2017 Subnautica was a unique game, combining survival gameplay with the allure of explaining a fantastic and endless ocean. Its sequel, Subnautica Below Zero, shows something similar while also attempting to bigger and better as most sequels do. Once again, unknown worlds display amazement for crafting and an experience with engaging exploration set in a mysterious, beautiful, and haunting world.
Subnautica Below Zero sees you playing Robin, who arrives on the planet 4546B searching for answers about her sister’s death. Officially, Sam, her sister, died through her fault while studying and researching the planet and its environments. But the lead character, Robin, feels strongly for more than a few reasons that the truth is something else—setting her off on a journey of under covering mysteries.
Below zero puts much more effort on storytelling than its previous version did, and for the most part, the story does its job well. It might not be the game’s biggest draw, but it will keep you interested in making progress to see what happens next. The biggest attraction is below zero is exploration and crafting, just as it had with its previous version. After crash landing on the planet, you will head to your underwater base, a single cramped room at the beginning with a storage locker and fabricator, and head out to the depth to learn more about your environment and grow your arsenal tools and equipments.
The core gameplay here will be familiar to anyone who has played Sabnautica’s previous version. Here you cook the fish; you get hands-on to maintain your health and thirst; you explore and mine minerals and chop up plants, among other things, to gain access to new materials and crafting components. The more these you find, the more crafting recipes you unlock, and the more crafting recipes you open, the better equipped you become to head out farther and deeper from your home base.
Craft a flipper and high-capacity oxygen tank for yourself in the opening hours. It’s an immediately compelling loop that works on a fundamental level right from the get-go, and it grows in complexity as you progress. Exploration and progression go hand in hand in Below zero, just as they did in the previous version, and the two work very well together. Exploring has its rewards. Finding new materials will help to you craft better gear always feels rewarding, of course, but the biggest draw of exploration was to witness beautiful alien locations. So, Subnautica Below Zero‘s intensifies in this area aren’t surprising. But it’s fantastic to see the sequel excel its predecessor did with gorgeous areas exhibiting beauty and sporting astonishing variety across the entire game. Below Zero’s beauty is propped up with a beautiful art design, while the audio format is also top-notch, from the ambient sounds of the ocean to the distant cries of alien aquatic creatures.
Subnautica Below Zero is a great game built solid foundations of its previous version in intelligent and exciting ways; expanded ideas and quality of life improvements make crafting and exploration as engaging as you would want. The most beautiful underwater world game you will find yourself playing in is an absolute joy to explore and feel the game. Some minor glitches can get in the way of the game’s best parts at times, but otherwise, this game is a beautiful underwater journey.
