Subnautica is an open-world underwater exploration game, where you can gather resources, build submarines, and fight alien fish monsters.
The sea is terrifying. I’m honestly surprised that there aren’t more games about exploring the horrors that lie beneath it’s surface. Thankfully, Natural Selection 2 developer Unknown Worlds has been toiling away on Subnautica for the past year, a game that’s all about exploring a vast, terrifying, alien ocean. The game has just hit Steam on Early Access, and while it only promises a scant “one hour of adventure content,” it’s definitely one to keep an eye on.
Subnautica is set in an “alien ocean world” in which you can gather resources, build submarines, and fight creepy fish monsters. It’s kind of an open-world exploration FPS, but, it isn’t a sandbox game. Or even a survival game. Designer Charlie Cleveland explains:
“We’re not making a sandbox game, nor a building game, nor a survival game, although at times we thought we were,” he says. “We’re building a game where you feel like a scientist who has crash-landed on an aquatic alien world and is learning how it (and its strange inhabitants) work. It’s a game of exploration, discovery and theme.”
While the game is Early Access, Cleveland stresses that it is in no way representative of the game’s final build, and much like Natural Selection 2‘s “pay-to-play” alpha, it is necessary to stress test the game.
“So we forced ourselves to release Subnautica as ‘Earliest Access’ today, even though our hearts are screaming. There are bugs, warts and problems galore that we know about and know how to fix. There isn’t the substance and depth we yearn for.”
If this seems like the kind of game you’re interested in, you can go ahead and slap 17 bucks down on it right now and help fund its future development, but if you’re like me and somewhat wary of Early Access, you can just go ahead and bookmark the Subnautica website and stay tuned for more updates.
Source: Unknown Worlds
