Get it? The title’s a pun.

*Ahem*

This is going to be a long one, because to do both games in this franchise justice, we can’t skip over anything. If you want the quick-and-dirty verdict, I’ve placed it at the bottom. Or if you’re really into reading game reviews (or need something to do whilst on the toilet), here we go!

While the original Subnautica was hailed as being a bold game for centering around what gamers hate most – water levels (thanks, Zelda) – it was also hailed as a masterpiece for doing it successfully. But if Subnautica is a case study in near-perfect design, Below Zero is a case study in trade-offs. If you’re a fan of or have played Resident Evil 7, then you might understand where this is coming from. Fans complained that RE7 was so scary that many did not finish it. As a result, its sequel was toned down, while other aspects were given more attention.

Below Zero does this exact thing, but with mixed results.

Subnautica has more story than you’d expect for a survival game, but wasn’t story-heavy. BZ is far more story-heavy, which works both for and against it. In the original game, the first thing you’re greeted with is panic. Your pod is on fire and you have a few seconds to learn how to put it out before dying. But in Below Zero…I wasn’t quite sure what was happening in the opening sequence. That isn’t to say that it’s entirely confusing, but more-so that it isn’t executed as well. When you crash land in Subnautica, you’re frightened because it’s an alien planet that you did not intend on going to alone. But in BZ, this was your character’s intent. While this feeds into and strengthens the narrative of the story, it also makes you feel far more prepared for what’s to come. Robin never feels as though she’s overwhelmed, which means the player doesn’t, either. This sentiment is even reflected in her PDA under her personal thoughts, and leaks into gampelay.

The fauna aren’t nearly as scary or threatening as in the original, and I do believe that’s intentional for accessibility purposes, as this game doesn’t seem to be trying to overwhelm the player (refer to my comment on RE7 vs. RE8). But the big drawback for me is their function. I like the addition of the sea monkeys and how they interact with the environment, but I also noticed that other creatures don’t really seem to do that. This might sound nit-picky, but because the original game was brought to life by these details, we have to be specific to see where BZ misses the mark.

The whale-like leviathan in the first game can be used to mine copper ore if you break its barnacles. There are walking fauna in the Sea Traders area that also aid you if you scoop up their excrement (power source) or explore the dirt they’ve kicked up. The fauna in BZ seem to largely just exist and not allow for interesting interactions. The whale-like creature in BZ doesn’t seem to serve any function, for instance, and if you jump on its back, it can continue forward and leave you to fall. You won’t move with it, despite being able to do so in the original.

Again, a lot of small changes/oversights that make the world feel as though it doesn’t quite come together. There are even fauna that look terrifying and sound like dinosaurs roaring, but are noted to not be nearly as vicious as they seem and will run away if hit once. The other leviathan-class fauna I’ve encountered so far don’t make any terrifying or readily memorable/recognizable noises and are easier to fend off. Reaching the edge of the map isn’t as memorable either. I was not expecting a rehash of the original game’s event that happens when you first do this, but here, it’s a warning from your AI and a much less memorable fauna that appears to stop you. I recognized this as something terrifying and unique immediately upon seeing it in the first game. I don’t recall what the one in BZ looks like.

We’re told/shown that the north and west sides of the map are bordered by icy mountains. This helps guide the player but automatically signals to them not to journey north or west until they’re ready to explore a landmass, which they may not find as interesting or be as eager to do in a game based on exploring the sea. For me, this also means that I explored the sea itself far quicker than in the first game. Because of the change of fauna and how non-threatening they are, as well as the addition of oxygen-granting flora and fauna, I managed to explore far deeper, far quicker, than in the original. This meant I found new materials for higher-level crafting quicker as well.

The game feels more arcade-y and removes the sense of urgency and even the threat of its namesake climate because it grants you access to oxygen-giving plants and fish, thermal plants that raise your temperature indefinitely so long as you stand beneath them, steam vents, and edible peppers that replenish your caloric intake, hydration, and drastically raise your body temperature. There’s also a suit that grants you bottles of water after a certain amount of time (there is a very slight debuff, but it’s negligible). Despite the number of environmental threats in BZ, it’s rather difficult to get killed or feel particularly pressured by any of them because the game goes to great lengths to ensure your survival, which was certainly not the case in the original game, where I often died due to my poor resource management skills alone. The staple of BZ, the Snowflox vehicle (meant to help you safely traverse the snowy plains) is not necessary to complete the game. In fact, I never created it at all.

The Cyclops was noted as being too much of a target for enemies in the original game and is replaced by the Sea Truck here. Functionally, it serves much the same purpose as the Cyclops without the feeling of great accomplishment for having assembled it or the feeling of finally taking on the alien planet in a large vessel (at least, for me). Players chose the vehicle that best suited their playstyle, but in BZ, the Sea Truck is small enough to fit into most spaces that the Prawn can while being able to carry the Prawn onboard. This means that there’s no gameplay reason not to use the truck as your default vehicle, especially since batteries drain quicker*.

*I’m not sure if you’re meant to adapt to this or not. I happened to turn on the original and decided to test this. My Prawn suit seems to lose 1% power for every large jump that I make in BZ, whereas I can jump and use the grappling arm in tandem in the original and not lose any battery life.

I read somewhere that BZ feels like someone “made Subnautica for their little cousin”. And I have to agree.

Keep in mind that these are trade-offs and not necessarily negative things. The only two truly negative things I have to say about exploration are: I do not like the spy penglings mechanic (personal taste) and it is very easy and very possible for your Prawn suit to clip through the terrain and get caught in the ground while exploring the mountains. I opened console commands to fix this and they didn’t work, probably because my location read as “tundravoid”, which I assume isn’t really a valid location to teleport to/from. I only fixed this by accidentally clipping through the terrain AGAIN while trying to escape the void, which put me back in the water. This caused half of the game’s terrain to not load at all, and I couldn’t retrieve my suit with its upgrades or more difficult-to-find materials. To avoid being penalized for a game-breaking glitch, I had to quit to desktop. Glitches happen, I understand – but the issue with this particular one is that it is a clipping issue in an area where it isn’t always clear what terrain you should be trying to explore, and which you shouldn’t.

VERDICT:
From a story perspective, Below Zero is leaps stronger than Subnautica.

From a graphical perspective, although the graphics themselves are largely the same, there are more “jumps”, and BZ feels a hair weaker in that area.

From a gameplay perspective, BZ is far easier than the original, which isn’t necessarily a welcome change in a survival game.

This review was originally posted to my Steam account.