After seven hours in early access, Subnautica 2 feels more like a remake than a sea-quel, but it has plenty of room to grow

Like the original Subnautica, released into early access an unnecessarily long time ago in 2014, Subnautica 2 pumps fresh life into the often-grindy survival genre by depriving it of air. Out in early access today, it's a familiar but engrossing meditation on ocean exploration, with a backstory that inclines towards the abyssal dread of SOMA. You begin the game as a crash-landed space colonist, downloaded into a 3D-printed body by "Noa", a softly overbearing corporate AI. Your goal as Noa's "Qualified Investigator" is to work out why your ship crashed, and what happened to all the other colonists Noa revived before you. Read more