After a long time in early access, it’s finally in our hands Subnautica: sub zero. Follow the path of the first Subnautica, it’s a survival game in which we will spend most of our time exploring the oceans. The people of Unknown worlds repeat the formula, although this time we have to survive in a freezing environment with a very extreme climate. And not only will we have to survive, but this time we also have a goal behind with an interesting plot that invites us to continue to discover more. This analysis was performed using a digital copy sent by Unknown Worlds.
The missing sister
We put ourselves in the shoes of Robin ayou, who works for the company Alterra. After the disappearance of his sister and all his expedition While exploring the planet “4546B”, Robin decides to travel to said planet to discover clues that help him locate his sister, Sam. This is the premise of Below Zero, and precisely the most significant change from its predecessorr, there is a narrative behind it with a story and motive beyond surviving in a harsh environment.
This aspect of the title takes our first steps and the game in general is a little more guided, although we can always do things at our own pace, as this does not force anything by itself. Can we enter every hour we want to explore freely the bottom of the ocean. We will find many “PDAs” with information on Sam’s expedition, and it’s very interesting to hear each and every one of them to give more context to the general story. In addition, we can reproduce them as we explore
Subnautica: below zero, survive in an extreme environment
From the start, the title makes things very clear to us, we are in a planet with an icy environment, with strong blizzards and storms, which totally obscures our visibility when we are in the field. The sudden changes in weather They are present and continuous, and they can surprise us on certain occasions during our walks.
The fight against the elements is constant in Subnautica: sub zero, starting with our protagonist who will be hungry and thirsty. And then, either on earth, where we will have to monitor our body temperature, or of course, under the sea, where we will spend most of the time and where we will need to monitor our oxygen.
Although it is given more importance for land exploration that for Subnautica original, the true nature of the game remains in underwater exploration, where the title shows all its arsenal. It is that feeling of being completely isolated in a hostile environment, of feel like the smallest being in the world because of the vastness around you. And this is the great success of the Unknown Worlds developed in this title, like the previous opus, it’s a game with an impeccable setting it makes you feel very vulnerable.
Explore, collect materials, build, repeat.
The basis of the game is to explore the environment, get all possible resources to survive and also meet the objectives set by the plot. We will collect all kinds of resources, whether mineral, material or biological. Are also very important remains of buildings and technologies that we will find on the planet and that we can scan to add your plans to our PDA, and so we can manufacture them at our base.
We can do it all at our own pace and in complete freedom, and little by little we will have to progress regularly in the construction of new technologies and tools to achieve the objectives and go a little further. We can mark the recipes or blueprints of what we want to craft, so that they are displayed on the right side of the screen. It is a very useful and well implemented add-on,
I think the game does a good job of guiding you if you want to focus on the story, because exploring the ocean can be overwhelming, so much so that it can discourage us if we do not connect to your proposal. In this way we can focus on achieving the different goals that the game poses, that we will discover through alerts on our PDA. This very important tool will inform us of any anomaly or nearby place and he’ll mark him for us to join him, which will make Robin’s job easier.
Visual and sound appearance
As we have already mentioned, the big section of Subnautica: sub zero this is its framework. The different biomes that we are going to explore show us a multitude of elements on the screen worth seeing. The weather effects are also very spectacular. The feeling of immersion is very successful, although it is true that you could ask for more if we are talking about muscle diagram pure and hard.
There is some details to polish like seeing creatures pass through buildings, or one-time frames per second. It is not at all something that tarnishes the experience, we also know that the unknown worlds will receive various updates to refine these aspects and add content.
The title is optimized for the X / S series, and you can choose between “performance” or “visual quality” mode
The sound section deserves a separate mention, especially the work with its sound effects. The immersion is total when we dive and the sounds reach us muffled, very realistically. My hair always stands on end when I explore and the roar of a sea creature is heard that I can’t see. All in all, there is great work behind all of its effects.
The soundtrack stays in the background, with minimalist and ambient sounds, except in scenes that take more importance to give it that cinematic point. The game comes with English voices with Spanish subtitles.
Subnautica conclusions: sub zero
In this return to the planet “4546B” that we have already visited in Subnautichas, although now changed, we find a title that follows in the footsteps of its predecessor in terms of mechanics. Here we focus more on a plot that can guide the player and give you some steps to take, aside from survival itself. The plot is interesting and a good reason to want to continue exploring the oceans and the constructions of the frozen planet.
This has its drawback, as it looks quite similar to the original, feel a bit like a “big expansion” more than a new game in itself. It has a certain air that it is a game made for fans of the first title, that here they can continue to give free rein to their curiosity and creativity. Although if you are fan of survival games you must play Subnautica: sub zero, a game to be savored slowly and disconnectedr of everything around us.
Pro.
- Great atmosphere and immersion
- It’s very addicting
- An interesting plot
Against.
- Very similar to the original
- It can be overwhelming at first
- Some specific graphics failures
About the Author
Madrileño and Carabanchel. Lovers of cats, fantasy and science fiction. It’s hard for me not to play everything that’s put in front of me.
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