Subnautica
Subnautica is one of those games I've been aware of for a while, but haven't given much thought to. I really don't like to devote much consideration to "Early Access" titles these days because that usually ends with me either burning out on interest or actually playing and... well... burning out on interest before a thing is even "done." But it had its release recently at just the right time as I was finishing AC: Origins and holding off purchasing thing on my wishlist until after my birthday. It seemed fairly well regarded, and I kind of wanted a serene-ish survival game.
To me, it was definitely worth it (and not even because it costs less than half a triple-A release). The survival gameplay loop/cycle is pretty solid. The atmosphere is relatively calm with a setting that is more "alien" than hostile with probably 90% of the ecosystem indifferent to your presence. And there's a trail of breadcrumbs delivered in such a way to keep you moving along toward an actual end point.
That last bit is perhaps the most fascinating the unique aspect of the game. Minecraft was given an "end boss," but there's no particular incentive to go after it. The Long Dark has a sandbox mode with no endpoint and a story mode with very linear points to work through (some of which feel highly artificial). Subnautica casts you as a survivor of a crash on an alien work and slowly doles out radio messages that encourage you to explore and find other locations, uncovering little bits of history and clues that encourage you to go toward another point that gets you a little closer to rescue/escape. It does so with a light touch, though, instilling curiosity more than pushing the player along. I think some of the initial ones are timed, but most of them seem to come as discovered, and that tends to be in a rough order, but that isn't assured. And that's fine, good even.
As mentioned, there's not a lot of threat. Oh, there are some hostile and dangerous creatures/situations, but basic survival isn't too hard and most would-be-enemies can be outrun. The game provides tools to build that will let you fend off hazards, but not much in the way of weapons to eliminate them. I died precisely twice in my playthrough - once because I wandered too far from my base/supplies in a slow vehicle and ran out of drinkable water, and once due to an unfortunate combination of enemy creatures. There were some other tense times that I survived - being shaken around by giant sea monsters, my exo-suit falling into what I thought would be acidic brine (that the suit turned out to be immune to, yay!), and such. There's also a certain low-level fear/curiosity of descending into new and unfamiliar territory. Those are the situational moments that make a survival game memorable. Subnautica additionally has a few very memorable story moments, even with its light storytelling.
There were some lulls too, but to me it was a fun ride from beginning to end.
To me, it was definitely worth it (and not even because it costs less than half a triple-A release). The survival gameplay loop/cycle is pretty solid. The atmosphere is relatively calm with a setting that is more "alien" than hostile with probably 90% of the ecosystem indifferent to your presence. And there's a trail of breadcrumbs delivered in such a way to keep you moving along toward an actual end point.
That last bit is perhaps the most fascinating the unique aspect of the game. Minecraft was given an "end boss," but there's no particular incentive to go after it. The Long Dark has a sandbox mode with no endpoint and a story mode with very linear points to work through (some of which feel highly artificial). Subnautica casts you as a survivor of a crash on an alien work and slowly doles out radio messages that encourage you to explore and find other locations, uncovering little bits of history and clues that encourage you to go toward another point that gets you a little closer to rescue/escape. It does so with a light touch, though, instilling curiosity more than pushing the player along. I think some of the initial ones are timed, but most of them seem to come as discovered, and that tends to be in a rough order, but that isn't assured. And that's fine, good even.
As mentioned, there's not a lot of threat. Oh, there are some hostile and dangerous creatures/situations, but basic survival isn't too hard and most would-be-enemies can be outrun. The game provides tools to build that will let you fend off hazards, but not much in the way of weapons to eliminate them. I died precisely twice in my playthrough - once because I wandered too far from my base/supplies in a slow vehicle and ran out of drinkable water, and once due to an unfortunate combination of enemy creatures. There were some other tense times that I survived - being shaken around by giant sea monsters, my exo-suit falling into what I thought would be acidic brine (that the suit turned out to be immune to, yay!), and such. There's also a certain low-level fear/curiosity of descending into new and unfamiliar territory. Those are the situational moments that make a survival game memorable. Subnautica additionally has a few very memorable story moments, even with its light storytelling.
There were some lulls too, but to me it was a fun ride from beginning to end.
Spoilers
ReplyDeleteFor my own archive and any reader not minding spoiling the story...
You start with little clue of purpose other than surviving a starship crash. As you explore, pick up signals, and investigate wreckage, you find that the Aurora (the ship you crashed on) was actually there to find any possible survivors of the Degasi (the previous ship to have been lost on the planet). Both, you find, were shot down by a weapon system built by some other species on the world enforcing a quarantine due to a bacterial outbreak - one that you've been infected with.
I was just exploring and learning about this weapon platform in the few minutes before another ship, the Sunbeam, was due to land to effect rescue. So there I stood, told by an alien computer that it was programmed to enforce this quarantine and couldn't be accessed except by uninfected users as my would-be rescue came in on final approach... and got shot out of the sky. That's a crushing moment of inevitability for ya.
But there's renewed hope of escape as escape rocket plans are transmitted and the weapon platform offers leads to both an alien power base and research facility. So you head off to venture deeper, getting resources for the rocket and looking for a way to cure the infection and/or deactivate the weapons. Along the way, logs recount what became of the Degasi and there are tidbits about other survivors of the Aurora crash, but ultimately there aren't any other people found along the way, making it a lonely journey. Though you can hatch a "cuddlefish" for companionship. ;)
And when the time finally comes that history has been unraveled and escape is possible, you can leave behind a "time capsule" with a handful of items that can appear in other people's games. That's a pretty cool touch.
In regards of the leaving behind items, I saw a recounting of someone having left a bunch of fish food things that another person happened upon, but devoured as emergency supplies, only to find a note inside telling them how to care for the animals left behind and that the food was meant for them.
ReplyDeleteAmusingly, I read that and I think I got one of the same capsules - bunch of fish and the text describing them. 'course, gamewise, they're just fish, but it was cute.
DeleteWhat really blew my mind was the first one I found, before I understood players could leave messages - the text left described (albeit very vaguely) the survivor of lifepod 5 (the one the player is in) as having crashed on day one and leaving the planet on day 365. This was about day 30 in my game and had me wondering if there was some literal time travel going on and "I" had sent it back for "myself" somehow. Heh.