If I could most adequately describe this game in just a word, I’d have to throw out “pacing”, as my best attempt. Subnautica has incredible pacing.
Some games might boast their combat systems, or exploration, or role-playing elements, or graphics, but very few can say that excellent pacing is a strong draw for their player base. Subnautica is one of those few.
The gameplay loop is fairly straightforward: survival crafting locked behind crafting which is locked behind simpler crafting which is locked behind simpler crafting, and the loop goes on. Make simple stick to make slightly more complicated stick, repeat, except all of this happens, mostly, in an alien ocean.
What most survival games lack that Subnautica has baked right into its core is that pacing aspect: these gameplay mechanics are complicated, to a degree, and require some study. To encourage players to commit to that study, Subnautica uses it’s main story to slowly but surely put pressure on the player to explore and put themselves in a bit of danger and, ultimately, find out that Subnautica has many more layers to its depth than one might assume.
Where one begins trying to just get by, Subnautica leads one on a journey to a confused mix between trying to thrive in luxury and trying to escape, all the while being unsure about something. The game is ominous in a way. I’m quite unsure if I’m being watched while playing it. As though there is something out there, in the game, that is aware that I’m playing it.
But these are just the first impressions, of course. We’ll see how Subnautica’s secrets unfold as I continue playing:
Fun gameplay, pretty scenery, explorative survival loop, and excellent pacing.
