Subnautica: Below Zero

Subnautica: Below Zero is an open-world survival game set on an ocean-themed planet where players embark on a journey to find their sister. Facing icy waters, new biomes, and numerous challenges, players must gather materials to craft warm protective suits, forge various equipment and items, and tame icy animals to pull their vehicles, all in an effort to survive. Along the way, players will encounter alien ruins, dangerous creatures, and traps, freely choosing whether to explore and using their wits to uncover hidden treasures, gradually revealing the truth behind the planet's frozen state and the sister's fate.

Features:

Return to planet 4546B: Submerge yourself in an all-new, sub-zero expedition in an arctic region of Planet 4546B. Arriving with little more than your wits and some survival equipment, you set out to investigate what happened to your sister...

Uncover the truth: Alterra left in a hurry after a mysterious incident. Abandoned research stations dot the region. What happened to the scientists who lived and worked here? Logs, items, and databanks scattered among the debris paint a new picture of the incident. With limited resources, you must improvise to survive on your own.

Discover uncharted biomes: Swim beneath the blue-lit, arching expanses of Twisty Bridges. Become mesmerized by the glittering, mammoth crystals of the Crystal Caverns. Clamber up snow covered peaks and venture into the icy caves of Glacial Basin. Maneuver between erupting Thermal Vents to discover ancient alien artifacts. Below Zero presents entirely new environments for you to survive, study, and explore.

Construct habitats and vehicles: Survive the harsh climate by constructing extensive habitats, scavenging for resources, and crafting equipment. Blast across the snowy tundra on a Snowfox hoverbike. Cruise through enchanting and perilous biomes in your modular Seatruck.

Research alien lifeforms: Something undiscovered lurks around every corner. Swim through the giant Titan Holefish, encounter the haunting Shadow Leviathan, and visit the adorable Pengwings. Keep your wits about you. Not all creatures in this strange world are friendly.

Strengths:

Unique icy environment: The first thing that sets Subnautica: Below Zero apart from the original is its new setting: an extremely cold region covered in ice floes, towering icebergs, and frozen caves that are both beautiful and terrifying. The environment not only changes visually but also directly impacts how players survive. While the original Subnautica focused heavily on oxygen management and avoiding dangerous creatures, Below Zero forces you to deal with hypothermia.Every time you surface or explore the land, you must pay attention to your body temperature; just a few minutes of carelessness and your character will start shivering and losing blood. New biomes like Deep Arctic, Crystal Caves, and Glacial Basin feel both strange and overwhelming, as each area presents its own dangers – from absolute darkness to sudden narrow gaps appearing in the ice.

Personalized storyline: One of the big changes to Subnautica: Below Zero compared to the original is a much clearer story focus. In this game, players control the character Robin Ayou, who, unlike other survivors, arrives at 4546B for the purpose of finding her missing sister who died under mysterious circumstances.Every phase of the game is fuelled by the private motivation that questions the why and how, rather than establishing a resource base or expanding the base. Concealed labs, Architect ruins, outdated equipment and audio recordings tell the tale of past events – one involving old technology, the Kara bacteria and humans and more.The narrative doesn’t pressure the player, but instead, it raises additional questions to keep you invested and feeling as if you’re unravelling more than a complex mystery. Robin has her own personality while her interactions with the AI Architect add more depth to the journey.

Diverse new creatures: The world of Subnautica: Below Zero is not only beautiful but also full of unique creatures, each with its own distinct behavior that players must observe and adapt to. Some species are peaceful, swimming in schools and creating a temporary sense of calm. But just a little deeper, and the atmosphere changes instantly: species like Shadow Leviathan, Chelicerate, or Ice Worm can attack unexpectedly in ways that leave players stunned for seconds.

Strategies:

If your PDA recommends calorie intake, you can consume raw fish gathered nearby. Some common edible fish are Bladderfish, Arctic Peeper and Hoopfish. However, this will dehydrate you, so we recommend cooking the fish in your Fabricator or consuming fruit or edible fungi. This includes Fevered Peppers, which grow in the Glacial Bay biome, and the underwater Bull Eye Shroom which grows near your Drop Pod.

If your PDA recommends fluid intake, you can use a Bladderfish to create water with your Fabricaator. You can also eat Fevered Peppers or drink any Disinfected Water you find in storage crates at various locations, like Phi Robotics Lab, Delta Station and others.

If your PDA warns of hypothermia, that means you're getting too cold. You also get cold when you stay still too long underwater. Above ground, you'll need to find shelter, likes the caves in the Glacial Basin. You may also eat Fevered Peppers, which raise your body temperature, or stand near Thermal Lilies on Delta Island.

You can also take Health hits and lose HP when leviathans and other animals attack. The only way to heal is by crafting or foraging First Aid Kits. These can be found in crates at various lab sites or crafted in the Fabricator by turning Creepvine Samples into Fiber Mesh, then into a First Aid Kit. Even at low health, you will only need one or two as they restore quite a lot of HP.

If your oxygen is low, you can swim to the surface or pilot the Seatruck or Prawn Suit. These have oxygen production as long as you have power to them. You can also enter your Seabase if it has power.

Player Comments:

Good game, but of course not as good as the original Subnautica, Below Zero was meant to be a dlc for Subnautica but ended up being a new whole game. Being the same pricing as Subnautica was a mistake imo, this should be like 10 bucks or something, it doesn't have that much stuff, map is just too small, not a lot of remarkable living animals that are actually scary just like the og Subnautica, also can't go that deep even when equipment can go to like 1000 meters deep, decent story i'd say but i prefer the 1st one all the time, it's just more fun to play and more stuff to do. Let's see what they do with Subnautica 2, when they pay the devs of course lol.

After playing it, I get why it fell short of expectations for people who expected a Subnautica 2 back then.The game misses out on some things which could have brought it closer to the first title in terms of quality.The sheer size of the map or the more original creature designs of the first game are replaced with a strong emphasis on the story and its characters, which does not work as well for this type of exploration-heavy game.However, the elements which made the first game fun to play are as good here as they were back then, so the experience of playing Below Zero is still pretty engaging, just slightly underwhelming.

Subnautica: Below Zero is basically me saying “I’ll just explore for 5 minutes” and then suddenly it’s 3 hours later and I’m lost in the ocean with a giant creature screaming somewhere in the dark. The game looks amazing and exploring the underwater world is really relaxing… until something big decides you look like lunch. Not as scary as the first game, but still really fun and easy to get addicted to. 10/10 would panic swim back to my base again.

Final Thoughts:

The world of Subnautica: Below Zero is vast, but not empty. The game is designed with a focus on survival, not a relaxing sightseeing experience. Therefore, the environment of Subnautica: Below Zero harbors many dangers for your character, encouraging you to gather and craft items for survival and exploration. The number of items you can collect from the environment is vast and diverse. Similarly, the types of items you can craft are equally varied.