WhenGrounded 2was revealed at the Xbox Showcase last week, a few eyebrows were raised at the claim it would build and expand upon the world introduced in the first game. Grounded is the Big Spider Game, how much lore is there to even build on? Of course, anyone who did their time in the backyard knows there’s a lot more going on that just big ol’ bugs (or rather, normal-sized bugs and small ol’ humans).
Corporate intrigue and marital drama peppered Grounded’s campaign, with each lab you raided often raising more questions than answers. Many of those plot threads were neatly tied up by the end of the first game, but Grounded 2 could be making one, tragically unresolved question the thrust of its story, and I can’t wait.
Two years after the events of the first game,Grounded 2follows the original foursome as they’re shrunk back down to the size of ants in the Brookhollow Community Park. Before we’ve even set foot in the park, Obsidian has been dangling mysteries in front of us: has Ominent, the “formerly evil company” responsible for your first shrinking, really gone good? Why have you been shrunk again? What caused the explosion that wiped your memory? But perhaps the most interesting question of all is who is the “mysterious stranger”?
We’ve seen mention of this stranger pop up a few times. In theXbox Podcast interview about Grounded 2, we got a look at some of the new mutations (perks) we’ll be unlocking. One is called Frenzy, which requires you to “defeat the mysterious stranger”. Meanwhile, the Steam description for the game says, “something else is out there, and it hasn’t forgotten you”. There appears to be some sort of persistent, stalking enemy throughout the game, and I’ve got a theory as to who it is.
The Long-Lost Fifth Teen
On starting the first game, you wake up in a strange briefcase buried underground. Later cutscenes show this case is what you were placed in to be smuggled out of Ominent’s laboratory, with room for five victimsandthe medical equipment needed during transportation. The cold, clinical appearance of the case and its five tiny, human-shaped holes is a stark moment of realism in Grounded before you settle in to your new surroundings.
Except there were only four shrunken teens: Hoops, Pete, Max, and Willow. At least four that we know of. There’s one space unaccounted for, and we go through the entire first game never giving a single thought to what that space means. There were frequent debates in the community as to whether this was just an oversight on Obsidian’s part or something that meant to become a bigger plot point that never came to fruition.
This is where I plant my flag in the ground. I think the mysterious stranger is going to be that teen, and I also think we already have a name for them: Axl.
Another of the new mutations shown off was Pheromone Shot. Its description mentions “Axl’s venom has seeped into your sweat glands”, which, at first glance, appears to be a reference to the tarantula you need to defeat to unlock it. It could be that somebody’s pet tarantula has escaped into the park, and it’s called Axl. But I’m not so sure.
Tarantulas are also new in Grounded 2.
The unlock requirement says to kill “a” tarantula, not “the” tarantula, implying there are more than one, and they can’tallbe called Axl.
Grounded also shied away from violence as much as it could in a game where you slaughter endless hordes of bugs. You’re unable to kill vertebrate enemies like the koi and the bird in the first game, and a lizard boss was cut during development. Naming a spider, only to have you tear it limb from limb, would represent a tonal shift.
My theory is that Axl’s “venom” is more metaphorical. It’s been two years since the first game, and if a fifth teen was conveniently forgotten and left to fend for themselves all this time, they would hold one heck of a grudge. Maybe tarantulas are Axl’s enemy of choice, in the same way Director Schmector used ORCs in the first game?
Grounded’s First Human Enemy?
Let’s assume, as I usually do in all aspects of life, that I am completely right about everything. Axl is the fifth teen, and through years of isolation and terror, has become a brutal, bitter survivor. Maybe they’re even the one who rigged the explosion and brought the main four back down to size. How do you fit that into the tone of Grounded?
Having him be an enemy you can fight mano-a-mano would be the wrong move. Killing a desperate teen fighting for survival feels so far beyond the Saturday morning cartoon vibe of the game that I just can’t picture it happening.
Instead, Axl could take a more sympathetic role. They’re likely the one responsible for your shrinking, and the early- and mid-game could have plenty of encounters with them or their forces before a change of heart. Then, the final act of the game would be focused on finally getting Axl home.
Throw in an inevitable Ominent heel-turn for the truefinal boss, and Bob’s your uncle, you’ve got yourself a Grounded 2 story.
Grounded 2 Needs To Finally Explain The Fifth Character
The unseen fifth victim of Ominent has been a talking point in Grounded since the very first early access release. We went all the way through the first game, and its many, many updates, with nary a mention of them. And when the final Yoked update came last year, when we all thought it was the final new content we’d ever see for the series, any hope of answers flew out the window.
But Grounded 2 conveniently has the first game’s most interesting story beat free to build upon. Having a character who is a darker parallel to yourself, who has far more experience surviving than you, and orchestrated your very presence in the park, is the kind of storytelling we’ve come to expect from Obsidian. If Grounded 2 is as focused on expanding the world of Grounded as much as Obsidian says it is, I can’t wait to meet Axl and be the smuggest, smartest person alive.
