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[VAL0R]

I discovered this little gem of a survival game on Game Pass and I'm hooked. The game begins as your starship crashes on an alien water planet and you escape alone in a tiny life pod. Surrounded by endless ocean and starting with almost nothing, you must gather the resources and craft tools, equipment, vehicles, and a base to survive. The early game in the safe shallows has only small hints of danger and the stylized bright visuals seem inviting and harmless. But very soon you must venture into deeper, darker waters beyond the reach of sunshine, and confront the nightmares of the deep. The game gets legitimately scary. Limited vision, hunted by unknown predators in the darkness, running out of oxygen...what was that howling sound in the distance?

The game is a 9+ for me. I almost wonder if the dread factor could be mitigated a bit. To know that a sea monster may appear at any time from the murky distance as you discover and traverse some unknown biome, attacking and destroying your upgraded vessel with all of your gathered resources, can be a bit much. I think there should be some middle ground that doesn't discourage exploration to this extent. Maybe a tiny sub that is completely reinforced that allows you to drop location beacons, but you can't leave to gather resources unless you are surface level? Maybe the crafting of more powerful weaponry and vehicle shielding? A sonar that alerts you to the position of leviathan class predators? I don't know. I just want to be able to look around without the constant fear of getting eaten, haha. So far I have found very few tools to defend myself, but I haven't unlocked everything yet. I can always run for my life!

 

[nkarafo]

The game has a pretty bad engine that is plagued by streaming issues (stutters) and terrible LOD/pop in, despite having a short draw distance underwater.

If you lock the game at 30fps, the stutters become less annoying. There are also some other bugs that can cause performance to nosedive in some sections. I had to load certain big-fix mods to restore performance and make it stable.

There is also a lack of a map. I understand the developer's decision to make you feel like you are exploring the unknown but i don't see why you shouldn't be able to at least have an empty map that fills as you explore, so it only contains the areas you already explored. This way you could at least tell if you have been in the same area before. This is also pretty odd considering the technology your character has access to. Thankfully there is a mod for that too.

Other than that, this game is amazing. Sense of isolation and atmosphere is great. Building bases is also much deeper than i initially thought. A solid 9/10 indeed.

Edit: As for the leviathans, there are a few standard areas they roam. If you avoid them, you should be 100% safe.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Plebs: "The Last of Us has a great videogame story."

Me: "Play Subnautica you uncultured swine."

 

[VAL0R]

There is also a lack of a map. I understand the developer's decision to make you feel like you are exploring the unknown but i don't see why you shouldn't be able to at least have an empty map that fills as you explore, so it only contains the areas you already explore. This way you could at least tell you have been in the same area before. This is also pretty odd considering the technology your character has access to.

Yeah, if you could have a map room in your base, like the scanner room, that'd be great. Stream it to your PDA, mark areas of interest, etc.

 

[LaughingStock]

One of my favorite games. I wish we had more underwater exploration games.

The game is a 9+ for me. I almost wonder if the dread factor could be mitigated a bit. To know that a sea monster may appear at any time from the murky distance as you discover and traverse some unknown biome, attacking and destroying your upgraded vessel with all of your gathered resources, can be a bit much. I think there should be some middle ground that doesn't discourage exploration to this extent. Maybe a tiny sub that is completely reinforced that allows you to drop location beacons, but you can't leave to gather resources unless you are surface level? Maybe the crafting of more powerful weaponry and vehicle shielding? A sonar that alerts you to the position of leviathan class predators? I don't know. I just want to be able to look around without the constant fear of getting eaten, haha. So far I have found very few tools to defend myself, but I haven't unlocked everything yet. I can always run for my life!

Tiny sub: seamoth
Beacons: you can build beacons
but you can't leave to gather resources unless you are surface level: What? Pressure only damages vehicules. The only other thing that can damage you, apart from creatures, of course, is heat.
More powerful weaponry and vehicle shielding: Well, the game isn't about killing. The sea creatures aren't your enemies. The cyclops has a shielding tech that makes it impervious to damage. It needs a lot of juice though
A sonar that alerts you to the position of leviathan class predators: It's in the game. It's called... sonar. Also, you can use the scan room. With the hud upgrade it can show you stuff in real time. Resources AND leviathans.

Leviathans have fixed spawns. And they are loud. They'll let you know if you're too close.

The easiest way to avoid leviathans when using the seamoth is to stay close to the bottom and be fast.

 

[LQX]

This game is unique in the sense you don't get many if any sea adventure, survival games, so I stuck with it and became hooked. So much discovery which was amazing at times. I have been tempted to get the follow-up, but waiting until they're done.

 

[cireza]

I loved Outer Wilds and wanted to try Subnautica, but seeing a gigantic island poping in front of me while I was actually very close to it killed the mood.

I actually detected a small irregularity in the water (almost impossible to see honestly), at the horizon, and swam towards it, and then the island popped. Not a good experience. Played on Xbox One X.

 

[pr0cs]

I played an hour or two in VR which was pretty cool. Sadly the UI needed some work in VR so I didn't continue.

Like No Man's Sky the game is that much cooler when playing in VR but the devs need more time to optimize it to make it less clunky and with less slowdowns.

 

[Jeeves]

I like that there's no map, really makes you pay attention to landmarks, and makes deliberate use of beacons important. It's great when you pop out of somewhere and you're like "now where the hell am I?"

A sonar that alerts you to the position of leviathan class predators?

The cyclops sub comes standard with this.

 

[Trilobit]

I am eagerly and nervously anticipating the Switch version. Having heard of the problems every single other platform has with this game, I'm not confident it will work better on that weak hardware. But if it's as enjoyable to play as The Long Dark is in handheld mode, then I'll get it.

 

[VAL0R]

Tiny sub: seamoth
Beacons: you can build beacons
but you can't leave to gather resources unless you are surface level: What?

I have a Seamoth and I've made numerous beacons. You missed my point. Maybe I wasn't clear.

Pressure only damages vehicules. The only other thing that can damage you, apart from creatures, of course, is heat.

And striking objects.

More powerful weaponry and vehicle shielding: Well, the game isn't about killing. The sea creatures aren't your enemies.

Anything that tries to kill you on sight is your enemy. You do get torpedoes, but they are very disaappointing from what I've seen so far.

The cyclops has a shielding tech that makes it impervious to damage. It needs a lot of juice though

Is this true? I just read that it's not, but maybe I was looking at outdated information.

A sonar that alerts you to the position of leviathan class predators: It's in the game. It's called... sonar.

Cool, I don't have a cyclops yet or any sonar mods.

 

[trufflepigg]

I tried it, couldn't understand the game play loop. Maybe I missed the tutorial or something, but I had no idea what the point of the game was. I could hardly dive 10 meters without needing to re-surface for air.
I'm sure I missed the explanations or maybe I need to read up on what the objectives are, but I didn't get it and gave up after an hour or so. I have a feeling there are a lot of people like me. I'm a long time gamer so I was pretty amazed that I couldn't understand what the game wanted me to do.

 

[playXray]

Absolutely love this game. One of the few games I have been properly addicted to in the last few years.

 

[nkarafo]

I tried it, couldn't understand the game play loop. Maybe I missed the tutorial or something, but I had no idea what the point of the game was. I could hardly dive 10 meters without needing to re-surface for air.
I'm sure I missed the explanations or maybe I need to read up on what the objectives are, but I didn't get it and gave up after an hour or so. I have a feeling there are a lot of people like me. I'm a long time gamer so I was pretty amazed that I couldn't understand what the game wanted me to do.

Your objective is to survive and get off the planet.

Game loop is basically explore, find stuff, craft stuff that will help you explore further.

 

[St0pThatGuy]

Reading a lot of comments about performance issues. I've played on one x and I haven't really noticed anything. I might try it out on my series x and see how it does.

 

[LaughingStock]

I tried it, couldn't understand the game play loop. Maybe I missed the tutorial or something, but I had no idea what the point of the game was. I could hardly dive 10 meters without needing to re-surface for air.
I'm sure I missed the explanations or maybe I need to read up on what the objectives are, but I didn't get it and gave up after an hour or so. I have a feeling there are a lot of people like me. I'm a long time gamer so I was pretty amazed that I couldn't understand what the game wanted me to do.

Listen to the radio messages. Follow the waypoints. It is done in a way that'll push you deeper and deeper where you'll find more advanced blueprints and rarer resources.

 

[VAL0R]

I tried it, couldn't understand the game play loop. Maybe I missed the tutorial or something, but I had no idea what the point of the game was. I could hardly dive 10 meters without needing to re-surface for air.
I'm sure I missed the explanations or maybe I need to read up on what the objectives are, but I didn't get it and gave up after an hour or so. I have a feeling there are a lot of people like me. I'm a long time gamer so I was pretty amazed that I couldn't understand what the game wanted me to do.

There is a fabricator in your lifepod. Bring materials to it and you can start making equipment that will allow you access to more advanced materials that will allow you to build more advanced items. Build a handheld scanner and scan everything you can. This unlocks blueprints. Pay special attention to wreckage and Alteera items and debris that fell from the Aurora in the crash. Soon you will have a Seaglide device that lets you "swim" much faster. You can craft better O2 tanks and so on.

 

[VAL0R]

Reading a lot of comments about performance issues. I've played on one x and I haven't really noticed anything. I might try it out on my series x and see how it does.

I noticed that my base area in the safe shallows started getting a little framey as I heaped on more and more lockers and items, connected two Moonpools, etc.

Edit: Playing on the X1X.

 

[Sir Vilhelm]

This is really an awesome game. Played it during the pre release Days on xbox one. A winner in my book

 

[UltimaKilo]

It’s probably my favorite VR game if all time, even more than HLA.

 

[MightySquirrel]

Really need to try this. Had mouse hovering over it multiple times , but ended up playing other games.

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

The game has a pretty bad engine that is plagued by streaming issues (stutters) and terrible LOD/pop in, despite having a short draw distance underwater.

The streaming issues were what killed it for me. Major bummer, but that sort of thing is my biggest pet peeve in gaming.

 

[nkarafo]

I noticed that my base area in the safe shallows started getting a little framey as I heaped on more and more lockers and items, connected two Moonpools, etc.

Edit: Playing on the X1X.

On a PC with a 1060 card, i locked the game at 40 fps (i have a 240hz monitor) and it keeps that in my base or around it. I built it near the lifepod. This is how it looks like (flex time):

Spoiler

Outside view:

Main, Storage area

Lab/Power

Bedroom

Cafeteria

As you can see, i stuff every room with tons of objects that i can craft or find. Even the hallways that connect these rooms have stuff in them. The submarine is also parked nearby and it also has a ton of objects inside. With those specs it can hold 40fps @ 1080p while moving around or inside the base.

However: There is a bug with the decorative flat screens in the game. If they have any screenshot in them, it causes microstutters. If you have a bunch of them, they will add up. So maybe avoid have any screens on them.

On the PC version there was also a bug with the geysers that can cause slowdowns in this very area. Something about the fish that die in them and their corpses accumulating. This was causing major slowdowns around my base. But there was a mod that changed something in the code for this area and i never had any similar issue ever since i used it. I don't know if the same bug exists for the consoles.

AFAIK, the game runs at 30fps on consoles. Considering the X1X should be more powerful than my i5 4670 + 1060, it should easily hold it (if mine holds 40fps). Unless you are running it @ 4K and your base is bigger and more stuffed than mine. I have seen some crazy big bases with dozens of rooms on Youtube. But with so few different objects, you end up with repeating themes.

 

[Toytown Assassin]

I finished it yesterday and got the platinum trophy. Fun game. Runs fine on the PS5 other than loading issues. There is a bug where if you load back in without restarting the game 1st you get total darkness other than onscreen prompts. That and the insane and ever growing load/save times. They have a bethesda like enthusiasm for remembering where every single item you drop is and where everything you harvest/collect isn't. I'd still say save often though. Better than having to rebuild a destroyed vehicle.

 

[nkarafo]

This game gets huge benefits from being on a SSD. Greatly reduces load times on PC.

 

[VAL0R]

On a PC with a 1060 card, i locked the game at 40 fps (i have a 240hz monitor) and it keeps that in my base or around it. I built it near the lifepod. This is how it looks like (flex time):

Spoiler

Outside view:

Main, Storage area

Lab/Power

Bedroom

Cafeteria

As you can see, i stuff every room with tons of objects that i can craft or find. Even the hallways that connect these rooms have stuff in them. The submarine is also parked nearby and it also has a ton of objects inside. With those specs it can hold 40fps @ 1080p while moving around or inside the base.

However: There is a bug with the decorative flat screens in the game. If they have any screenshot in them, it causes microstutters. If you have a bunch of them, they will add up. So maybe avoid have any screens on them.

On the PC version there was also a bug with the geysers that can cause slowdowns in this very area. Something about the fish that die in them and their corpses accumulating. This was causing major slowdowns around my base. But there was a mod that changed something in the code for this area and i never had any similar issue ever since i used it. I don't know if the same bug exists for the consoles.

AFAIK, the game runs at 30fps on consoles. Considering the X1X should be more powerful than my i5 4670 + 1060, it should easily hold it (if mine holds 40fps). Unless you are running it @ 4K and your base is bigger and more stuffed than mine. I have seen some crazy big bases with dozens of rooms on Youtube. But with so few different objects, you end up with repeating themes.

Cool base. I'm jelly of your coffee machines. I need to find those.

 

[Farawayfromhell]

I stopped playing because on One Fat it was unplayable, I resumed on One X and it was acceptable, on Series X it goes smooth as butter.
Seeing is believing.

 

[thief183]

It is a masterpiece, alittle scary at times and that was awesome.

 

[Jeeves]

Anything that tries to kill you on sight is your enemy. You do get torpedoes, but they are very disaappointing from what I've seen so far.

You should adjust your expectations here. The name of the game is to avoid predators, not to kill them. The game is very explicitly designed to not be about combat.

 

[VAL0R]

You should adjust your expectations here. The name of the game is to avoid predators, not to kill them. The game is very explicitly designed to not be about combat.

Yeah, after my OP I watched a video of the game director say that he wanted to make a non-violent game post Columbine. I can appreciate the sentiment. But the game actually does have lots of violence. Granted there is no traditional gun violence, and that's fine. But there is plenty of violence. Predators try to eat you constantly. You have a survival knife that you can use to kill a wide variety of sea creatures. You can upgrade this same knife with a battery into a thermoblade to cook fish that you kill with it. The function of the thermal knife is to kill fish and eat them. Why can I kill thousands of small fish that are harmless to me, but I can't meaningfully attack large predators that wish to harm me? This seems inconsistent. The Seamoth and Prawn Suit (and presumably Cyclops, I don't know) have optional torpedo launchers that can kill many things. You can use the gravity gun weapon (whose name escapes me) to suck in and launch animals, violently, to great distances. How else are you going to avoid those obnoxious crab things on the Aurora if you don't slash them to death or pick them up and throw them? What about the bleeders that attack and suck your blood and you have to violently beat them off or slash them with a knife, killing them?

I just want to fabricate 3 thermoblades into a thermal katana and teach the Reaper some manners, haha. Violence against hostile wild alien fauna is obviously morally justified. I get that they don't want to make a Sea Wars game. Keep guns out, fine. But you can still give the player self defense options. Either way, the game is great. But I do think it could be better in this regard.

 

[Jeeves]

I just want to fabricate 3 thermoblades into a thermal katana and teach the Reaper some manners, haha.

It is possible to permanently kill a reaper by slashing away with your knife, but it takes a really long time and isn't really the intended thing to do. I don't want to spoil tools you might not have yet, but you do get items and defense options to deter or distract predators. Personally I think it's more interesting than just killing dead anything that could pose a threat. It helps to keep you from getting too comfortable and climbing up the food chain. Obviously the smaller nuisances like the crabs and leeches are a different story.

 

[Robot Carnival]

had been interested in this game for a while and picked it up when it was on sale. finally start playing it about a little over a week ago. now, almost 48 hours of play time (on survival) later, I can safely say that I LOVE this game. the fact that it doesn't have an ingame map display is great. the presentation and the atmosphere is awesome. and I have real genuine fear of going into the deep to explore at first. that eeriness of diving into the dark unknown is so well done here. I do feel that once you get the Cyclops and Prawnsuit combo, the game got a little too easy. never the less I love it still and will be picking up Below Zero for sure.

 

[Robot Carnival]

It is possible to permanently kill a reaper by slashing away with your knife, but it takes a really long time and isn't really the intended thing to do. I don't want to spoil tools you might not have yet, but you do get items and defense options to deter or distract predators. Personally I think it's more interesting than just killing dead anything that could pose a threat. It helps to keep you from getting too comfortable and climbing up the food chain. Obviously the smaller nuisances like the crabs and leeches are a different story.

yeah. completely agree. I read that they didn't put any "guns" in for a reason. and to be honest, I rather having to deal with all the big scary stuff by learning and working around them than just having a weapon to kill them.

 

[Self]

The major pop in is very distracting. It just doesn't suit this kind of game to be honest.
I liked the atmosphere, but since I was burned by No Man's Sky before I soon backed off.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[STARSBarry]

As good a game as Subnautica is all I can think is "Natural Selection died for this?" Its a real shame too because NS2 was a truly unique multiplayer experience which due to the success of subnautica and its "anti violence" shift means chances are there will never be a Natural Selection 3.



Subnautica also desperately needed a multiplayer mode to propel it to insane heights but due to issues with the engine proved "impossible" despite some random user coming along and making a mod to add it.

 

[Big Baller]

IGN doesnt see pop-in *sees pop-up*

 

[SJRB]

This game is incredible and honestly one of the only games my girlfriend can marathon for like 12 hours, but hoooooly shit the performance is insane on PS4. Absolutely insane pop-in, texture loading nonsense, terrain loading bugs, it's just absurd.

Come on now, there really, REALLY isn't that much going on in your world that would warrant this insane amount of terrain load garbage.

Also - Below Zero PS4 release WHENNNNNN

 

[BusierDonkey]

I had no idea what this even was, I was expecting Pokemon Snap style scuba diving. Fired it up and almost 6 hours later I was in a fully upgraded Seamoth suit noping the fuck away from a crabsquid. I've built an awesome base, I'm enjoying figuring out the landscape, I'm losing my shit trying to find the entrance to the lava caves as my Cyclops is getting raped by a leviathan.

Performance is pretty awful, but I'm glad I'm playing it.

 

[bbeach123]

The pop in ruined the game for me . Cant play any immersive game with this kind of LOD pop in . And I played Black desert online . Duh

 

[Catphish]

The pop in ruined the game for me . Cant play any immersive game with this kind of LOD pop in . And I played Black desert online . Duh

Same. It's why I stopped.

 

[MightySquirrel]

This game seem to have some really good mods:

 

[MightySquirrel]

I had no idea what this even was, I was expecting Pokemon Snap style scuba diving. Fired it up and almost 6 hours later I was in a fully upgraded Seamoth suit noping the fuck away from a crabsquid. I've built an awesome base, I'm enjoying figuring out the landscape, I'm losing my shit trying to find the entrance to the lava caves as my Cyclops is getting raped by a leviathan.

Performance is pretty awful, but I'm glad I'm playing it.

Spoiler: leviathan are annoying

but you can kill them all

 

[VAL0R]

The tool switching in the game is abysmal. Am I missing something? Why in the world is there no weapon wheel? Why can I not assign tools to the D-pad? Up equips Seaglide, right equips flashlight, etc.? I understand that on PC it must have hotkeys for all of this, but on the X1X this is a huge quality of life flaw. Unless I'm missing something. Please tell me I am.

 

[Inviusx]

Needs multiplayer for me. This game speaks to me in so many different ways but the inherent loneliness of off-line survival games is just too much to bare, especially when you can lose hundreds of hours to them.

For me my favourite survival games involve a shared world survival experience. Maybe one day?

 

[VAL0R]

I thought I'd share a couple of my Subnautica birthday party pics, lol. My kids wanted daddy to have a theme they could decorate for with mommy, and they've been seeing me play this game lately. Of course, we had to have subs for dinner too! And yes, that's my face "photoshopped" onto the diver by my son.

Spoiler: My cake (creature spoilers)

Spoiler: My banner (creature spoilers)

 

[Termite]

Played this game totally blind and was blown away. Had no idea it was even a first person game, I think I had confused it with Abzu.

There were serious technical issues with it, and I wasn't a fan of the last third of the game being based in a very difficult to find trench, but other than that it was one of the most memorable games I've played in the last decade and I'd love a sequel.

I'm even someone who hates base building but I loved it here.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[Little Chicken]

Just saw this was coming to Game Pass shortly.