With Sunkenland, a new early-access survival game on Steam, MeinMMO author Britta feels like the virtual Kevin Costner in “Waterworld”. She has already survived over 50 hours in this sunken underwater world. She reports on her experiences on MeinMMO.
What kind of game is Sunkenland? The survival game “Sunkenland” by developer Vector3 Studio has been on my Steam wish list for a long time.
Basically, the title is a classic survival game, where the goal is to gather food, hunt, and survive for as long as possible. But one thing is different: the world in which you have to survive is mostly already submerged and under water. Much in Sunkenland is reminiscent of the movie “Waterworld” with Kevin Costner, and that is intentional.
The goal is to survive in a post-apocalyptic world through modular base building, exploration, and crafting for as long as possible.
I don’t say no to that. And since the game is not just a single-player title but also offers a multiplayer mode, the three of us dove into the adventure together on the very first day after its release.
Our underwater expedition has lasted 50 hours so far and began with the harsh realization that in this game, there is not only a lot of saltwater but also some things that want to either eat us or kill us.
What there is to experience in Sunkenland can be seen in this video:
Either you find the snacks or you become the snack
As Sunkenland is currently still in early access on Steam, one must understand that much is still not running smoothly. But that was not a hindrance for us at first, as we wanted to experience what the game has to offer.
After a few settings in the character editor, which currently offers only modest options, Sunkenland spawns us in underwear and kindly gives us an axe in the middle of the ocean. All around us is just water, water, water. Deep below lies the sunken civilization of humanity.
At least we could spot an island nearby which served as our first rescue and base.
After making a fire to protect us from the cold, we relaxed on our island, eating the wild strawberries as if nothing had happened. But believe me, these goodies disappear faster than you can say “post-apocalyptic”.
Further problems arise.
Seawater cannot be drunk and that one little crab on our island simply doesn’t spawn often enough to serve as survival food for three people.
By now, we had no choice but to dive into the depths of the underwater world of Sunkenland and attempt to competently take down some of the big fish or hopefully find a rusted food can amid the ruins of civilization.
To do this faster and more efficiently, our goal was to build a floating vessel to pack our loot. Admittedly: It was also intended to help separate us more concretely from the buffet of hungry sharks.
Sailing is better than swimming: So far, we have unlocked six different means of transportation in Sunkenland – partially directly or only through finding blueprints.
The range goes from a slow, rusty two-person pedal boat as the worst option to a solid four-seater wooden boat, to two fast motorboats, a jet ski, and even a helicopter. Whoever has fuel will eventually be moving swiftly.
41 locations await discovery
With our new ship, we were able to go on larger tours. There are currently a total of 41 points of interest in the game, some above and some underwater.
- Underwater, there is a classic shipwreck, but also a sunken amusement park with a Ferris wheel, the remains of giant office complexes, and even a subway station. Without diving equipment and enough stamina, it is often not possible to explore everything in the depths.
- Above water, you can head to several islands. However, very few are empty and not already occupied by NPC looters and clans. Without firepower and armor, it is hardly possible to conquer these at the beginning of the game and secure the loot.
So at the beginning of the game, all we could do was search for usable items in higher-lying places underwater, build our base with them, and prepare for larger challenges.
When expanding the base, Sunkenland motivates you with various upgrade levels at a construction workstation that provides you with better equipment and new building objects. However, all of this costs a lot of materials. In a sunken world, junk is gold and rubber is silver.
Additionally, you are never safe. While exploring, we keep running into difficulties, dying, and fighting to regain our equipment.
- Many good spots are surrounded by voracious sharks, who deal a bleeding wound upon approach.
- Your own base is also never safe, as raiders and pirates from several NPC clans regularly attack and destroy your buildings.
Your goal in Sunkenland is therefore not only to create a safe base where you can survive but also to assert yourself over everything and everyone and eradicate the NPC clans. How difficult this is specifically can be determined through the settings.
Fortunately, by stopping the regular attacks on the base, you also get to enjoy valuable items. This helps to equip yourself with solid armor and weapons and to secure and enhance your base.
From simply satisfying basic survival needs, the game then develops into a competition for the shiniest neon signs and the most stylish wallpapers. After all, both save you from the dreary appearance of the rusty walls of this lost world.
My conclusion about Sunkenland survival
Sunkenland has much of what I expect from a good survival game, and you can already completely lose track of time in the game. But it is far from perfect right now and needs improvements.
- Enemies feel a bit clumsy, can shoot through cover, and walk on water.
- We managed to build a large base, but it was not safe underwater. Sharks simply swim through the walls. This even happens with buildings made of concrete walls, making walls not really a hindrance for the dangerous hunters in Sunkenland at the moment.
- Otherwise, there are the usual small things, like inventory sizes of different boxes or that you cannot repair your base beyond a certain size via the flag. Instead, you have to knock on each broken element individually with the construction hammer, which becomes time-consuming for many building parts. If you don’t do it, the building collapses.
What the future may bring: The good news is that Vector3 Studio is close to the players, quickly fixing bugs, and also plans a long list of adjustments. The funniest bug in early access, which caused players with a high frame rate to achieve a top speed of over 500 km/h with their unmotorized sailboat, was fixed quickly.
And also the roadmap for the coming months puts me in a positive mood that some really cool things will come.
- Thus, the developer has planned thoughts on gameplay so that new factions can arise after existing ones are destroyed.
- Plans are also underway for cargo and war ships, including the implementation of boat combat mechanics that will offer encounters with hostile boats and invasions. This also opens up the option for future PvP in Sunkenland.
- The survival game is also set to receive a storyline and quests that provide meaningful goals.
- Further technology levels for base expansion and more cosmetics as well as building elements are to be introduced.
- And there should also be more options for those modest character choices in the future.
Therefore, Sunkenland is currently a recommendable must-play for all survival fans, especially in co-op mode. And the reviews on Steam are mostly positive at 77%.
Have you already discovered the game and played it yourself? Then feel free to share your assessment of this underwater experience in the comments.
If this is clearly too much water for you, then I recommend checking out the top list of our survival expert Benedict Grothaus. There you can find drier alternatives:
The 25 best survival games 2023 for PlayStation, PC, and Xbox
