7 Minutes of Subnautica Below Zero's Exciting New Story
0Subnautica was one of my favorite open world survival games of the last decade, and on the surface of its frigid ocean, Below Zero could almost be mistaken for a huge expansion. As I dive deeper, though, what I've found is a full-fledged sequel that doesn't fix what wasn't broken about the first game while improving in little but meaningful ways in a lot of areas. I haven't fully plumbed the depths of the current Early Access version, which now includes the entirety of the fully-voiced main story. But what I have seen makes me eager to go deeper.
Right as I take my first plunge, it's immediately noticeable how much better the tech is this time around. One of my only major frustrations with the original Subnautica was how mood-ruining it could be to see textures and objects pop in as I was zipping around the otherwise beautifully immersive underwater environments in my submersible. Those jarring eyesores are completely gone, allowing me to explore eerie reefs and foreboding geothermal vents the way they deserve to be seen. The overall fidelity hasn't taken a huge step forward, and I can recognize a lot of re-used and recolored models, but it's a great example of how far a little optimization can go.