Subnautica 2‘s early access boundary is unmissable. Developer Unknown Worlds marked it in horizontal orange lines stretching from above the ocean’s surface to its deepest point, and if you somehow manage to overlook it anyway, a warning appears when you cross the lines. Beyond this point lies death and probably a lot of bugs and unfinished bits, says the message. I figured Unknown Worlds intended the warning to keep people from venturing too far out and getting stuck in some wonky geometry or dying somewhere they couldn’t easily retrieve their inventory after respawning. In short, I didn’t take it seriously.
Reader, don’t be like me.
Granted, I had good reason not to take the warning seriously. I ventured outside the zone early just for curiosity’s sake, then saw it led to a much deeper part of the ocean and immediately turned around. I wasn’t ready for that. Later, while I was testing the depth at which solar panels stop functioning for base building purposes, I went outside it again. One of those unsettling bellows that issues from Subnautica 2‘s giant, deadly creatures reached my ears, but safely tucked away as I was near the edge of the warning zone, I figured it’d be fine. The “you’re about to die” music wasn’t playing very loudly either.
I glanced up and saw a biblically accurate manta ray gliding near the surface, the winged creature with dangly tassels and vibrant lines decorating its underside that you can see at the top of this post. It showed zero interest in me, so I assumed it was harmless, like those odd, glowing blimp-shaped fish that hover above the waters around the starting area and dangle little lures to catch fish. This was the danger zone? Please.
