It’s not too long ago that Subnautica, the survival (and let’s be honest) horror game got fully released. Unknown Worlds, however, didn’t sit still and are ready to share the new expansion called Below Zero. While it’s in Early Access, we break down what the game has to offer so far.
The world and story
The game is set in the Arctic region of planet 4546B. You will be a scientist who has the task to explore and study alien artifacts while being posted on the research station. The Vesper space station orbits above you will give instructions and that’s where all your samples get send to.. till a disaster happens and you need to improvise to survive. The expansion will dive deeper into the universe of Subnautica, giving more insight into the aliens and so on.
So far, it sounds like the Subnautica game we know, having to survive on an alien planet with almost nothing but water surrounding you. Just as the base game you will need to craft, construct and scavenge resources and hunt for food. While that all sounds familiar the world clearly doesn’t. Adventure through icy caves to snow-covered peaks and steaming vents, this time it’s all ice-cold. Obviously, a new world also means new dangerous species as well as helpful ones.
The trailer gives you an idea of what you will meet below and above the ground. While the Pengwings are really adorable I can’t say that about the rest that got shown.
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The Stream and further development
The first thing that we should mention is that the developers took the good parts of Subnautica and used that for the expansion. This means it will be familiar for the players while being a completely different game. As not only the world is different but also the approach to the story. This time you will be playing as a female, who still has contact with her sister who lives in the space station. The stream shows some dialogue between them as well as the rich detailed starting area.
The game itself has currently two hours of story. However, if you like to explore the world and have some fun in the creative mode the total time can be expanded. Depending on how the development goes, they are planning to be in Early Access for one year, when at release, the price will increase by 25%.
What does the community think so far?
As we have mentioned already the game is far from finished so we will ignore most comments about that part. However, the first thing that shows is that not all players are fond of the main character being a female and the voice acting. So far there is no ability to change your gender, but then again Subnautica didn’t have that option either. While the voice acting isn’t bad players apparently enjoyed the silence that appeared in the main game.
Most players are incredibly positive about the few hours and are excited to see how much the expansion will change and develop over time. Even when most biomes aren’t even finished yet, some are saying its in a better state than when Subnautica got into Early Access. With all the experience the team had, players are really fond of the visuals, biomes, species as well as the soundtrack. So far it’s fair to say that if you liked Subnautica and don’t mind buying games that aren’t finished yet and want to provide feedback the money is well spent.
The developers couldn’t stress it enough, Below Zero is in Early Access to gather feedback from players before releasing it and will include bugs and missing content. You can find the expansion on Steam, Discord and Epic Store for a price of 16.79 euro. It’s not yet known when Below Zero will be available on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, definitely as PlayStation doesn’t allow Early Access games.
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