Recent reviews by gamer

Phenomenal survival horror experience

A real surprise hit,
I would've never thought that it's going to be as addicting as it is.

It walks the fine line between engaging and AFK, but perfectly balances it.
Worth every cent, especially considering the cheap price and small yet passionate dev team. :))

Short teaser for a story driven puzzle game.

Puzzles are centered around gravity manipulation in a surreal, atmospheric sci-fi setting.
Nice visuals with a minimalist, sterile style.
The game tries some horror here and there but mostly limits itself to cheap jumpscares.
The story seems quite interesting and tries its best to throw as many questions and mystery at you as possible.

The yes/no review system makes it hard to accurately tell my opinion on Below Zero.

I will focus on the (to me) noticeable negative differences compared to Subnautica 1.

When I finished Subnautica 1 and was looking for a game that would scratch the same itch, I was unfortunately very disappointed with this sequel. Let me elaborate.

It is not a bad game per se, not at all, however it's largely shadowed by the fantastic predecessor in almost every aspect.
Generally the game feels much more streamlined and "dumbed down" compared to Subnautica 1.
It seems the developers goal was to take out the tension and steer the series in a new direction.
Not to mention that it's more of a standalone addon rather than a true successor anyways.

Right from the get go you get flodded with map markers, scripted story sequences, a protagonist that never shuts up and you get to find a map displaying the size of the entire game world within the first ~2h or so.

The new story feels generic and forgettable, and so does the now voiced protagonist. It would be half as bad if she had anything of substance to say and yet she ends up talking way too much and gives her unnecessary comments during every slightly so scripted event.

Scripted events that take control from the player are much more numerous aswell, and so are interactions with other humans, taking every sense of isolation and survival from the game.

It feels as if the developers have done everything they can to decrease the tension, which originally was at the heart of Subnautica, making the game feel more like a run of the mill survival, base building, grind-game.

Focusing on land exploration in trade of decreasing the water depth/size is also a rather incomprehensible design choice. Especially when land exploration feels half-done and unpolished. It just feels static and lifeless, even though there is some flora and fauna.
The map is smaller, but more compact, think of it as you will but I'm not a fan of it.

It also seems that they tweaked the AI to be much less aggressive and pursuing, especially noticeable with the new leviathans.

I was looking forward to the full release, hoping that the developers might tweak it more into the direction of Subnautica 1, but unfortunately it seems they now have a different vision for the series.

Ah! I'll buy it at a high price!

Lycan this game a lot.

Very peaceful game, the world is super immersive, especially because of the phenomenal dynamic weather effects.

I love the way that they thoughtfully implemented player progression, which is initially quite reminiscent of Terraria.
Though a nitpick when it comes to this is that it gets really grindy later on, borderline tedious especially when playing alone.

All in all, this game is a really worthwhile Early Access title, simply because of the level of polish present.
I have encountered no bugs, be it in single- or multiplayer.
Seems the only thing missing is more content.

A "modern" horror game classic imo.

Even after 10 years, this game still holds up as one of the most atmospheric and memorable horror games out there.
If you're a fan of horror, or are just interested in experiencing a dark narrative, this is definitely worth a playthrough.

For sure a really fun and challenging shooter.

There are many mechanical additions to the already familiar Doom 2016 gameplay loop, most of which are introduced within the 1st level.
This makes the learning curve rather steep when compared to the previous entry.

But through the use of more gadgets, platforming, enemies and resource management the singleplayer campaign manages to keep itself fresh from start to finish.
At the same time the campaign never gets noticeably easier and remains challenging to the very end, yet without it feeling unfair.

Also it has a bearable multiplayer.

8 string guitars / 6

Perfect port of a classic shooter

The only addition are many quality of life enhancing options in the settings (change retro vs minimally upgraded graphics, fov slider etc.)

biggest +: considering the time it was released the gore & guns are still insane

biggest -: at times exhausting level design and progression

7/10, worth having played even for people without nostalgia goggles