SUBNAUTICA
I first bought Subnautica over a year ago when it was on sale after seeing and hearing excellent things about it. It was in early access and before actually playing I found out that the story was not going to be in the game till the full release. So it sat unplayed until a couple of weeks ago.
I am going to say two things about this game. First, it is very hard to talk about Subnautica without spoiling it. Second, holey crap this game is amazing!
Subnautica is a first person underwater exploration survival game. You spend most of your time under the sea of an alien world in the dark depths with creatures small to large, passive to aggressive and you are forever watching your oxygen levels. If you suffer from the "ocean willies" this game may not be for you. It's not scary per say but it sometimes aggressively pokes at things like claustrophobia, nyctophobia, thalassophobia, ichthyophobia, cleithrophobia and a few more "phobias" I am sure.
Before I get into praising Subnautica I am going to touch on the one aspect I don't think was done very well and that is the "survival" part. There are three game modes, Survival (you have to worry about food, water and oxygen), Freedom (only have to worry about oxygen) and Creative (a free for all base building mode). I started the game wanting the full experience so I went Survival and initially I was impressed with the route you have to take to get food and water. After about 4 hours the set up I had made collecting both those things trivial. They were just time sinks, not difficult, they just slowed you down as the various ways they affected what you could do impacted the mechanics. SO I restarted on Freedom (only have to worry about oxygen) and have no regrets. I think the difference between Survival and Freedom is, do you want to play for 80 hours or 40 hours to accomplish the same thing?
Okay now that is out of the way I can get down to talking about all the great parts of Subnautica (in the least spoiler way possible).
The first thing you will notice is beautiful this game is. From just the way the surface of the ocean looks to the flora and fauna everything has been given that special touch that is often missed in video game. Just a little something extra that makes them pop, both in design and texture. Distinct and wonderful, both familiar and alien. Each fish you catalog, each plant you harvest has been given 110% effort. Subnautica is a screenshotters dream.
Mechanically the developers of Subnautica did a fantastic job of using the concept of crafting in survival games without forcing a resource grind. Almost everything you need to make takes only a few each of a couple of resources and it more about finding a source of the resource rather than accumulating tons of it. They also held back from recursive multi-step mid/late game crafting which again is rather nice. It all speaks to a game that respects the player's time, letting you get to do the things you want rather than jumping through endless time wasting hoops .
Subnautica's biggest strength is exploration. The seemingly small piece of ocean that you have to discover actually spreads father and deeper than you expect. It's all about a good use of space rather than just a big map for the sake of itself. The game world is not procedurally generated, it's bespoke content with the only random part being some of the location of some resources and crafting recipes. This allows for each of the many different biomes to fit within the world properly, no jarring random seams. I really do with there was an in game map, mostly just because of how I like to explore spaces in games (methodically), but the world layout gives you lots of landmarks that you soon recognize and help with navigation, and if all else fails drop beacons everywhere.
The story of Subnautica is revealed to you in the same way as the rest of the world, non-linear and at your pace. Bits and pieces are revealed as you explore and as time passes. While not particularly deep, the story moves you along and fills in both backstory as well as informing the player of the world around them. It pushes you to keep exploring and discovering.
There is a temptation for me to go on and on about Subnautica, going into details of all the interesting things you can craft, the vehicles, the various fish and going deep into the world and story. But that would all be spoilers and Subnautica is a game about discovery. Don't read too many reviews, don't read the wiki (at least before you start), don't watch Youtube videos, Don't look at too many screenshots (I used the least spoilery ones I could find from the developers website), don't inform yourself too much. Revel in the mystery the game gives you.
I haven't finished Subnautica yet but after 40 hours I am getting close. Considering the game is a measly $30 (and even less on sale) it's ridiculous how high quality the game is. Every aspect, from the fantastic sounds to the beautiful graphics and the addictive gameplay, have been done to it's best. It's the type of game that make you wish that once you complete it you could just forget it and play it all over again for the first time.
Comments
Post a Comment