63 people found this review helpful
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3
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Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 28.8 hrs on record
Posted: 28 Dec, 2020 @ 11:11pm

Subnautica, in my opinion, is the 2nd best survival game to date being outoaced only by minecraft. At the very least it is a solid top 5 in the genre. I first played subnautica when it came out in very early access and it did not catch my eye. It felt empty and there were many bugs/graphical glitches. However after a fes years, i started hearing recommendations for this game and wow. Subnautica does many things right and very few, if any, things wrong

The best thing about subnautica is by far the world design and that can be attributed to 3 things

Environments/Ecosystems: The biomes in this game and fauna/flora design is stunning. The game looks gorgeous and the way these biomes form their own identity in the players mind is amazing. As you slowly learn more and more about these biomes and their locations/how they work, you begin to understand the world that much better. I'm tey to avoid spoilers but there are some things you just have to learn by becoming familar with the world.

Sound Design: Subnautica's sound design is fantastic. The constant symphony of noise created by the wide array of creatures native to this world still gives my shivers at night. They chill you to the bone and make you want to settle down in your little escape pod and shut out the outside world. And eventually, as you slowly learn what creatures make what noises, you can begin to use their calls to your advantage. But it may take a while to face those fears, which leads directly to the last point.

Isolation: I have never felt more cut off from others than in subnautica. You are alone on an alien planet. There are no friendly humans to guide you through your adventure. Your pda will "talk" to you but that's it. Just you and an unknown planet. This dreaded isolation is the major driving factor of the game alongisde curiosity. The desire to escape a hostile world while at the same time learning as much as possible about the ecosystem force the player out of the safery of the escape pod and the shallows into the deeper and darker depths.

I would go so far as to say that subnautica does nothing poorly. It is a survival game so you should expect to keep a hunger, thirst, and health meter full through your adventures as you gather materials. There was one point in the end game where it felt kind of grindy gahtering materials but it was still enjoyable swimming around. Finally, the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and its presentation (primarily told through written/audio logs and the environment) but i could see why some would not be blown away by the story.

Subnautica is a wonderful survival game rivaling the other greats of its genre and i would recommend it to anyone who has any interest in any aspect of this game.

As a note, buy it before Jan 5th, 2021. The price is increasing and while i would say the game is worth $25 or $30 you can get it way cheaper rn.
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