Subnautica: Below Zero

Last month, I had the pleasure of finishing Subnautica: Below Zero off on stream, taking only 24 hours to finish once through (which is substantially shorter than my first completed playtime for Subnautica), and without any additional base building. Given that there's lot of discourse about the game in comparison to the original, I'm throwing my hat in the ring about my opinions. This review will contain the following segments: Plot Summary, Characters, Gameplay and Mechanics, Story Theming, Pros and Cons, Extra Tidbits, and Overall Review. Spoiler Sections will be marked accordingly so those may be skipped upon reading.

Plot Summary

This game takes place after the events of Subnautica, where the Aurora's sole survivor has already cured the Kharaa virus and escaped the planet. You play as Robin Ayou, an ex-XenoWorx employee who comes to the arctic region of 4546B in search of the truth of what happened to her sister, Samantha Ayou. Much like the first game, the player can choose to follow or disregard the story as much as they wish, however Below Zero does push the story more. Robin is very much not a 'silent protagonist', creating voice entries into her PDA and speaking to other characters. As you explore new areas, Robin might comment on how it relates back to her initial quest, verbally putting pieces together, even if your intent is to just explore and disregard the story.

Gameplay and Mechanics

The controls are very similar to the first game with some minor additions. You can now pin crafting recipes for ease of access (instead of being like me and writing them down in a notebook next to my computer), battery and food's shelf life are now shown on a bar alongside the item.

The major new mechanic to the series is monitoring your body's temperature. With being in a cold environment, it's now important when you're above water to keep track of your body temperature. Similar to how oxygen is a steadily decreasing supply, your core temperature will drop as you're exposed to the chilly surface weather. It drops quicker when you're out in more severe weather, and there's tools and foods you can use to keep your temperature up when not near a warm plant or shelter.

The trusty Cyclops has now been replaced with the customizable Seatruck. You will find fragments to scan in different locations and depths, allowing the player to create the 'truck of your needs and dreams', which can be detached at any time. This also replaces the Seamoth, but the PRAWN suit makes its return!

Story Theming (spoilers ahead)

The story has three separate components: Finding what happened to Sam, creating AL-AN's body, and helping out Marguerit. To complete the game, all that really needs to be done is create AL-AN's body and go with him, curing the frozen leviathan and turning off the radio tower are optional objectives for the player to understand more of what happened. Plot wise, each component of the story ties to each other, but they aren't a necessity to reach the end game. Finishing Sam's work is more just to acknowledge what Sam was trying to do before she died, and helping Marguerit only gets you some more background information about how the two knew each other and how she ended up in the arctic area of 4546B. From my understanding, a lot of story had to be cut due to changes behind the scenes, and those cuts could be reflecting in the final product of them story.

Pros

The updated mechanics make the game slightly easier. Gone are the days of writing down crafting recipes in a notebook you keep by your desk because the recipe can be found right in your HUD! There's also a new tool to help you find items and minerals if you're in a bind. The graphics being updated give the game a cleaner feel, and the lighting color from a flashlight or vehicle headlights is softer, making it easier to see the world around you.

Below Zero also allows for more options when it comes to base building. Once you hit a certain point in one of the side stories, you get access to blueprints for lots of internal base items, like a shower, toilet and fridge to name a few. Being in a Subnautica Facebook group has let me see some of the wonderful creations people have come up with, using these new scannable pieces, including a fully functioning hotel. This addition adds more realism to the game and gives the player more opportunity to be creative with their base building.

Given that the game relied on exposing the character's body to colder temperatures to capture the essence of being 'below zero', I liked its use of above sea level land locations and forcing players to step (physically) out of the water's comfort and onto the unknown frontier of land. In Subnautica, there was only two options to go on land (not counting the crashed Aurora), and most of those were safe to walk around. While in the cold depths of the arctic locale, spending too long out and about could cost your life, if the wildlife doesn't get you first. It's this fact that puts it on the 'Pros' list - the developers really made use of this new terrain, making sure the player knew it's not as safe as we might perceive it to be, while giving room to explore but knowing our place in the food chain.

I loved the idea of having a vocal protagonist. I know other players very much disliked this direction, however it was fun to be inside Robin's head to know how she was processing new information that she learned and interacting with things around her. People complained how it took away from being alone in the unknown, but I disagree. We were still very much alone, and the game gives hints on where to go, but it doesn't handhold, much like Subnautica. There were times I had to ask stream chat 'What am I supposed to be doing right now?' because I frankly had no clue of what needed to happen next.

Cons

I found the story to be slightly lacking in some areas. Learning more about the architects was a fun part of the experience, yet I feel more could've been done with the other two storylines that were in the game. I understand that there were lots of changes during production, and I think this is where the game falls short. It's a shorter playtime than Subnautica (albeit it's meant to be DLC), and the map feels more contained. In the first game, I felt there was lots of place to explore without getting bored, and in Below Zero, the map felt smaller in comparison, and less repeats of biomes.

The game could've been slightly more explicit on what tasks needed to be done. It did a better job with it than in the first game (where if you keep going deeper, you'll discover more, but my scared butt was very much afraid to go deeper), but it could've been improved on. I don't want it to be directly telling you "Go to this location", because it takes the fun out of exploring, but there were instances where it was muddled in my brain about what exactly was the next step.

Extra Tidbits

The music is absolutely killer. From my understanding, the prior composer was let go and they hired someone new and I think they nailed it. It may have not gotten me as anxious in the first game, but it provided a very nice ambience while exploring around and I am definitely going to listen to it on repeat on Spotify.

The penglings are the cutest thing in this franchise thus far and I need ten plushies. The fact that Robin's sister made a spy pengling is the DORKIEST thing ever and I'm so here for it.

GAY REPRESENTATION!!! It's so awesome to see it in a piece of media that's rather popular and not blatantly in your face (if you listen to the audio logs, you'll pick up on it).

People complained about the PDA being voiced differently from the first game, but here's the detail: It's a jail-broken PDA from a different corporation. Why would two different companies use the same automated voice for their PDA system? It's the little details like this that make my heart happy.

Overall

I think Subnautica: Below Zero, in the grand scheme of things, is worth the full price on Steam, and an 8/10 rating. The pros outweigh the cons, and it's a game I will definitely come back to and continue base building (after I get over my anger of my save file going corrupt :') ). There's little things the game does right in many ways, and the developers deserve the credit for making improvements on the first game. I hope to see more installments of the Subnautica-universe and building off where this game left off, or exploring more of the vast planet of 4546B.