Subnautica Reviews
Subnautica is a template for what open-world survival games should strive to be. It’s fantastical, fresh, and frightening from surface to seabed, with a story that kept on surprising me and a cast of sea monsters that quite literally haunted my dreams.
An oppressively beautiful portrayal of an undersea environment, and a well-wrought survival game with a vaguely eco-friendly message.
A smattering of technical issues keep Subnautica from true legendary status, but only just.
Performance problems aside, Subnautica will rekindle your faith in the overcrowded survival genre, and scare you senseless.
A survival game that isn't out just to punish its players, but to entertain; with an impressive mix of exploration, crafting, and survival horror.
With a robust crafting system and several amazing secrets to find, Subnautica never ceases to entertain
Subnautica is a terrifying, mystifying, massive, and brilliant survival game.
So far Subnautica has been the outstanding title of 2018 for me. We're only a month in, but the time I've had with this game has been incredible, and I'm sure it will be a game I remember in December when the year is wrapping up.
Subnautica works brilliantly as a serene, lonely, contemplative adventure. It's one of those rare games I'd take to a desert island.
Subnautica is a perfect example an open world survival game that doesn't rely on action, horror or combat elements to excite. Whilst these classic gaming features are involved to an extent, they take a back seat compared to the story, crafting and surviving elements. And this is what sets Subnautica apart from other survival experiences out there. Don't let this be the one that got away.
Subnautica is a fresh new scope on the survival genre. Unknow Worlds Entertainment has created an intense, extreme and rich in possibilities adventure. Subnautica knows what to tell to the player and knows how to do it despite the characteristics of the genre.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Subnautica is not without its issues, but it successfully manages to combine a strong sense of exploration and discovery with an interesting story hook and an exceptional soundtrack to make it one of the very best examples of the genre.
When Unknown Worlds announced they were bringing this one to Switch we were hugely excited, this is one of our all-time favourite games after all, but it was excitement tempered with a degree of scepticism as to how on earth they'd manage to cram the entire experience onto Switch in a properly playable manner. As it turns out, we needn't have worried as this is a super solid port that - besides a few loading stutters here and there and some scenery pop-in that's present in every other version of the game - successfully delivers one of the very best survival experiences on any platform to Nintendo's hybrid console.
So much of this world is best experienced via first-hand discovery.
If you couldn't tell, I was blown away by Subnautica. What initially appeared to be a knee-high kiddie pool worth of depth, suddenly gives way to a literal ocean of gameplay opportunities. And while it has certain technical limitations, these are certainly not going to discourage the non-critic audience from at least dipping a toe in. It's easily one of the coolest, engaging, and most gratifying experiences I've had with a game in 2018. Come on in! The water's fine.
Vast biomes to explore? Check. Mysteries to uncover? Check. Monsters in the deep? Check. Subnautica for PC is one helluva ride.
Despite the performance issues, Subnautica is definitely a title that you shouldn't sleep on. The open world exploration and survival mechanics are on point, and the world is massive, deep, and rich in detail; it's just a shame that it's being held back a little bit by problems with how it runs.
While Subnautica remains a brilliantly immersive and addictive survival adventure, the PS5 upgrade delivers less than we expected. Technically, the game is very similar to its successor, Subnautica: Below Zero, and yet falls short on both performance and visual quality in comparison. A free upgrade is always welcome, but perhaps Subnautica PS5 has automatically been made redundant by its superior sequel. Existing Subnautica players with a PS5 get a nice facelift, but there's little to justify this edition for newcomers.
In terms of settings, gameplay dynamics and sheer fascination, Subnautica is the best single-player survival game out there. It's full of bright discoveries, a great sci-fi experience, and at the same time a cruel and unforgiving survival horror. James Cameron would absolutely love it.
Review in Italian | Read full review