Grounded 2 Preview - Big Bugs and Tiny Teens Collide... Again

Grounded 2 is the follow-up title from Obsidian Entertainment to their original shrunken teen survival game, Grounded. Following the success and style of the first game, Grounded 2 explores a completely new area, Brookhollow Park. Our Grounded 2 preview dives into the Early Access content, including the first part of the main story.

Re-Shrunk Adventure | Grounded 2 Preview

Grounded 2 takes place two years after the end of Grounded, but that doesn't mean you need to play the original. The game starts with a cinematic intro exploring the ending of the previous title. It then shifts to the current day, the unveiling of a commemorative statue in Brookhollow Park by Ominent. After a mishap during the ceremony, you awake to find yourself shrunk...again. This kickstarts your adventure in the park, a larger expanse of wilderness with new bugs and new threats waiting for you.

For fans of Grounded, you'll be pleased to know the gameplay and mechanics of the sequel are generally the same. You gather resources like grass, weed stems, sap, etc., to construct your base. You Peep on bugs to learn more about their nature and how to defeat them. There are Milk Molars to increase your stats and Mutations to unlock as you play. 

The main differences come in the inclusion of new buildings, new bugs, being able to tame and ride some creatures, as well as the new storyline, which brings its own pint-sized villain out to play. 

Combat Focused Villain

The main story kicks off with BURG.L having his head yanked off. Sending a plea for help, you're aware of a woman who's holding his, now shrunken, head captive. Making it your mission to fix BURG.L and return to your normal size, you set out to explore the park with the help of Ominent's new leader, Ms. Beaumont. 

You're not left alone, however, as the mysterious stranger seems to know a good deal about your experience surviving the yard. She sends her mind-controlled O.R.C. bugs to attack you repeatedly, testing if you've gone soft in the two years since being originally shrunk. This tête-à-tête is what fuels the different main quests, bringing you to the unique regions of Brookhollow Park. We're left on a cliffhanger at the launch of Early Access, with more story promised as the game continues development. It's the perfect ending spot, giving you enough game to feel satisfied, but hooking you in for future updates and continued gameplay.

The Joy of Riding an Ant

Instead of having to walk or glide everywhere, you can now tame Red Ant Soldiers. You can have up to five ant buggies that you can ride. They aid in combat when you're not mounted, can enlist the help of a nearby Red Ant Worker, and make quick work of grass and dandelions. You're able to haul up to 12 items at a time, increasing the speed of building dramatically. Your ant can go fast, getting you from one place to another quickly by running around the map. It does have a stamina bar, but it generally rapidly refills. This makes fleeing from difficult battles far easier. 

On top of that, riding your ant into anthills negates any hostility from other soldier ants. Their aggression triggers as soon as you get off your buggy, but you can greatly reduce the number of combat encounters you have while exploring by simply being on top of your ant. 

All the Bugs

There are a few new bugs introduced in Grounded 2's Brookhollow Park. You'll come across Cockroach nymphs, Cockroaches, and two boss roaches. Three varieties of the Northern Scorpion will pop out of the dirt to wreck you with pincers and venom. You'll come across Blue Butterflies and Praying Mantis Nymphs. Garden Snails, as well as their Baby version, are new Harmless creatures.

This is in addition to fan favorites like the Red ants, Aphids, Gnats, Weevils, and Ladybugs. The spider population as of EA launch is far less varied, featuring Spiderlings, Orb Weaver Jrs., Orb Weavers, and the occasional Wolf Spider. For those who prefer not to see eight-legged creatures in their game, Arachnophobia mode is still available. 

Same Ol' Base Building

Even though there are new buildings you can construct and new crafting recipes to make, the mechanics of setting up your base are the same. You select a piece from the wheel, place it where you want, then supply the materials until it's complete. More unusual structures can be introduced later on in EA, but there's not too much that sets this apart. 

More to Come

While there's already a decent amount of content to get through, especially if you want to gather all the hidden items and collectibles, only about a third of the Brookhollow Park map is accessible. I spent roughly 35 hours exploring most areas available, finding Milk Molars, and getting through Ranger Challenges, along with completing the main story. It can be assumed that there'll be a similar amount of content for the rest of the map, giving players an estimated 100 plus hours of gameplay. That's quite a bit of gaming for the current price. 

The Bad Bugs | Grounded 2 Preview

Though Grounded 2 is fun to play and gives plenty for the cost, there are a number of bugs and glitches that can get in the way. Some of the largest issues I had were:

• Game crashes
• Dropped loot disappearing into the environment, making it unable to be collected
• Buggy getting stuck in the ground, unable to be recalled to the nest or follow you around
• Bugs spawning in the environment, but still being able to attack you without you being able to attack back
• Resting/Saving/Building being disabled due to combat in progress even after combat was over

Not all of the above were so impactful as to stop game progression, but were certainly frustrating and caused delays, whether due to lost data, lost resources, or being unable to complete alternate objectives. Other issues include Spiderlings not spawning when nests are destroyed, Orb Weavers floating from spot to spot (usually in the air), creatures being able to get into your base through your walls (like ants and snails), and a delay when throwing bombs. 

Overall, Grounded 2 is a great game that has a well written and intriguing storyline. Fans of the original will definitely want to pick up the sequel. However, some of the bugs that can occur definitely cause frustration and crashes negatively impact the experience. If you don't want to deal with these issues, or rather have the whole story to play through at once, it'd be better to wait until the game fully launches. For all others, I definitely recommend checking Grounded 2 out, even if you didn't play Grounded. 

Grounded 2 was previewed on PC with a code provided by Xbox over the course of 38 hours. All screenshots were taken during the course of the preview.