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

Reader Submitted: Game Review - Subnautica: Below Zero

 
By Rita Mariner

I will be commenting on Unknown World's latest release, Subnautica: Below Zero. This video game has been in testing for two years.  I started playing it, on STEAM, in the experimental mode, at that time.  Since then the game has gone through several rewrites, primarily due to change in writers.

Below Zero still plays in the four basic  modes of the first game.  Survival, where you have to watch and manage your air, food, water and health. Freedom, where you only worry about air and health.  Hardcore, where you have to manage air, food, water, health and you get no PDA prompts reminding you, so if you die. YOUR DONE and have to start all over from scratch.  Then Creative, where you worry about nothing, you get everything at the beginning and you just poke around and do whatever you like. I would get bored in like two minutes.

In Below Zero, you play Robin Ayou, a female, Xenobiologist, who comes to Planet 4546B, to investigate the death of her sister Sam Ayou.  You aren't buying Alterra's story she died from negligence. While here you discover and get stuck in your head a rather annoying alien. So between investigating your sister's death, you now have to help an alien, so you can kick him out of your head.

Now for the good points of the game I have found.  The alien world is beautiful, lots of great detail, interesting new plants and creatures you get to investigate. The idea you are playing a female character, this time is a nice touch.  When you get a message to listen to, on the PDA, the face of the person talking will appear in your HUD, I like that. There are several references back to the first game, if you find them. Some of the plants and creatures you will encounter are brought over from the first game, but the bulk of the creatures and plants are all new and you will need to check them all out to see if they are useful, or not. One of the more interesting creatures, is the Sea Monkey, or Sea Thief! They look cute, but if you swim around them, with any of your tools out, it becomes THEIRS! You can swim after them and attempt to get it back.  

There are many bases and wrecks to explore and you will need to do that to collect all the blueprints you will need for the game. Make sure to make beacons to mark them, encase you need to return to any of them later.

Now for the parts of the game I wasn't to thrilled with.  One is right at the beginning.  Our character PLANNED to come to Planet 4546B. She knows where she is going is COLD! Yet the only item she brings with her is 3 bottles of water, 3 nutrient bars and a PDA?  She doesn't bring a full set of basic tools and a COLD SUIT! She is suppose to be this experienced xenobiologist, and planned this trip and brings NOTHING with her?  PLEASE!

The next thing they never explain is, why did ALTERRA leave the planet, no one from ALTERRA is there, period.  Also at the KOPPA MINING SITE, there are no habitats for an office, crew break room, power supply and storage.  Plus they have drillable chunks of Titanium, Copper, Ruby, Gold, Diamonds, Quartz, in the game, but no Lead or Lithium and you need a boatload of those two items, in this game. Since they changed most of the blueprint recipes around.

There are several new leviathans in the game, a couple you want to avoid at all costs, especially if your outside your Sea Truck or Prawn Suit, they can KILL You.  The Chelicarate and the Shadow Leviathan. Even then, they will put a serious hurt on your Sea Truck or Prawn Suit. Unless you have the Perimeter Defense Module for the Sea Truck.

Which brings me to the Sea Truck, I hate it! If All I had to do was haul stuff from point A to point B, it does okay.  Unfortunately, that's not all you need it to do.  You have to explore!  The Sea Truck is ill-suited for that job. It gets caught on everything, plants damage it,  hard to control and clumsy.  I have gotten to the point I explore the Sea Monkey Tunnels, near The Pilot's Last Reported Position, in my Prawn Suit.

Is Below Zero a bad game? No, it's playable and can be enjoyable, but it could have been so much better.

Rita Mariner
 

Reader Submitted: Subnautica Below Zero, Part Two

By Rita Mariner

To read the first review, click here (link).

Subnautica Below Zero has been out now since the end of January and is already causing quite a stir in the gaming community.  I have already logged over 200 hours in an Early Access game, with about 2 hours of prepared game play,  What I did, since I am running mine through STEAM, is log into the experimental option. 

In the experimental option, there are daily micro updates to the game.  Some are obvious, others are simple bug fixes.  Some of the things they have added are, without having to use Console Control 'cheats', as I call them. You have a battery charger!  I guess enough players yelled and screamed, they finally added it, along with the power cel charger.

You now have the Sea Truck, along with three out of the five planned modules for it.  Fabricator, Aquarium and Storage.  You still have to search for the fragments, for each item and it takes three fragments each, to acquire the needed blueprint. When I first saw the blueprint for the Sea Truck and what it would take to construct one, I thought the developers of the game had lost their collective minds.  After chatting with other players, I find I wasn't alone, in this opinion.  The Cab alone needs a Titanium Ingot (which you can now make) two glass, three lead and 'FIVE"  *repeat  "FIVE"  Advanced Wiring Kits! One Advanced Wiring Kit is a major investment in resources, They want "FIVE" for the Sea Truck Cab alone.  *faints* Plus the only place to get the needed Table Coral is in the Twisty Bridges area aka DEATH VALLEY!  So nicknamed by me for the abnormal number of Crashfish and Brutesharks there waiting for you.

They have finished the DEEP Twisty Bridges area.  There you can find the fragments for two of the Sea Truck modules, also some Sea Truck cab too. Plus if your extra special, you can meet the Squidshark, who will enjoy sucking a bunch of your health off you.  The other nasty down there isn't as obvious, the Spikey Plant.  I lies in wait to ambush you if get to close.  Shooting a tendril out to grab you and drag you inside to "EAT' you.  You do need to traverse the area too anyways.  Way too many valuable and needed resources down there to ignore.  I built a scanner setup down in the Twisty Bridges, just to help me find the stuff easier, plus most important QUICKER!

They have also redesigned the Cargo Rocket Island, which I approve of.  They also fixed a few annoying bugs there.  You can find a boatload of resources too around the waters of the island.  It is known as the Thermal Spires biome..  You can meet the Rock Puncher and the old favorite Mr. Bone Shark. As to the Cargo Rocket, the first one is on Alterra, but needs repair.  After that, you need to construct any new Exchanger Rockets (two titanium). You will also find a base up there, make sure to scan 'everything' inside that you can.  That is where you will get the bulk of your blueprints to build your base.

I found three other bases in the game so far just swimming around. Two have items you need to send to the Vesper.  The third one is under construction, but I did leave a beacon marking it's location, plus I got to see the new Snow Stalker beastie.  The little one is soooooo cute.   I also got a few plants I can plant once they give us something to grow them in.

The reason for so many hours is simple, the game breaks, so you sometimes have to start over to get stuff to load and or work right.  Welcome to early access.  Just make sure to pass along any problems, bugs or ideas to the developers, via Feedback.  Next major update is early April.  Can't wait.  Bwahahahahaha!

Rita Mariner

Reader Submitted: Game Review - Subnautica Below Zero

By Rita Mariner

After becoming seriously hooked on the original game of Subnautica, Unknown Worlds, is in process of developing a follow up called, Subnautica Below Zero.  The game is now out in 'early access', which means you can play it, but it is incomplete, buggy, and some stuff doesn't work. But that just means they want you to give it a whirl and provide them feedback to fix the issues and ideas for the storyline.

The game takes place on the same planet, 4546B, but in the frozen north and at a time after the crash of the Aurora.  While they have kept much of the flavor of the original game, there are some different twists and turns to the new game.  Some of the recipes to build items have changed.  Some of the old nasties are still there and they have added some new critters to study, or eat, if you play in Survival or Hardcore mode.

There are also new a different area to explore with many new and different flora to see.  Unfortunately, this being early access, almost none of it can be scanned. The types of resources available to you has changed some too, during this early access.  I can only hope they will fix some of this, during one of the regular updates, or in full release.

As to vehicles, so far, all we get are the Seaglide and if you find the Dropbox, a Hoverpad Databox, which will allow you to build the Snow Fox, hover bike.  The one drawback for the Snow Fox, it only works on land, it doesn't work on water.  So you have to be careful where you construct the hover pad.

I hear that the Cyclops and Seamoth will not be in the new game.  The PRAWN SUIT will be however.  As for a replacement submarine, I hear they are kicking around the idea of a Sea Truck.  A modular type sub,  The Cab, with different modules you can attach to it, like a train, at reduced speed and performance, but with upgrades can fix some of that.

Some of the tools and base pieces that you use to build in the original game, you don't in this version.  They are Dropboxed to you, or they are not included yet. One piece that is missing, that is driving all of the players out of our freaking minds.  NO BATTERY CHARGER!  You burn thru so many batteries in Subnautica Below Zero, it isn't funny and without a charger, you have to keep making new ones, which gets to be a PITA! It looks like there will be some new base pieces for us to construct, but of this release, they are not available yet and will probably require Titanium Ingots, which we can't make yet..

I finally got to see how a Grav Trap works, so for those players in Hardcore, Survival mode, it makes collecting dinner or water, much easier..  Who knew?  (laughing out loud!) Just hope they fix the game about certain items, before you eat, drink or harvest yourself out of existence. 

I understand they will do major updates about every 6-8 weeks, maybe minor updates more often.  Full finished version isn't due for at least a year and everything we do now is probably subject to change, so no fear of the game getting old, or stale.  So for the two hours of fairly completed game, I think it's worth the $20, I put down, knowing it has just scratched the surface and you can still explore beyond what they have semi-officially completed.  Have fun getting your feet wet and seeing new and interesting areas and critters.

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Rita Mariner