Unknown Worlds is the independent developer behind hectic (and very good) aliens versus marines shooter Natural Selection 2, and the studio has been cooking up something very interesting for its next game.
Subnautica is an open world underwater adventure, in which players must craft equipment and submarines in order to explore the oceanic depths of an alien world, fending off horrible fish-monsters with intimidating teeth in the process. It’s just been launched on Steam Early Access.
It certainly looks promising. There’s a certain similarity to No Man’s Sky with the bizarre alien life-forms and colourful worlds on show, and as someone with a nightmare fear of the deep ocean, the underwater exploration looks intriguin and terrifying in about equal measure. Subnautica has been in development for about a year, and has already been play-tested by a group of Special Edition customers, so the developer claims that there’s a much more substantial game already there than in many Early Access releases.
“Over time the world will grow larger, deeper and more striking,” the developers promise, “creatures more diverse and intelligent, loot, crafting and vehicle construction more comprehensive, the story more fleshed out, and ecosystems richer and more vibrant . Large submarines, new unique life forms, and fantastic environments are all in production and will be introduced to Subnautica Early Access in updates.”
Your safe haven is you floating Life Pod, where you’ll craft the equipment you need to go exploring. The Subnautica sea-floor is presented using a dynamic voxel terrain system. so you can also dig little hidey-holes to store loot or to circumvent dangerous areas. Venturing deeper will increase your chances of finding rare resources, but the gribbliest of the gribbly creatures come out at night, so you’ll have to plan out your dives carefully.
I’m a bit down on crafting/exploration games at the moment, and I thought I’d played my fill of them. Subnautica is tempting me, though. It looks beautiful. I don’t even care about survival really, I’d just be happy to swim about gawping at colourful fish. The game’s currently 10% off on Steam until December 23.
