Subnautica is an action-adventure game developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Players control a maintenance chief named Ryley, who is the only survivor of a spaceship crash on an alien planet. They are free to explore the oceanic planet. The main objectives are to find essential resources, survive the local flora and fauna, and find a way to escape the planet. It combines elements of survival games and non-survival games.
Subnautica was released in early access for Windows in December 2014, macOS in June 2015, and Xbox One in May 2016. The game was released out of early access in January 2018 for macOS and Windows, with versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in December 2018. The physical console versions were published by Gearbox Publishing. The Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S versions were released in May 2021. It received generally positive reviews from critics and had sold over 5 million units by January 2020. A sequel, Subnautica: Below Zero, was released in May 2021.
Gameplay
Subnautica is a survival action-adventure game set in an open world environment and played from a first-person perspective. The player controls the lone survivor of the crashed spacecraft known as Aurora, Ryley Robinson, as he is stranded on a remote ocean planet known as 4546B in the Galaxy of Andromeda.
The main objective is to explore the ocean and survive its dangers, while completing tasks to advance the plot. Players can collect resources and blueprints, construct tools, build bases and submersibles, and interact with the planet's wildlife.
Some of the most extreme dangers to the player include dangerous fauna including but not limited to: Crabsquids, Warpers, Mesmers, Bonesharks, Ampeels, Stalkers, Crashfish, and Leviathan-class lifeforms like the Reaper, Sea Dragon and Ghost Leviathans. Fauna varies by location and are spread across ecologically distinct biomes that primarily include: the Safe Shallows, Crash Zone, Mushroom Forest, Kelp Forest, and the Grassy Plateau.
The majority of the game is set underwater, with two explorable islands hidden in the northwest and southwest regions of the map, and a simulated day-and-night cycle that affects visibility, along with an eclipse that happens on rare occasion. Upon beginning a new game, players are given an option between four difficulty modes:
- In survival mode, the player manages their depleting health, hunger, thirst and oxygen. If the player dies, they respawn, but certain items are removed from their inventory.
- In freedom mode, gameplay is near-identical to that of survival mode, but without hunger and thirst.
- In hardcore mode, gameplay includes permanent death. If the player dies, they do not respawn, and their save file is instead permanently deleted. Additionally, the player does not receive warnings of low oxygen levels as they would in other modes.
- In creative mode, all depleting characteristics, such as health and thirst, are removed, all blueprints are unlocked, and the player can craft without needing resources. Additionally, the submersibles, a stasis rifle, a Seaglide, a mobile vehicle bay, and a propulsion cannon are provided, which do not need an energy source to operate, and are immune to crush depth.
The game supports VR headsets, such as the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, with the additional input of a keyboard and mouse or game controller.
Also See
- Subnautica: Below Zero
Release Date
- macOS, Windows
January 23, 2018
- PS4, Xbox One
December 4, 2018
- NS, PS5, Series X/S
May 14, 2021
Sound Effects Used
- Boom Library, SF-DS Computer Radar 01
- Hollywoodedge, Eating Cereal CloseU PE137001
- Hollywoodedge, Large Splash Or DiveW PE127201
- Hollywoodedge, Lion Roar Snarl Growl AT013501 (Used for the Sand Shark.)
- Hollywoodedge, Lion Roar Snarl Growl AT013601
- Sound Ideas, HUMAN, SWALLOW - SWALLOW: LIQUID 01 (very low pitched)
- Sound Ideas, HUMAN, SWALLOW - SWALLOW: LIQUID 02 (very low pitched)
- Sound Ideas, WALRUS - MOTHER & DAUGHTER WALLOWING, ANIMAL