Subnautica 2 was released to the public in its early access version today on 14. May 2026. We played around 4 hours so far and want to share the experience with you. You’ll find yourself gathering data from different locations around the map while collecting materials and slowly expanding your base.
The Good
Let’s begin with the obvious: the progression through mechanics and upgrades feels very natural and you pretty much intuitively know what to do next or where to go. This is due to an AI companion you can speak to which gives you the next location to search for clues. The story is exciting and draws you in pretty fast which is why I won’t spoil too much of it.
The progression is also pushed by a central need for speed and more efficiency because you get tired pretty quickly of the small inventory or swimming to the ocean surface for air every few seconds. Resources required for this do feel pretty rare at the beginning which makes it even more rewarding finding them. More Resources and blueprints are unlocked by scanning objects. Plant Resources do respawn after a bit of time so you don’t need to travel far to get them.
Exploration is rewarded in this game. Either with natural resources like ores or with small chest scattered around the ocean floor. Sometimes you might even find remnants of a prior bases with valuable information or upgrades. The different biomes in the game have different plants, different animals or enemies and a whole different atmosphere. You can go from the starting biome into a much darker biome with aggressive sharks which adds a layer of suspense to the exploring. Adding to this, the music and sound effects make you actually feel like you’re underwater. You’ll hear the breathing of your character, the muffled noises of your mates board computer inside a vehicle or the cry of an animal near you.
The small vehicle, named the Tadpole, we’ve acquired feels smooth to drive in and is a lot of fun. Especially the feature to hang on to it is very useful to transport you and your mates to a resource gathering trip.
The Bad
We didn’t find any bugs in this early release version so far and the whole gameplay was pretty smooth sailing but there were a few inconveniences I want to mention. Nothing major though.
Storage possibilities at the beginning of the game are pretty limited and we found ourselfs dumping stuff on the floor inside the starter base you get which quickly makes a mess.
Most of the animals are pretty kind hearted as long as you don’t attack them but some shark-live species has the goal to get on your nerves while swimming through a certain biome. This was quite annoying, especially as we didn’t find any way to get rid of them or defend ourselves. You’ll easily make your way through there without loosing to much health, its just annoying rather than actually hurting your progress.
One more thing. If you meet your maker (which will eventually happen if you don’t manage your oxygen supply well enough) you drop a certain percentage of your inventory at that location. You don’t get a marker on the map like for all the other locations but will have to search for that glowing box of yours in the ocean. Which, you won’t believe it, is pretty hard when everything around you looks somewhat the same. Some would say thats a skill issue on my part ;).
Conclusion
So, should you buy the game right now?
Based on the experience I’ve had so far I would recommend the game. If you played Subnautica 1 you’ll recognize the base building system and basic mechanics pretty fast but it’s also well made for a beginner. The Devlogs (Game-Development Updates) by the Unknown Worlds Entertainment Developers on Youtube lead me to believe that this game is made with a lot of passion and will continue to improve even further. Furthermore, if you did think about picking up the Subnautica before, maybe take a look at the complete bundle on Steam which is currently on sale and include Subnautica 1, Subnautica Below Zero and the new Subnautica 2.
Below you find all the links to the content and purchase option mentioned in the article.
