Subnautica Below Zero Revisitied

 

By Rita Mariner 

For Rita's first review, Click Here.

 

 It's been awhile since I wrote about my gaming.  I am still playing both Subnautica and Subnautica Below Zero.  According to STEAM counter, I have over 11,000 played in Subnautica and closing in on 4300 hours, in Below Zero. How can I play both games, for so long and not get bored?  Simple, both games NEVER play the same way twice, in a row. Your starting point varies and stuff does get randomized.  The best thing is, you can chose to play the games, anyway you want.  For the most part it you search, discover things for yourself.

  Both games have 4 modes of play.  Freedom, where you only worry about health and air.  Survival, where you have to keep track of health, air, food and water. Hardcore, pretty much same as survival, but you only get one life.  You die, you lose everything and have to start over. Creative, you start out with everything, don't have to worry about anything, just play..

Two months ago they had a major update to Below Zero, fixed a lot of annoying bugs and added a new,Sea Truck Dock.  When you unlock the Moon Pool, you also get the new Sea Truck Dock. This allows you to now enter the dock, with your entire Sea Truck train. No need to detach any modules. It also has a built in vehicle control panel, allowing you to color and name your Sea Truck.  It also repairs and recharges the Sea Truck cab, while docked. You also get access to modules from the dock.  So it's very useful.

With the new Large Room addition, you can really get creative with your base building.  That is probably the nicest thing about the game. I put the Large Room out first, then build the rest of my base off of it.  Of course, you can build you base in any configuration you like.   

They also added a Control Room, you can add this to your base.  It was multiple functions, but the one most players like, you can color and name your base now, just like your Sea Truck and Prawn suit. I have seen some players color their bases in eye blinding colors.

As to the creatures in the game, some are retreads from the first game, but all the bigger ones are new and 90% of them think your on the menu. While most are just plain annoying, a couple can eat you in one gulp.  Even after 4300 hours, I still get unlucky, BITE!, SWALLOW! TASTY!

Regarding the alien in the game, I died laughing when I first heard his name. It's the same as my RL name, so I comment, "When I play this game, I am talking to myself."

Overall the game is beautiful to watch, they really did a great job on the environments.  It's easy to play, that helps a lot.  There is no real set path you need to follow, you go in your own direction and speed.  They give you prompts, but when you heed them is up to you. Plus the game is cheap and the music is awesome.

I can therefore highly recommend both Subnautica and Below Zero to play, if you want a good, relaxing time, mixed in with moments of horror. 

 

Images from Rita's steam account

Rita Mariner