Subnautica 2 fans have mixed reactions to lack of combat and knife replacement
Subnautica 2, the sequel to the award-winning underwater survival game Subnautica, is in the works with an early access release expected later this year. Recently, a new dev vlog was released that discussed the creation of the game environment. Talking about the changes in the sequel stirred up yet another discussion on combat in Subnautica 2.
In a Reddit post titled, “Does anyone else wish there would be combat in Subnautica 2?”, the author explained that it would be good to have an option to fight Leviathan Reapers if backed into a corner. “I want to be able to pull a Marguerite, you know what I'm saying?” the author explained.
Some of the Reddit users were quick to disagree. “No. There are a million other combat-based games,” a user commented, explaining that the lack of combat is not something to complain about in an exploration-based game.
“It makes the gameplay unique, and it’s an important mechanic that sets the game apart from other survival games. Besides, finding ways outside of violence to avoid a problem is a primary theme of the game's development,” another user shared the opinion.
“There’s a knife replacement,” Subnautica 2 dev responds
Some players thought that the lack of combat would lower the immersion for them. To this, Reddit user UWE_uly, who’s the environment artist for the sequel, explained that the idea is to “Find a solution to the problem that doesn't involve something that kills the critter.”
Another user said, “As far as I know, there won't even be a knife. I think that's just outrageous for a survival game.” To which, the developer replied that, “there's a knife replacement. You can still slug things in the face with it.”
The developer then encouraged users to provide feedback about the knife replacement in SN2. “Tbh tho, pls still give honest feedback about the knife being gone, etc. I don’t think we’ve given enough replacement options to the old lethal solution yet. We’ll get there,” the dev commented.
For some context, it was announced in a Q&A session in April that Subnautica 2 will not have weapons of any kind. So instead of knives, there will be “tools used to help creatures and the world, not eliminate natural parts of the environment that bother you”. It was also mentioned in that session that Leviathans would be unkillable.
Further, Subnautica did not have explicit combat either. In the original game, players could use a stasis rifle to stun the critters for a while and slash them with a knife. Considering that SN2 developers have been receptive to player feedback and keeping fans in the loop, it would be interesting to see what options they come up with.
Source(s)
