Reviews

Subnautica 2 is well reviewed for an Early Access game: Steam users rate it Very Positive, with 93% of 73,222 reviews positive on Nov 4, 2026, and scored critic reviews cluster around 8 out of 10, such as Gamereactor's 8/10 and Gfinity's 80. Metacritic shows "tbd" and OpenCritic no Top Critic Average, because both hold back an aggregate during Early Access. Critics praise the atmosphere, the creatures and the easier base building; they fault a story that stops partway, a small map with a hard fence, and bugs. Reviews describe the launch build of May 2026, before two updates.

Quick facts

Critic reviews and scores

Read on Nov 4, 2026. Gfinity's own page renders its score as "8 out of 9"; Metacritic records it as 80. TheGamer's page showed an OpenCritic "Critics Rec" of 60%. Several large outlets published impressions rather than scored reviews, as is common for Early Access.

What critics praised

The world comes first. Gamereactor's 8/10 praised the visuals, atmosphere and sound, and found base building more intuitive than before (Gamereactor, May 13, 2026). Gfinity called it "a strong, atmospheric experience" that stands beside the original, and singled out the Biomods, the story told through the ship's AI, NOA, and co-op (Gfinity, Jun 1, 2026). TheGamer found it "every bit as deep, dark, and terrifying as its predecessor" (TheGamer, May 14, 2026), and GamesCreed called it "very polished but unfinished" (OpenCritic).

0:24 IGN's video review (May 14, 2026) said the Early Access debut "pulled me in like an ocean current" and that co-op "makes the depths a little less lonesome", but with red barriers around a small map and a short list of gear and craftables, the reviewer ran low on new things to do after a few hours, which made the ocean feel "more like a pond at the moment". The same review found the story a significant leap forward and base building "greatly improved", and reached the current wall after 15 hours.

7:14 GamingBolt's unscored video review (May 18, 2026) found the gameplay loop "as good as it gets" and the story's alerts too verbose, and concluded that, good as it is, it "can only get better down the line", recommending Early Access to anyone who likes the sound of its exploration loop.

What critics criticized

• Unfinished story. Gamereactor found the story thin, and TheGamer noted it is incomplete; the conclusion is held for 1.0 (Roadmap and 1.0 Release).
• Familiarity. TheGamer felt it plays "a bit like a revamped version of Subnautica", and that co-op undercuts the isolation that made the first game frightening.
• Repetition and limits. Gfinity disliked chains of black box errands and the "digital perimeter", the fence at the edge of the map (Map Edge and World Tree); Gamereactor wanted more weather.
• Bugs. Launch reviews reported clipping, sudden teleports and missions that stopped appearing, and Gamereactor could not get multiplayer to work (Gamereactor). Many of these were patched later (Known Issues and Fixes).

What players say on Steam

Steam's review summary is Very Positive both overall and for the last 30 days: 93% of 73,222 reviews overall and 85% of 1,661 recent ones, on Nov 4, 2026 (Steam). On May 20, 2026, six days after launch, it was Very Positive at 91% of about 73,000 (Inven Global). The closeness of the two counts suggests the store's figure read in November counts English-language reviews only. Krafton called the rating "Very Positive" in its Jul 29, 2026 results.

The loudest complaints at launch were about aggressive creatures with no way to fight back, and the launch Terms of Service. Unknown Worlds answered on May 20, 2026, apologizing that comments from the team had made players feel "ignored or dismissed", tuning creature aggression while keeping the series' no-weapons design, and later revising the terms (Launch Hotfixes, Dangerous Creatures).

Is Subnautica 2 worth it?

12:56 For players who loved the first Subnautica and accept Early Access, the reviews say yes: about 8 out of 10, Very Positive on Steam, at $29.99 with every update and 1.0 included (Price and Editions). Reviewers counted 6 to 20 hours of content at launch (gameranx's Before You Buy: "a solid 15 to 20 hours", strongly recommended to survival fans who know it is incomplete), before 1.1 and 1.2 added systems but no new region. Players who want a finished story, a large map or a way to fight creatures may prefer to wait for Early Access 2 (December 2026) or 1.0. Game Pass members can try it as part of PC Game Pass and Ultimate. How it compares with the earlier games is on Subnautica Games in Order.

Frequently asked questions

Is Subnautica 2 good? Yes, by most reviews: Subnautica 2's scored Early Access reviews sit around 8 out of 10, and Steam users rate it Very Positive (93% on Nov 4, 2026).

What is Subnautica 2's Metacritic score? Subnautica 2 has no Metacritic score; Metacritic shows "tbd" while it is in Early Access, although it lists reviews such as Gamersky 85 and Gfinity 80.

Is Subnautica 2 worth it in Early Access? For fans of the series, reviewers say yes, with 6 to 20 hours of content at launch; Subnautica 2's story stops partway and the map ends at a fence until later updates.

Is Subnautica 2 better than Subnautica? Critics split: TheGamer calls Subnautica 2 as deep and terrifying as the first game but close to a revamp of it, while Gfinity says it stands confidently beside the original.

How long is Subnautica 2? Reviewers estimated at least 6 to 12 hours (Gamereactor) and 10 to 20 hours (GamesCreed) of Subnautica 2's launch content in Early Access.

What are Subnautica 2's Steam reviews? Very Positive: 93% of 73,222 Subnautica 2 reviews were positive on Nov 4, 2026, and 85% of the last 30 days' reviews.

Sources

• Subnautica 2 Early Access Review, IGN, May 14, 2026 (video)
• Subnautica 2 Early Access Review - It Can Only Get Better Down The Line, GamingBolt, May 18, 2026 (video)
• Subnautica 2 - Before You Buy, gameranx, May 14, 2026 (video)
• Subnautica 2, Steam store page, user reviews
• Subnautica 2, Metacritic
• Subnautica 2 Reviews, OpenCritic
• Subnautica 2 (Early Access) Review, Gamereactor (Patrik Severin), May 13, 2026
• Subnautica 2 Early Access Review: Already Worth Diving For, Gfinity (AJ Arnaldo), Jun 1, 2026
• Subnautica 2 Early Access Review: Familiar Waters. New Nightmares., TheGamer (Kaitlyn Peterson), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2 Early Access Review - Waterworld, GamingBolt (Ravi Sinha), May 18, 2026
• 'Subnautica 2' Sells 4 Million Copies in 5 Days of Early Access, Inven Global (Seungjin "Looa" Kang), May 20, 2026
• A Letter to the Community from the Subnautica 2 Team, Unknown Worlds, May 20, 2026
• KRAFTON Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results, Krafton press release on Game Developer, Jul 29, 2026
• Subnautica 2 (Game Preview), Xbox store page