Many open-world games are all about exploration, allowing players the chance to visit vast worlds in both fantastical and recognizable locations. From New York City to fictional versions of California and even alien planets, open-world games can be found nowadays by gamers who wish to explore any kind of map.
However, an unusual idea even for today’s open-world games is getting to do a lot of exploring underwater. While many realistic survival games require water as one of the main keys to surviving in harsh environments, not a lot of games give players the opportunity to really make water areas a part of the map that can be traversed and explored.
Updated by Chris Harkin on December 31, 2023: The ocean remains a fascinating place. As computer graphics and other aspects of the gaming world continue moving forward, it becomes easier to create beautiful open worlds beneath the ocean for players to explore. As franchises like Subnautica continue moving forward, and other games deliver their own oceans for exploration, there is no end to the oceanic exploration available nowadays. Among the titles available, indie games are beginning to find ways to create open-world experiences without the same level of budget as AAA games, which used to be the only source of such wide open worlds.
8 Best Underwater Games, Ranked
Creating a game with an underwater world can be challenging, but with great characters and an immersive story, these games are the best picks.
10 Death In The Water 2
Metacritic Score: N/A
Created by a team of just two developers, Death In The Water 2 is a survival horror game that features a huge Kraken. Players must hunt down this creature while exploring a wide world underwater that’s filled with all sorts of other creatures, all encouraged to attack by the Kraken which is controlling them.
Featuring a wonderful depiction of how terrifying the ocean can be, Death in The Water 2 gives players a wide arsenal of weapons to use in their battles against the strange mixture of real and fantasy creatures. They must battle through these creatures on their way to the Kraken, making for a highly enjoyable indie adventure.
9 Koral
Metacritic Score: 64
Another shorter indie game, developed entirely by one man named Carlos Coronado, Koral is a game where players take control of an unusual force: a sea current. Players have to control the current as it romps around different underwater ecosystems, bringing life back to them.
This beautiful game, which supports the conservation of the oceans, shows gamers the true beauty of underwater life. The developer clearly wants players to see as much of it as possible, encouraging exploration of a wide variety of biomes that can be found beneath the waves.
8 Diluvion
Metacritic Score: 66
As opposed to the absolute terror of being completely alone in an open sea, Diluvion presents players with the opportunity to form a budding crew that can be continually grown as players explore a hauntingly beautiful world, inspired by the books of Jules Verne.
With a huge focus on exploration in a fantastically built open world under the ocean, Diluvion allows players to participate in RPG elements as well Players can continue increasing their crew while engaging in some great submarine combat. With fantastic world-building and a shockingly in-depth world, Diluvion is a great game for the exploration of the deep ocean.
7 Maneater
Metacritic Score: 70
A game that is unusual for allowing the player to actually take on the role of an underwater creature, Maneater is set in a beautiful underwater open world that players can explore at their own pace, as a shark. This shark is out to become stronger and more evolved, so it can exact vengeance on the fisherman who attacked her and killed her mother a long time ago.
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Maneater is an unusual but very fun game, which encourages players to explore as they continue to grow their capabilities throughout. The oceanic setting focuses more on the uninviting sides than on the beauty of the waters, but the thrill of getting to properly swim around as a creature of the water instead of as a human who needs to return to the surface for air is a very fun and different experience for gamers, which deserves more popularity than it is left with today.
6 Mythic Ocean
Metacritic Score: 71
A very different, and totally charming game, Mythic Ocean is a very chilled and relaxed indie game with a relatively short runtime. In spite of this, it was critically acclaimed, as the player attempts to influence the creation of a new world by speaking to each of the Gods that is setting out to create it.
This strange adventure involves some exploration of the beautiful, atmospheric open world that makes up the map for Mythic Ocean. Getting to speak to each God in turn, while relaxing and also intermittently seeing different parts of the underwater world, make for a very relaxing evening spent in a fun, strange game.
5 Endless Ocean
Metacritic Score: 72
One of the earliest attempts by a video game to explore the real-world oceans in a beautiful, relaxed manner, Endless Ocean was released in 2007 to critical acclaim. It was set in the Manaurai Sea, a fictional South Pacific location, and set the player as a new diver on a ship. Their job was to learn more about the ocean life below their feet.
The ocean is filled with a large variety of creatures and players can take their time, exploration and discovery being the main aspects of the game as there is no combat whatsoever. Endless Ocean has a beautiful soundtrack which helps create an atmosphere of total relaxation and gentle exploration for players.
4 Abzu
Metacritic Score: 78
Abzu
- Released
- August 2, 2016
- Developer(s)
- Giant Squid
Another open-world indie game with a huge amount of beauty to it, Abzu is another underwater-focused game that can be completed quickly. Another game that focuses on restoring life to the oceans, Abzu chooses to draw on ideas about the cosmic ocean myth and Sumerian Mythology in order to create a beautiful world and a very fun indie adventure.
Players control a diver who is attempting to bring parts of the ocean back to life via sonar calls. The player character can freely explore a variety of beautiful ocean landscapes throughout the game, taking it at their own pace and allowing themselves to freely see as much of the ocean as possible.
3 Subnautica: Below Zero
Metacritic Score: 82
The sequel to the hit open-world oceanic survival game took things to a separate area on the same planet from the first game. This section of the surface of 4546B is completely frozen, making survival in this zone even more difficult.
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Below Zero introduces all sorts of new ideas. Players have to avoid freezing, there is more exploration on land, and there are plenty of new and terrifying creatures to face within the depths of the open world beneath the sea. Though not as beloved as the first game in the franchise, this game expanded upon the lore, creating a totally different experience for players. It delivered a great game that allowed the series to continue.
2 Subnautica
Metacritic Score: 87
Subnautica is one of the most obvious games to bring up regarding underwater exploration. Almost the entirety of this open-world survival adventure takes place within the depths of the waters, which cover almost the entirety of the alien planet that the player crash-lands on. The oceanic environment is vibrant and filled with life, and there is a lot to encourage players to explore as much of the map as possible.
Gathering is a massive part of the game, as players need all kinds of different materials to advance throughout the game. Another aspect involves attempting to rescue other survivors, which doesn’t usually go well. And in between, there are a lot of reasons to explore. The beauty of the map, despite the leviathan-class creatures lurking in the depths, is incredible. Few underwater games have managed to achieve what Subnautica has in terms of graphical excellence, while retaining that sense of terror in the depths of the unknown which oceanic games often try to stray away from.
1 Dave The Diver
Metacritic Score: 90
A newer game, Dave The Diver was released on Steam in 2022. An unusual game with several aspects, players control Dave as he runs a sushi restaurant, in the style of a management game. However, that is only part of the overall game, which also includes Dave going underwater in order to collect fish and complete quests.
The fun mixing of game genres and styles has helped make Dave The Diver quite a surprising success story, and part of what is so great about it is the simplistic open-world style of the underwater sections, the freedom that players have to explore this fun world under the sea.
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