Hey now everybody, hope you’re all doing well, and welcome to my review of Subnautica! This game has been on my radar for quite a while now, but I haven’t had a way to actually play it until it finally released on PlayStation 4 back in December. I was very intrigued by all the gameplay videos I watched, as well as the many positive articles I found describing what it was all about, but these kinds of games are usually outside my comfort zone. Everybody has their personal preference when it comes to genres that they enjoy, and for me, survival games end up being more of a chore than a fun experience. Nonetheless, I was still very excited to try something new, and I ended up purchasing the game as soon as it was available on PS4. Now that I’ve finished playing I can’t wait to tell you guys all about it, so without further ado, let’s get started.
Subnautica is an open-world survival-adventure game developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. What sets this apart from other similar titles is that it takes place almost entirely underwater. From my own gaming history I’ve been conditioned to dislike most underwater levels, as they are usually the most frustrating part of any game. Somehow the people at Unknown Worlds have managed to break that stereotype, and create an experience where being underwater is the best part. That alone is a pretty remarkable feat, but they’ve also crafted the best survival game I’ve ever played, and opened me up to the idea of playing more genres that I would otherwise pass on. Survival games, where you have to constantly monitor your food and water levels, never appealed to me, but after playing this I see now that it can be done in a fun way.
In Subnautica you play as a passenger aboard a large spacecraft called the Aurora, that’s heading for the outer reaches of the universe. Your mission is to build a Phasegate that will allow ships to instantly travel to this position, giving us easier access to this remote part of space. Suddenly something severely damages the ship, causing it to crash land on a nearby planet. As the Aurora is going down you manage to strap yourself into an escape pod, and safely jettison onto the planet’s surface. The impact of this causes you to lose consciousness for a while, but when you come to you exit the pod to take in your surroundings. This is where the game begins and you actually take control of your character. Upon exiting the escape pod you find yourself bobbing on the surface of an ocean that wraps around the entire planet.
All around you, in every direction, there’s nothing but water. The only landmark you have to help you get your bearings is the wreckage of the Aurora sticking up out of the water in the distance. Your escape pod is the only shelter you have for now, and it provides you with the basics that you’ll need to survive. The first thing you need to do is find food and water so you don’t die, and that means diving into this massive alien ocean. Luckily, acquiring these essentials is pretty simple, and never really became a chore. Especially once you get going and have better means of keeping a healthy supply. For me the hardest part at the beginning was overcoming my Thalassophobia, which is an intense fear of large bodies of water, and the vast emptiness and unknown within them. It’s a terrifying experience jumping into this massive ocean, and it made Subnautica more of a survival horror game, which is one of my favorite genres.
The whole premise of the game is to gather resources that you can use to craft new items, gear, devices, and vehicles that will allow you to continue exploring further and further. When you first exit the escape pod you’re in the Safe Shallows, which is a beautiful area with little to no danger. At this point you have a very limited air supply, and no way to travel large distances quickly. But once you start crafting things you’ll eventually be equipped with what you need to venture out into the deeper unknown areas. You’re in a pretty big open world, but it also goes down very deep, around 1500 meters. There are several distinct, unique biomes to discover and explore, and each one contains valuable resources and information.
The atmosphere of Subnautica is incredible, and it definitely helped to immerse me into the experience. Standing on top of your escape pod and looking out across the endless surface of the ocean filled me with a sense of dread. The Safe Shallows are bright, with lots of colorful plants and animals to help ease you into this strange new world. Once you start going out beyond that it’s a whole different ball game. There’s a day to night cycle that makes even the shallow water pitch black at times, but when you get deeper it’s dark even in the daytime. You feel isolated and exposed, with danger potentially lurking just out of sight. Some of the creatures waiting for you down there are truly terrifying, and you never get any kind of offensive weapon to attack things with. You do eventually get ways to protect yourself, but you never feel safe.
The different biomes you come across are all very well designed, and are a major highlight of the game. It’s thrilling to discover a new area that’s full of new plants, animals, and resources. The sea life ranges from small harmless fish that are similar to ones you’d find on Earth, all the way up to Leviathan class, which are huge predatory creatures that will give you nightmares. Each animal has it’s own behavioral patters, and usually stay within certain environments. There’s really no good way to deal with the Leviathans, other than sneaking past them, or trying to avoid them altogether. I like this aspect, as it adds to the overall tension of the game. If you could just kill everything it wouldn’t be scary anymore. The sound design is also incredible adding another layer of fear into the mix, as you’ll usually hear a creature’s roar before you can see them.
Crafting plays a big part in this game, and there’s always something new to try and acquire. At first it’s small things, like bigger oxygen tanks, flippers, a radiation suit, or a knife. But over time you get to build some really impressive tech, like a stasis rifle that freezes anything caught in it’s blast, a small submersible craft, a big submarine type ship, and a mech suit that allows you to withstand the intense pressure of the deepest parts of the ocean. You even get to build yourself an underwater habitat that you can completely customize and design any way you like. I spent a lot of time making my ultimate base that acted as a safe haven from all the dangers lurking outside.
For a game where you’re completely alone and underwater most of the time this has a surprisingly good story. From exploring the huge game map you’ll come across various notes and voice recordings left behind that slowly start to piece together what Subnautica is all about. It tells a pretty compelling sci-fi tale that kept me engaged, and wanting to know more right up to the end.
The only negative aspects of the game for me were some annoying technical issues. I had an amazing time playing this, and it’s something that stayed with me long after I was finished with it, but it wasn’t a smooth ride. Playing on the PS4, every once in a while the game would crash on me, forcing me to start back at my last save file. Sometimes this meant having to go back and redo hours of progress. Hopefully this bug has been patched by now, I’m not sure, but luckily you can manually save anytime you want so it was an easy problem to solve. Just make sure you remember to save frequently.
Even though I’m not normally a fan of the survival genre something about Subnautica immediately caught my eye. Now that I’ve finally played it I’m glad I gave it a chance, because it quickly became one of my favorite titles of 2018. The gameplay loop of gathering resources and crafting things was very satisfying and executed perfectly, never feeling like a tedious grind. The story was surprisingly well done, slowly unfolding around you. Every area had incredible atmosphere, visuals, and sound design, helping to immerse you into the game world. Terrifying creatures are a constant threat as you explore deeper into the abyss, which keeps the tension building the whole time. This was a fantastic, unique experience, that made a real impression on me, and I would highly recommend trying it for yourself. I’m going to give Subnautica a grade of……………………
A -
Thank you for reading my review of Subnautica, I hope you enjoyed it!