eventually forced Krafton to reinstate the developers. You can read more about this story in our breakdown of the controversy surrounding Subnautica 2.

Finally, Unknown Worlds’ statement that Subnautica 2 would spend one to two years in early access caused some concern. It raised a reasonable question: just how rough is the game if the developers need that much time?

Taking all of the above into account, I expected to find millions of bugs in Subnautica 2, a very small area to explore, and broken mechanics that constantly reminded me of its early access status. In the end, however, those fears did not come true at all: in my first ten hours, I encountered only one minor glitch — my character got stuck in a chair — and I never reached a point where it felt like the content had suddenly run out. Obviously, the early version of Subnautica 2 does not yet include all the biomes and features that the developers will add by the 1.0 release, but even at this stage, one thing is clear: Unknown Worlds spent all those years on the project for a reason and released an early version that already has meat on its bones. Optimization does not raise any complaints either: the game runs well on high settings on a laptop with a mobile RTX 3060, albeit with DLSS enabled.

Even among the best survival games, Subnautica has always stood out through its very premise — a game about exploring an ocean on another planet, where you spend 99% of your time underwater. But the execution was just as impressive: the original offered a varied world with sharply distinct biomes, meticulously crafted bizarre flora and fauna, an excellent visual style, pleasant music, an extremely intuitive base-building system, and an engaging narrative whose details players naturally discovered while exploring.

Subnautica 2 sticks very closely to the formula of the first game. At times, so closely that it almost feels like a remake. Once again, the player finds themselves in the middle of an endless ocean — a different planet, but the idea is the same — and once again, they start on a shallow reef inside an escape pod after a spaceship crash. From there, everything follows the classic pattern: you search for food and drinking water, gather resources, craft gadgets, build bases, and explore abandoned structures left behind by previous colonists. These locations contain audio logs that reveal the lore, as well as broken tools and devices that can be scanned to learn how to create new useful equipment and buildings. Incidentally, even the story of Subnautica 2 once again revolves around the threat of a mysterious virus that wiped out the planet’s previous explorers.

Players who thoroughly explored Subnautica back in the day and now wanted something fundamentally new may be disappointed by how closely the sequel follows the original’s concept. Still, we are talking about a follow-up to a genuine masterpiece: in this case, the “familiar dish, new spices” approach is more welcome than not. Especially after Below Zero, which tried to reinvent the wheel and ended up highly questionable in places.

The most pleasing thing, however, is that Subnautica 2 still masterfully switches between two completely different moods. If you wanted, the original could be described both as one of the most pleasant meditative games and as one of the scariest horror games. With Subnautica 2, the situation is exactly the same: it can be incredibly peaceful when you are swimming among colorful coral reefs and admiring bright little fish. And then — bang — it scares the hell out of you when you descend deep into the pitch-black ocean, hear the dreadful howls of some enormous sea creature you can barely make out, and your submersible, damaged by the monster, starts beeping in alarm because it is about to fall apart. Thalassophobia is guaranteed after that kind of “fun.”

When I went looking for copper ore in the middle of an in-game night, noticed that the rock ahead was moving, lit it up with a flare, and saw a giant crab, I immediately realized one thing: our list of the scariest moments in non-horror games will soon need new examples.

Although Subnautica 2 borrows much of the original’s gameplay formula, that does not mean the sequel has no fresh ideas. Yes, perhaps there are not as many of them at this stage as one might like, but some are quite interesting.

For example, despite the open world, the game now has metroidvania elements. To reach new zones and locations, you need specific gadgets or permanent upgrades. This was partly true of the original game as well — without a pressure-resistant hull upgrade for the submersible, you could not dive too deep — but in Subnautica 2, this factor is even more pronounced.

For instance, there is now a system that lets the character adapt to the environment. Mysterious intelligent plants are scattered around the world, and interacting with them gives the player permanent upgrades that make surviving on the planet easier. This way, for example, you can unlock the ability to eat local fish and plants, which is not possible by default. Or you can gain resistance to high temperatures, allowing you to explore volcanic biomes.

At the same time, access to these plants can be blocked until the player creates the required gadget. For example, the plant that grants heat resistance must be cleared of viral growths, and those can only be destroyed with a sonic cannon. The result is a very metroidvania-like gameplay loop: craft a tool, use it to obtain a permanent upgrade, and unlock access to a new biome.

Character skill customization has also been added: with the help of a bio lab, you can unlock useful passive and active abilities for the hero, such as holding your breath while standing still or performing a dash to dodge a predator’s attack. I did not play long enough to properly assess the depth of this system, but if Subnautica 2 really allows for different builds, that is extremely intriguing.

The main feature of the second game, which unfortunately could not be tested in the preview version, is co-op. The sequel supports co-op for up to four players, and even after playing solo, it is already clear that playing as a team will noticeably change how the game feels. The reason is that Subnautica 2 seems to have more grind: bases take longer to build, and resources are constantly in short supply. In theory, co-op should speed up crafting and exploration, smoothing out some of the frustration. I would not be surprised if Subnautica 2 eventually becomes one of the best co-op games, though I still hope the solo experience will also be balanced a little by reducing the grind.

Subnautica 2 feels like returning to familiar shores after many years away: much has changed, but much has stayed the same. Yes, the developers are clearly not trying to reinvent the genre — they already did that the first time — but there is nothing wrong with that. “An improved Subnautica in new scenery and with co-op” is already a winning concept on its own.

Should you jump into Subnautica 2 early access right now, years before the full release? Usually, in situations like this, I would recommend waiting, but the current version of the game is surprisingly stable and packed with enough content to make the purchase feel worthwhile for at least the first ten hours. If you simply do not have the patience to wait for the final version, then, sorry for the pun, feel free to dive in.