Do you hate it when a game has a great photo mode, but it doesn't work when you're playing in co-op? I do too, and it's that exact issue that I'm pleased to share Grounded 2 gets right.
My colleague Zachary and I have been spending a fair bit of time in Grounded 2 over the last few weeks, exploring what Obsidian Entertainment's survival sequel has to offer.
We've been having a good bit of fun, and some of that fun stems from an early discovery we made when toying around in the menus and activating photo mode. To our happiness, the game was immediately paused, with both of us placed in photo mode centered around our characters, though it also includes a freecam option.
I appreciate this for a couple of different reasons. First, it eschews the issue of keeping the game running in the background, which would make it extremely difficult to get great shots of moving critters, especially the more aggressive creatures like spiders and scorpions.
Second, it also provides a way to truly "pause" the game if one player has to unexpectedly step away for a minute, such as hearing the doorbell ring or suddenly recognizing the mournful sounds of a cat that hasn't been fed in the last few minutes.
Even if our characters happened to be tucked away in the relative snug safety of our base, it avoids having the characters' hunger and thirst meters draining. Something that's sneakily quick in the early hours of an un-upgraded server. It's just convenient and efficient all around.
The fact that Grounded 2 is a PvE (player vs. environment) co-op game means this kind of game design should be standard, but I've encountered a number of games where photo mode is at best available but doesn't pause the game. Worst? It might not be available in co-op at all.
I understand this isn't a huge deal, but it's this kind of attention to detail with smaller features that add up in big ways. Grounded is all about the tiny things (yes, yes, bad pun, I know), and those things matter.
Removing any kind of friction that makes co-op play more difficult or obnoxious is great in my book. I'm hoping Obsidian Entertainment (and the team's co-development partners at Eidos-Montréal) can expand the photo mode with more features as development progresses in Game Preview.
Now, it's time for Zachary and I to go look for more cool photo opportunities in the park! While we're at it, we need more acorn shells. We always need more acorn shells.
Grounded 2 is now available in early access on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam and Xbox PC), and Xbox Cloud. Like all Xbox first-party games, it's included day one in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
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