Grounded 2’s Into the Abyss Replace provides a brand new space, buggy, and extra

Grounded 2’s Into the Abyss replace is the survival sport’s second huge inflow of latest additions following its early entry launch in July 2025 — and it is a hefty one. Co-developers Obsidian and Eidos Montreal are filling out one other huge chunk of Grounded 2’s map and, fairly actually, going deeper. A large pond is the brand new space, and all of your adventures progressively lead you to its depths. Polygon attended a hands-off preview of the replace this week and noticed what the group has in retailer.

The map itself is likely one of the replace’s greatest adjustments — and that goes past simply the pond and surrounding areas. Obsidian and Eidos caught it onto the southern a part of the park, the place it adjoins Poisonous Tangle’s backyard and what was previously the sting of the Ice Cream Cart zone. Beforehand, you’ve needed to progress via the principle story to achieve the backyard, however with Into the Abyss, you may entry the pond at any level within the sport, even when you have not tackled the occasions on the statue but. It is likely to be tougher than you are anticipating, however Obsidian rebalanced the sport to make it potential.

A handy improve to the pneumatic tube system additionally turns near a dozen of these stations into quick journey factors, so for those who spend Uncooked Science to unlock them at ranger stations, you may immediately journey to any of the opposite unlocked tube stations, which is a welcome enchancment. Trudging round on-foot all over the place actually sells the “I am as tiny as a bug” really feel, however Grounded 2 is getting a bit huge for that to not be an annoyance. The replace additionally contains ziplines you may place to assist make touring from excessive floor to low much less harmful.

Assuaging annoyance additionally drove Obsidian and Eidos’ resolution to revamp O.R.C. raids. Beforehand, you’d must fend off waves of remote-controlled bugs each three in-game days. After the replace goes stay, you will have an aggro meter that will increase if you assault O.R.C. bugs. The concept is that you just get extra management over when raids occur, and for those who simply actually need extra of them, there is a new choice to restore mixer stations and set off their raids once more, too.

The true centerpiece is the pond space, although, and it is enormous. You’ve got acquired:

The pond itself, and its appreciable depths

A useless oak tree on a small hill subsequent to the pond

A forest of melted candles

The bridge, a swamp-like section on the fringe of the pond

All these spots have sub-locations and what Obsidian calls “journey areas,” which suggests factors of curiosity with bosses, uncommon supplies, or simply neat issues to search out. A few of them are comparatively small, like a shed or a fallen trash can. Others are like mini-zones in themselves. As Obsidian walked alongside the Sizzling Wheels observe that circles the useless oak tree’s trunk, we might see little caves opening up in numerous spots, feeder tunnels main right into a a lot bigger advanced beneath. Like with Poisonous Tangle, Obsidian and Eidos designed Into the Abyss with verticality in thoughts. Caves go deep, factors of curiosity may be far overhead and require some technique to achieve, and the ultimate space, the abyss itself, was designed with platforming challenges in thoughts.

The pond space has its share of latest and returning enemies, too. Some are brand-new just like the horrifying toe biter, based mostly on the eponymous bug from marshy areas of the northeastern U.S. Like its real-life counterpart, Grounded 2’s toe biter injects its prey with venom that slows it down; in contrast to the actual bug, this one’s venom slows you down with a chill impact, not an assault in your central nervous system. You may get this one as a buggy, too, which is necessary for pond exploration. Extra on that shortly.

A handful of latest bugs are upgraded variations of present enemies elsewhere within the park, together with wasps, mosquitos, scorpions, and the inexperienced defend bug, the latter of which is a souped-up stinkbug.

And a few are making a return from the primary Grounded, together with the diving bell spider. They’re much less terrifying this time — no much less aggressive, however with smaller well being bars — due to a brand new weapon: the harpoon gun. It really works a bit like a crossbow and helps soften foes earlier than you progress in for a closing blow, and it features properly with the addition of lock-on choice to give attention to a single goal.

Underwater areas have been fairly annoying within the authentic Grounded, due to its murky depth filter and clunky motion. That is modified utterly in Grounded 2. There is not any filter, so you may see clearly till you begin descending deeper, and you’ll transfer just about the identical as you do on land. There’s even a multi-directional sprint you should utilize to scoot round sooner or dodge incoming assaults. And your toe biter buggy simply zooms via the water.

Underwater gear and sustaining your oxygen provide stay necessary, however Obsidian and Eidos added temperature adjustments, too. Your chill meter will increase as you dive deeper, and the one approach to safely discover the pond’s backside is by sporting the brand new diving swimsuit. It is certainly one of many new gear units added, and it sports activities insulation plus an infinite oxygen provide.

That is good for exploration, however much more so for underwater constructing. You possibly can plunk down full bases or crafting stations or something you need underwater. The magic of science provides you a little bit air bubble round your mattress and different necessary locations, so you do not have to fret about working out of oxygen when you relaxation.

Grounded 2’s Into the Abyss replace goes stay on Aug. 11 for PlayStation 5, Home windows PC, and Xbox Sequence X.

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