Subnautica

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1406 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,191 out of 1406
  2. Mixed: 133 out of 1406
  3. Negative: 82 out of 1406

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  1. hameow
    Mar 2, 2019
    8
    Worth the price. One problem tho. Late game is laggy. I love the lore and how deep it goes.
  2. Waveform1
    Feb 25, 2019
    3
    REAL MIXED BAG HERE

    It is attention grabbing and intriguing... for the first 2 hours I'd say about when you're building your first habitat is when the boredom sets in, then when you're trying to advance (Especially the cyclops) the boredom starts to slide into frustration and impatience. The scavenging, while fun at first, quickly begins to devolve into a tedious, headache inducing    REAL MIXED BAG HERE

    It is attention grabbing and intriguing... for the first 2 hours
    I'd say about when you're building your first habitat is when the boredom sets in, then when you're trying to advance (Especially the cyclops) the boredom starts to slide into frustration and impatience. The scavenging, while fun at first, quickly begins to devolve into a tedious, headache inducing scavenger hunt. While the game is very visually appealing, towards mid game that luster too begins to fall away as you have to make constant, long... long trips back to wherever you set down your main base as the resources required begin to get farther and rarer. Even just on freedom mode I was a full 24 hours in and I was barely halfway through, which brings me to my next point...

    CHEATING

    This game drives you to cheat, I have NEVER in my life played a game that wants you to cheat this much. Unless you are a veteran and know exactly what to do, you constantly are needing materials you either can't get too or just plain don't know the location of. I've heard that this game doesn't hold your hand, but in all reality it puts a blindfold on you, spins you around three times and tells you to go get 4 Kyanite.
    My breaking point was when I got to the point where I needed a prawn suit. It needs aerogel and ruby among other things. The ruby was easy enough, the gel sacks for the aerogel were what got me. I had never seen them before and after spending two full hours just looking for these tiny deep sea sacks I gave in and started cheating. and cheated, and cheated.
    I couldn't STOP cheating when I figured out I could. what used to take me hours now took simple seconds, I could actually start to move forward in the story again, speaking of...

    THE STORY AND MY STUPID PROBLEM

    I have no complaints about the story, it's polished, well thought out and snarky at times, my problem with it was that I got STUCK.
    It had probably been 6 hours by now, I had a small base, a seamoth, discovered both islands, got to the one with the three degasi bases. I combed it up and down and dismissed the degasi crew as a cool subplot, nothing more nothing less
    I was very wrong...
    hours after I had combed over the island I was becoming increasingly desperate for something productive to do, the story had run cold, all I was doing at this point was running around for supplies to expand my base.
    I got sick of it, started looking it up.
    Turns out that I had missed a single abandoned PDA on the degasi island... one sitting on the side of a random trail... one that in my three expeditions I had not seen once because it was hidden in the grass. The exact one that gave me my next story marker. The level of fury I had at that current moment was unprecedented. I had been playing all day and a small portion of the night simply to get as far as I can only to get hung up on this one tiny detail. Wasted hours and hours trying to find this one crucial pda where I was given no hints or indication that I needed to do so in the first place.

    THE GAME ENGINE

    I think my feelings can be summed up as a single statement here "This game engine makes Fallout: New Vegas look strong"
    I was constantly clipping into things, at one point I beached my seamoth to explore only to find just the very tip of it sticking out of the sand when I got back, so I had to use my seaglide to ram the beach, clip into it, climb in my seamoth and then drive out (Which damaged it very badly)
    At one point I was exploring the Aurora, picked something up and ended up clipping into the wall. That almost permanently
    reversed the water and air, so every time I was inside a structure it acted as if I was outside and vice versa

    THE ATMOSPHERE

    I already touched on how towards mid game you have to make long long trips through ocean with very little to look at, and while that improves slightly towards end game it certainly isn't helped by the lack of music
    The music is amazing, there just isn't enough of it.
    At points I would find myself staring at dark mute blue for tens of minutes, nothing to look at, nothing to hear except the whir of my seamoth and even that starts to drone after a while.
    you could say that this makes it more realistic, but the truth is it just gets so *boring*, this only works to make the scavenging even more boring. Towards the end of the middle I found myself getting so bored that I just muted the game and used my own sci fi music. But I couldn't make it fit the tone like an in game soundtrack.

    CONCLUSION

    This is a good game. But it needs so much more work to be enjoyed to its fullest extent. Fix the pacing of scavenging, fix the paper thin solid layers and add more music. As well as the fact that spending hours trying to find a single type of resource and then having to run stupid long distances over and over again to get more of it isn't fun. But the game uses the scavenging as a crutch to prop up a game with no other substance or mechanics.    … Expand
  3. Sinatra
    Feb 13, 2019
    10
    The best survival game and one of the best games I´ve played. Thank you Dev´s for this amazing experience!

    This game is really something! Survival with story? Yes, and a good one. The game has a goal (well, more then one), has a great progression, a fantastic world and a very good crafting and (kind of) research system. Vehicle Design - the best I have ever seen! Like no other game, it    The best survival game and one of the best games I´ve played. Thank you Dev´s for this amazing experience!

    This game is really something! Survival with story? Yes, and a good one. The game has a goal (well, more then one), has a great progression, a fantastic world and a very good crafting and (kind of) research system. Vehicle Design - the best I have ever seen!
    Like no other game, it manages to bring forth many contrary feelings a once. Let me explain what I´m thinking as I get to a new biome for the first time:
    It´s so dark - I´m scared. But there are glowy things everywhere - it´s so beautiful. The music - I´m terrified! What kind of new machinery (unlocks) will I find here - I´m curios. Look a that thing swimming over there, is that making that awful noise? Let´s have a look - and some seconds later - I´m getting out of here and never, never, never coming back.... even though I´ll have to eventually. :-)
    I think Subnautica is a horror game disguised as a beautiful survival crafting game.

    But let´s start nitpicking.... is it absolutely perfect? No....
    Even with a high end pc I still have pop-ups.
    Towards the end of the game, there was a moment I felt a bit lost and was unsure of what to do (because I didn´t read all the entries in my PDA)
    Has no tutorial (but is very intuitive)

    I thought about giving this game a 9/10, but even if it´s not perfect, the experience is a 12/10....
    I hope the developers made a lot of money with this and will continue at this level of quality in other games!
    If you don´t know Subnautica, don´t look it up... just PLAY THIS GAME!    … Expand
  4. Moiizi
    Feb 13, 2019
    9
    very great game. A wonderful experience under water, nice secrets and story.
  5. fullmetal_boy
    Feb 9, 2019
    10
    Frankly, I am scared of depths. Now imagine me playing this one. The best survival game I`ve ever played. Period.
    The mixture of exploration and uknown drove me insane, and I`ve never thought I`d want to build a base and literally live there with occasional trips for recources. Honestly, I don`t know a game where I`d feel so unsafe. Now add an intriguing story, ocassional fears of uknown    Frankly, I am scared of depths. Now imagine me playing this one. The best survival game I`ve ever played. Period.
    The mixture of exploration and uknown drove me insane, and I`ve never thought I`d want to build a base and literally live there with occasional trips for recources. Honestly, I don`t know a game where I`d feel so unsafe. Now add an intriguing story, ocassional fears of uknown (or the fact your little Moth can be torn apart as a paper ship by some monsters that live there) and lenghthy searches for needed equipment. Plus don`t forget to drink and eat. Best experience!    … Expand
  6. kuczmcym
    Feb 8, 2019
    8
    A wonderful mix a beautiful and terrifying.

    A truly unique exploration experience.
  7. Moosher
    Feb 6, 2019
    10
    Do I even have to say anything? It's SUBNAUTICA we are talking about here.

    10/10 Instantly
  8. En0t_OZAVR
    Feb 4, 2019
    10
    Пожалуй лучшая сингл плеер выживалка!
    Мир игры настолько интересен,что хочется иследовать и иследовать!!!
  9. richardking007
    Jan 24, 2019
    10
    This is the Type of Game that o never never espect to play... and when i played.....wowwwwww no words enough to describe... One of the Best Games i´ve ever Played. Thanks Dev Team.
  10. supercagan
    Jan 15, 2019
    10
    Amazing game, great story, great game design, great visuals...enjoyed every last second. Waiting the new release from these developers.
  11. DSgamePL
    Jan 12, 2019
    10
    One of best survivals ever. (75 characters)..................................................................
  12. CR1T1Cando
    Jan 9, 2019
    10
    Subnautica, I must admit, that is a beautiful game. The gameplay flows well until well, several items to manufacture a medium-sized campaign with secondary objectives until you find out what happened to other crew members, record species that in your ... Tablet? You can see all the information about them, you can have gigantic Submarines up to steals in water, high possibility of creation,Subnautica, I must admit, that is a beautiful game. The gameplay flows well until well, several items to manufacture a medium-sized campaign with secondary objectives until you find out what happened to other crew members, record species that in your ... Tablet? You can see all the information about them, you can have gigantic Submarines up to steals in water, high possibility of creation, and incredible what the studio did to this game, I think it really deserves a good note.… Expand
  13. TheGameIsALie
    Jan 6, 2019
    9
    Subnautica é um survival horror que era para ser um dos melhores jogos de todos os tempos, mas sua otimização o prejudica drasticamente. É imersivo, tem uma história caótica, um visual agradável, efeitos sonoros incríveis e um gameplay que acerta em praticamente todos seus pontos.
  14. neotrix
    Jan 6, 2019
    10
    A exciting story in a brilliant Survivalgame . The feelings are between fear and euphoria all the time .
  15. Harshmelloz
    Jan 4, 2019
    9
    The absolute best survival game you'll find. Stunningly superb from start to finish with an EXCELLENT story unfolding as you progress and a wonderful soundtrack that adapts to fit your location and situation. The sheer depth of both the waters and the story is something you'll have to experience yourself, as no trailer will so much as scratch the surface. Deserving of a 10, but knockedThe absolute best survival game you'll find. Stunningly superb from start to finish with an EXCELLENT story unfolding as you progress and a wonderful soundtrack that adapts to fit your location and situation. The sheer depth of both the waters and the story is something you'll have to experience yourself, as no trailer will so much as scratch the surface. Deserving of a 10, but knocked down a point due to the high amount of potentially game/save-breaking bugs present that will almost require you to become familiar with the issues in order to manually avoid the situations that cause them, particularly phasing through world geometry either via excessive speed or entering areas that haven't fully loaded in. Save often and make backups of your saves regularly.… Expand
  16. passionne
    Jan 4, 2019
    6
    Good :

    - story - exploration - the only game under sea - 200 h to play - rich enough for crafting Bad : - stutters with a powerful PC (RTX 2080 TI, 9900K, 64 GB RAM, Samsung 960 Evo 1 TB) - mid-resolution textures : graphically, the game is average - the beginning of the game is laborious : every resource must be collected, everything must be built. After building a base,    Good :

    - story
    - exploration
    - the only game under sea
    - 200 h to play
    - rich enough for crafting

    Bad :

    - stutters with a powerful PC (RTX 2080 TI, 9900K, 64 GB RAM, Samsung 960 Evo 1 TB)
    - mid-resolution textures : graphically, the game is average
    - the beginning of the game is laborious : every resource must be collected, everything must be built. After building a base, the Cyclops and the Prawn, the game becomes more interesting.
    - Hunger and thirst management is really annoying
    - There is only one end whereas there should have been 3 ends, according to your deeds.    … Expand
  17. Luposlipaphobia
    Jan 3, 2019
    8
    I made an account to create this review. Imo this game excels at:
    -Cool environments. Lively art direction and interesting variety of biomes.
    -Great sense of scale. From the surface all the way down to the "depths." -Unique creatures. Large array of alien species make you want to explore more. -Original and well-executed core idea. The "water planet" backdrop is both a nightmare and a    I made an account to create this review. Imo this game excels at:
    -Cool environments. Lively art direction and interesting variety of biomes.
    -Great sense of scale. From the surface all the way down to the "depths."
    -Unique creatures. Large array of alien species make you want to explore more.
    -Original and well-executed core idea. The "water planet" backdrop is both a nightmare and a paradise.
    -Creative story and lore. I loved the plot, though I found some areas out of order.

    The downsides:
    -(Again) Out of order events. I felt completely lost at times because I ran into "deeper" areas out of order, often using the wiki or youtube to see what to do next.
    - Would benefit if they made the beacon a reusable tool so you don't have to remake this item repeatedly a couple dozen times (then forget when you need it most).
    -I wish I chose the "no food/water consumption" mode. I built things in my base to help, but I found myself tethered to my base because of it.
    -The Prawn suit needs more arms imo. That way you can be spiderman and not have to switch out appendages.

    Conclusion: The beginning of the game is extremely entertaining. The latter part gets tedious, especially if you have to deal with food/water every 15 minutes. Still a great and unique game.    … Expand
  18. Laycre
    Jan 1, 2019
    10
    Maybe the best game that i have played. The graphics are just awesome and the monsters are breathtaking. The ONLY problem in the game is the optimization, just that. The story is awesome, i almost cried in the end. Really Worth the money with you like survival games.
  19. Fiebork
    Jan 1, 2019
    10
    This is the best game what I have ever seen. I spent 32 hours, and i was so happy.
  20. Dubeau
    Dec 26, 2018
    7
    Subnautica is a good game. The exploration is fun under water. The under water world is well populated and the water effect is nice. The vegetation is perfect. The music is pretty good too. I had a lot of problems with the lack of a map. You see, you fabricated a device in the game that can render and detect the shape of the terrain, but yet you can keep any of this data for a map. It's aSubnautica is a good game. The exploration is fun under water. The under water world is well populated and the water effect is nice. The vegetation is perfect. The music is pretty good too. I had a lot of problems with the lack of a map. You see, you fabricated a device in the game that can render and detect the shape of the terrain, but yet you can keep any of this data for a map. It's a big logical hole for me. I felt the story didn't involved me that much at times and the task of keeping me alive was kind of boring. I did prefer to die then try to run fish for water or food. The lack of proper storing capacity becomes a problem and the solution they have wasn't very efficient. I give it a 72%. For an indie game it's impressive.… Expand
  21. SamuraiJapan
    Dec 20, 2018
    9
    Не смотря на то, что я не люблю игры про выживания, эта игра меня поразила. Очень классная игра, затягивает на долгие дни. Только вот сложновата немного, с трудом дается развитие. Подводный мир очень красивый, музыка просто класс! Все продумано до мелочей, супер!Не смотря на то, что я не люблю игры про выживания, эта игра меня поразила. Очень классная игра, затягивает на долгие дни. Только вот сложновата немного, с трудом дается развитие. Подводный мир очень красивый, музыка просто класс! Все продумано до мелочей, супер!
  22. ChadlyD
    Dec 20, 2018
    8
    Updated Review (8/10):
    I wanted to hate this game because of the game director but man, its just so good. I recommend not reading any reviews or watching any gameplay videos as it can reveal huge spoilers. Would easily be a 10/10 game for me if it wasn't for the game director.
    Original Review (1/10): The game director has no tolerance for political opinions that differ from his own.    Updated Review (8/10):
    I wanted to hate this game because of the game director but man, its just so good. I recommend not reading any reviews or watching any gameplay videos as it can reveal huge spoilers. Would easily be a 10/10 game for me if it wasn't for the game director.

    Original Review (1/10):
    The game director has no tolerance for political opinions that differ from his own. He fired his sound designer for not having politically correct thoughts. I won't support a company with this level of political correctness. Sad that politics had to ruin the experience because it's pretty close to being a great game. The game is currently free on Epic Games, so you can check it out without financially supporting pc/sjw culture. I would recommend playing it for free, as the exploration aspects are very enjoyable. Gaming is just not a good place for political agendas in my opinion.    … Expand
  23. Widden
    Dec 16, 2018
    9
    Firstly; I've finished the game. It is really good fun, highly recommended.

    However, you need to be open minded, ready to explore, act like you were really on an alien planet in an alien environment, and play reasonably carefully; you can easily die. And there's no handholding, you need to figure out a lot of things, which I can see some reviewers find frustrating. To me it's kind    Firstly; I've finished the game. It is really good fun, highly recommended.

    However, you need to be open minded, ready to explore, act like you were really on an alien planet in an alien environment, and play reasonably carefully; you can easily die. And there's no handholding, you need to figure out a lot of things, which I can see some reviewers find frustrating.

    To me it's kind of going back to the grassroots of gaming, just the way I like it :)

    Ok the good:
    - I don't need to tell you how good it looks.
    - It's a fresh idea, offers a good level of freedom, challenging (you can play it on really easy or really hard; up to you.
    - Decent storyline
    - Replayability; if the building aspect is what you like, then there's lots :)

    The not so good:
    - I've encountered one really bad bug where I've reloaded and was outside of the map, and a few not-so-deadly, so some bugfixing could definitely help.
    - I think some tech are a bit late in the game to be truly useful - but maybe it was just my luck
    - it can get tedious on hard levels, you really need to watch what you're doing, and yeah you might need some luck as well (just as in real life). And one bad decision on the spot can mean death.

    One small advice without giving away too much; you don't need to stack up on resources too badly, unless you're building the Hyatt underwater; it'll come easier.    … Expand
  24. Danieldkland
    Nov 29, 2018
    10
    This game is probably my all-time favorite, because, while it does have some bugs and a lot of minor inconveniences, it hasn't impacted my experience enough for me too really feel it when getting immersed into the game. And you really do get immersed, with the beautiful environment, incredible audio-design and music, and of course the creative and believable creatures on planet 4546B.
    For    This game is probably my all-time favorite, because, while it does have some bugs and a lot of minor inconveniences, it hasn't impacted my experience enough for me too really feel it when getting immersed into the game. And you really do get immersed, with the beautiful environment, incredible audio-design and music, and of course the creative and believable creatures on planet 4546B.
    For a small studio like Unknown Worlds to create this is an astonishing feat, and I'd recommend this game to everyone.    … Expand
  25. Brtk
    Nov 23, 2018
    8
    Great expirience. I buy this game when this game was in early access. This game is beautiful.
  26. pjnt
    Nov 18, 2018
    9
    Exceptional.
    Beautifully made.
    Thoroughly immersive.

    Other games take notice. This is what a game should be like.

    This is the cherry on top of the cream that rose to the top.

    If you are into first person, story driven, beautifully crafted games, buy this. Check out some of the in-game footage and be amazed.
  27. donnyjepp
    Nov 16, 2018
    10
    Subnautica makes you feel chillingly alone in a world full of beautiful flora and fauna, and I wouldn't want it any other way. The sense of isolation pushes you to constantly seek out survivors, thus teasing out a surprisingly captivating storyline adorned with moments of both terror and elation. The base building and crafting components are (almost) as compelling as the beautiful, curatedSubnautica makes you feel chillingly alone in a world full of beautiful flora and fauna, and I wouldn't want it any other way. The sense of isolation pushes you to constantly seek out survivors, thus teasing out a surprisingly captivating storyline adorned with moments of both terror and elation. The base building and crafting components are (almost) as compelling as the beautiful, curated world you exist in., and each new discovery - be it a towering wreck on the ocean floor or the blueprints for a coffee machine - fills you with excitement and the hunger to find more. The only criticism is that, as with almost every indie game, there are holes in the fabric with regards to optimization and bugs. As game-breaking bugs are reportedly few and far between (and did not impact my playthrough), I don't feel this is substantive enough to take away from a perfect score. This game is a top 10 for me.… Expand
  28. larsch
    Nov 16, 2018
    9
    Not without its flaws, but they are all forgiven, because this game is beautiful, immersive and just enjoyable way to spend a weekend (or two, or three...)
  29. P_r_o_x_y_
    Oct 17, 2018
    10
    Best survival i have played , have an very open world good history and graphics hope another one part of this great game
  30. eifbfvfhd
    Oct 10, 2018
    9
    Subnautica is a big open world survival game. This version of a survival game is quite different to normal survival games as it is set on an alien water planet called 4546B. It is only fully released on pc but the unreleased version can still be bought on Xbox and PlayStation. It is made by a small gaming developer company called Unknown Worlds. It is a well-loved game by the people whoSubnautica is a big open world survival game. This version of a survival game is quite different to normal survival games as it is set on an alien water planet called 4546B. It is only fully released on pc but the unreleased version can still be bought on Xbox and PlayStation. It is made by a small gaming developer company called Unknown Worlds. It is a well-loved game by the people who played it before and after release.
    The story starts with you in a big spaceship called the Aurora. You crash on an alien planet due to the ship being shot by an unknown alien blast. You get into life pod 5 and eject from the ship onto the ocean’s surface. During planet fall you become unconscious and wake up hours later after you have landed. As you get out of the life pod you find yourself in the middle of the ocean with the crashed ship in sight. Your goal is to find food and water while managing your oxygen, similar to other survival games. You will be able to find blueprints to items and vehicles that help you dive deeper into the water while still not drowning. Eventually the crashed ships energy core becomes unstable and the ship blows up. This makes a massive hole in the ship in which you can enter from. Inside the ship you can find out what happened to the other life pods and how the ship got shot down and where from. As you go towards the location you will find an alien base with a gun on it from an unknown race. You also find out that the ship crashed on a 2km by 2 km area which outside of hold the biggest and most deadly creature out of all of Subnautica, but you’ll have to find out what that is. Clues from the base will lead you deeper and deeper into the ocean to more alien bases. As you progress in the game you find out that you are infected by an unknown disease that is only on the planet that you crashed on. More clues lead you to find out what happened to the alien race and what they were trying to do about the disease. As you explore the ocean you find human made bases from the crew from a ship called the Degassi that went missing near the planet 10 years prior to the Aurora crashing. At each point on the map where you find information to progress the story there is usually a deadly leviathan class creature trying to kill you which get more deadly the further down you go. Eventually you find clues that could cure the disease and continue to look for a way to get off of the planet.
    Subnautica is a game that uses terror within the gameplay. It doesn’t feel like normal horror games where if you are found then you are most likely to be caught but gives you the imminent feeling that you could be caught and killed at any second while giving you the feeling that you only got away by the skin of your teeth. Creatures are able to grab your submarines and even take you out of it which immediately gives the player a sense of vulnerability. It has a good immersion factor to it which is only broken by the normal survival game basis or grinding for materials and food.
    It has good graphics which can be modified easily if your computer can’t handle it and doesn’t ever lag too much. However, the game does have a problem of glitches within the world’s barriers. It is made by a small team of 50 people so it can be hard to find and fix all of the glitches. Because of this the player can find places in which they can morph through some walls within bases but it can easily be fixed by another glitch in the wall or sometimes having to restart the game or dying and respawning.
    All of this for the price of £20.00 on steam.
    In conclusion the game is fun but only for the few days that the story goes on for. After the story ends there isn’t really anything much to do. Either way the normal gameplay before the end of the story is still good so I would say that it is worth buying.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Best PC Game of 2018
8
#8 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018
20
#20 Most Shared PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 39 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 39
  3. Negative: 0 out of 39
  1. AusGamers
    Dec 7, 2018
    92
    It isn’t without performance hiccups, especially the deeper you go. But the breadth of content here and the open-world nature both in terms of playspace and just pure choice in how you go about it is something rarely seen in games.
    Read full review
  2. CD-Action
    May 16, 2018
    95
    Subnautica is hands down the best survival game I have ever experienced. I completely lost track of time while playing it and for the first time in ages I rescheduled my appointments and neglected my responsibilities to spend more time with a game. If I could I would hand out free copies in the streets so as many people as possible can see how ridiculously good Subnautica is. [04/2018, p.62]
  3. GameGrin
    May 10, 2018
    90
    A great game that took five years to make. Subnautica is an open sandbox sci-fi fantasy that can inch it's way into horror as you explore the depths of the ocean world. Just be ready to farm!
    Read full review
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