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

Game Review: World of Warships

By Nydia (and Brandi) Tungsten

I started playing World of Warships when it came out of closed Beta to open Beta and I cannot say I was disappointed. It shared a few things with its predecessor , World of Tanks (WoT), and yet they are “worlds” apart.

I think the best part about the game for me is the PvE game play. They introduced it where it is you and a few other people against the AI.  Just because it is you against the computer, don’t think the game will be easy.  I have been on a few human teams that have been absolutely waffle-stomped.  The AI is good, not as unpredictable as a real player, but it can still get the job done.  And in this mode, you don’t really run into the “uber players” that always blame their deaths on their own teammates rather than the foolish things they did.  So, before any of you start telling me I won’t get the XP or money rewards there, I already know.  That is how I tend to play now, but to me, the tradeoff is worth it.  Every now and then, I will pop in to a PvP match and quickly remember why I prefer PvE.

    But, I will say this about the ship captains; they are nowhere near as bad as the players are in WoT. That is one of the reasons why I don’t play WoT that much anymore.  I really hope they do this with WoT and introduce a PvE game mode, but we’ll see.

      Like using the natural terrain of hills in WoT as defenses, there are islands in the ocean you can get behind. There are a few other similarities between the two games of tanks and ships, but only to the extent of their roles. Battle ships are the heavies, aircraft carriers are the artillery units, cruisers are the mediums, but with the destroyers, you combine two of the tank classes: the light tank and tank destroyers.  The gaming developers are still filling out the tech trees for all the countries by adding more ships.  New countries are in the works as well.

And last, but not least, like WoT, this game is free to play, which is amazing for the graphics and details it has in it.  The developers worked overtime on this one.

   So personally, I will be giving this game a BIG thumbs up and recommend it.  It is bit of a download so make sure you read the requirements for it. Some of the specs are 19.5 GB free hard drive space and 2 GB RAM with at least a dual core CPU.  So, it isn’t really that heavy of a load for a system to run, you just need to have the space for it.

  In closing, give it a try, play a few rounds, and let me know what you think.  Give me your opinion because I want to know what you all like, so I can bring you what you want to read about, but most of all, as with any game, there is one secret, HAVE FUN!

Screenshots from Bixyl Shuftan

Nydia Tungsten