Frozen Wonderland

After having a grand ol' time playing Subnautica and with the convenient timing of Steam's Holiday Sale, I decided to continue my underwater adventures with Subnautica: Below Zero.  The player reviews for Below Zero weren't as glowingly positive as those for the original game, but I decided to judge for myself.  Since I'm on my holiday break, I've had plenty of time to play and I just finished up a full playthrough.

What is it?

The follow up to the excellent first game, Subnautica.  It takes place on the same planet, so there are some recognizable elements, but it's in the frozen, polar zone.  Much of the gameplay is identical to the first game with a few minor changes.

How much gameplay can you expect?

On many of the player reviews there were mentions of the shorter length (and some people saying that it felt more like a DLC than a full, separate title).  I finished a full playthrough in ~30 hours where my full Subnautica playthrough clocked in at about 53.  Playtime is highly dependent on your personal play style--if you want to meticulously craft the perfect underwater lair, you could definitely spend a good chunk of time gathering materials and cobbling base elements together.  On the other hand, if you just focus on the story elements, you could probably easily finish it in less than 20.  There's some replayability built in--maybe slightly more so than the first game.

Pros:

+ If you played Subnautica the gameplay elements are immediately recognizable.  There are some minor changes to certain crafting recipes (you're in different biomes, so some elements have been swapped out) but for the most part it's the same.  This is nice because it means there's no mix up of controls and you don't enter the game feeling like you have to relearn things.  Probably the biggest change is the introduction of an additional survival element--temperature.  Since you're in the polar region of the planet the above water temperatures and weather are hazardous.  When you're exploring on land (which you will do) you have to keep an eye on your body temperature and plan ahead to carry (or craft items) that can help counter the cold.

+ The story is more fleshed out and is voice acted by none other than Kimberly T. Brooks of Mass Effect fame (I immediately recognized the voice of Ashley Williams).  It's nice to have an outline of your goals.  I noticed that several reviews mentioned that they didn't like that your character is voiced and felt like it ruins the immersion.  Okay then.  That was not my experience and I enjoyed having more narration.  There are two different story elements that play out and I felt like the characters and voice acting helped give it more life than in the first game.

+ Gorgeous new biomes to explore.  I think the highlight of the Subnautica games is how well they create a unique and beautiful variety of areas to explore.  There are new flora and fauna to scan and plenty of new predators to avoid.  My personal favorite is the vent biome with the colorful tree-like corals and the giant vent jellies.

A not-so-great shot of my Seatruck.

+ The adaptable Seatruck.  In Subnautica you had the choice of the Seamoth (a small, very maneuverable craft that couldn't reach the deepest depths) or the Cyclops (a hulking, slow submarine that could carry your Prawn Suit).  To reach the deepest parts of the map it was necessary to utilize the extremely un-fun Cyclops.  In Below Zero you get one craft that you can add modules to--the Seatruck can be exactly what you want it to be (which depends on you discovering and scanning all the modules).  If you just want to zip around in the truck itself, you can do that.  If you want to turn your Seatruck into a floating base, you can attach all the modules (and have a Cyclops-like experience).  The Seatruck is a huge improvement over the Cyclops.

+ Three different gameplay modes.  The default mode is survival (you have to eat, drink, and monitor your health and temperature elements) but if you just want to hang out and craft a cool base you could opt for the creative mode (survival elements are turned off).  If you're feeling up for an extra challenge you could opt for the hardcore survival mode where you only get one life.  It's nice to have this variety to accommodate different kinds of players.

+ Goofy cosmetic elements to personalize your base.  You can grab these from several of the ruined bases scattered around the map and they give your rather sterile base a bit of personality.  The mock corporate motivational posters are funny, but I like the more personal pieces tied to the story of your sister (one of the main story elements).

+ Maps!  It's not quite a full map, but you can find a couple of different maps that are very helpful in giving you a general overview of where to find things.  I'm sure that people will gripe that it's another thing that detracts from the more survival oriented first game, but just having the general frame of where to look for things was so helpful.

+ Some new items that help make gameplay slightly easier.  The quantum locker is one of my favorites--it allows you to craft lockers that share storage between locations.  There's also an option for a teleportation module for your Seatruck (which is a bit of a mixed bag).

Cons:

- It is shorter than Subnautica, but I don't feel like reviews that say it feels like a DLC are accurate.  Sure, the gameplay is basically identical, but there are new storylines and other new elements that help it feel different from the original.  I didn't feel like the length was egregiously short--you're still probably looking at over 20 hours of gameplay.

- Two separate storylines.  Initially you're presented with the main storyline about your character investigating the mysterious death of her sister.  I'm not going to spoil it, but after discovering an interesting alien artifact the story gets very invested in the alien side of things and your sister becomes a bit of a side note.  There's not a great resolution to the sister storyline and you get a bit of a general idea about what happened from discovering PDA's.  I guess I'd say it's not very handholdy in that sense--you've sort of got to figure it out on your own.  It just felt weird to make the death of your sister feel like the main focus and then sort of push it aside.

- The Seatruck is highly adaptable, but some of the modules feel very superfluous.  Why even add a sleeper module when your character doesn't need to sleep?  And yes, you can choose which modules you want to craft and utilize.  The downside of adding modules is that the Seatruck becomes slower and more unwieldy as you add them (makes sense).  Basically there are like 2-3 modules that you probably want to use (fabrication, storage, and docking).  I also found it kind of annoying that if you click in the wrong place you would wind up disconnecting the modules--they're easy to re-attach, but I wish that there was a click and hold or something to make it harder to accidentally disconnect them.

- Some very optional gameplay elements.  Part of the story involves your character exploring aboveground areas and having to navigate the freezing temperatures.  Dying from hypothermia is a real threat...that is, until you get the Prawn Suit--then, you can just tromp your way around with no concern.  There are multiple items that can be crafted specifically to help your character survive the freezing climate, but there's little reason to utilize them.  Part of me felt like I was missing out by not crafting these items, but part of my was like "why?"  Why waste time gathering materials to craft three different suit items, a vehicle, and another vehicle docking pad when I can just pop into the Prawn?  I sort of wish that they'd have made it so you can't use the Prawn on land.

Recommendation:

If you liked Subnautica, you'll like Below Zero. I enjoyed the more story-focused elements and slightly more accommodating gameplay.  It's not as big as the original game, but its shorter length doesn't mean that it's not worth playing.  I'd definitely buy it on sale (and, you can get a bundle with both games!).