Recent reviews by Highlord

Bad controls, crashes so often and is just dull.

This game needs more attention. I didn't even know about it until I found it randomly during a NextFest and it was coming out of Early Access. By the time I got it, it had already gotten the arsenal update which looks to be very well received.

I got this to play by myself but ended up buying it for a friend and then nicely played alone anyway because this game has become my obsession in the one or two weeks since I got it.

There's obviously some builds and items that are better than others but nothing is outright useless. The classes are all very fun with my favourite being the Elementalist and it's ability builds.

Great game. Can't wait for the future

Its more than I expected but not what I expected. Nice idea but the time limit for each run just makes the game boring. The game encourages you to explore but then punishes you by making each run woefully short and it stings especially when your about to make a discovery after a comparably long trek through a cave that's also filling with sand. No. When I was told to go in blind and that it was a death = restart game I didn't expect the game to kill me every half hour with no chance of survival.

0.4% have not got the Scout Unlock achievement. 0.4% Could not survive opening the game

I got this today and I already have 14 hours in it. Fantastic fun and visually appealing with a banging soundtrack. For the first time in ages I've actually turned off videos on my second monitor so I can focus on the game. Bright colours, pretty lights, great music and regular dopamine hits are a great combo.

I can't say too much else about the gameplay yet since I feel like I've barely done anything but I do have one potential criticism that doesn't appeal to me as a new player.

It feels like this game will be grindy. Please don't make us grind so many different weapon materials. If this were a live service game with a subscription or (god forbid) micro transactions then I'd understand the appeal of a grind to keep players in the game or to avoid buying materials with real money but since it was a one time payment I don't think you need to pad out the playtime like this. A good game doesn't overstay it's welcome.

I have some suggestions on alternative methods that require less grinding.

1. Weapons could be unlocked when you hit prestige milestones, unlocking new playstyles as you play the game. This does have drawbacks such as making you play said class instead of grinding the materials with any class for variety but if you enjoy the class it shouldn't be an issue.

2. Drastically lower the material costs. You get around 250 basic ore from a successful run and it doesn't increase at higher difficulties from what I've seen. The second unlockable weapon on Barbarian will be 6 or 7 cave ruins for the basic ore alone. Even if the material cost was just halved it'd make the grind see less daunting to a new player.

3. Have the weapons be looked behind an achievement. This could encourage exploring higher difficulties or even descending into the void to unlock a new weapon. The obvious drawback is the difficulty but it'll be a reward for getting good at a class.

Just some thoughts. I love this game so far though

Edit: This game is just fantastic. The classes have good variety and the class specific skill trees are really nice. My biggest gripe is that the challenge increase as you apply more curses is more tedious then fun. The attack spam isn't hard to dodge if your quick but not being able to get close to bosses in melee is making runs really annoying.

All in all, great game

I've never bought a soundtrack before in my life and I'm reviewing this before I review the actual game. It's incredibly catchy and does so well keeping the game and momentum going. I'm not super into techno but this is an exception

For a barely released Early Access title there's a lot of polish and charm in this title. Pals are hilariously abused in this full on Nintendo spoof that has a surprising amount of mechanical depth that makes it a fully fleshed out game and not just a meme game for the YouTubers. If you enjoyed Breath of the Wild, Pokemon Archeus and Ark Survival Evolved then you'll find something to love here.

TL:DR
Easier than the original, for good and bad.
Not as fun to explore but still rewarding
Some bugs but not game breaking
Not nearly as visually striking as the original
Land sections were slow but still fun to explore

I genuinely had fun with this game and I will very likely play it again some day


After finishing the absolutely incredible Subnautica I was excited to play Subnautica: Below Zero but I feel like I should highlight what I didn't like about this game compared to the first.


I understand why the game had so much more land exploration but it never felt like it fit and the extended section of exploring the area around Phi Robotics just dragged on. The Snowfox is hard to control and I ended up using the Prawn Suit on land until I hit the Snow Worms section.

What I loved about Subnautica was the beauty of it's undersea world with massive mushroom caves, lava vents, the trenches and so on. While there is diversity in Below Zero it pales in comparison to the original. The Mercury II was fun to dive into.


I spent a week of constantly dying and restarting in the first game trying to complete it in Hardcore. I did do it and I felt very satisfied with the challenge, every death was my mistake and I learned from them. In Below Zero I completed the game in Hardcore mode on my second attempt and I didn't even die stupidly the first time because my cat unpaused the game when he stood on the escape button and I starved to death while I was busy IRL. Not my fault...Okay!

The biggest reason this game is so easy is the abundance of oxygen you can get from plants or even some fish. While these crutches weren't available in deeper portions it still makes the game very easy. I never felt worried about drowning so while it made exploration easier it also ruined the tension. I didn't even die to the cold because of how easy it was to mitigate.


Because of some annoying bugs I had to resort to opening and using the console. This had locked me out of getting achievements but I hours into my second run and didn't want to restart, Here's a a couple of things that made me have to use the commands.

1. A hatch door made me fall out my base and I was walking along the sea floor. I fixed this using the fly command
2. On two occasions my Snowfox fell through the ground. I had to use the Ghost command to retrieve it.
3. The Propulsion cannon wouldn't grab a box that was blocking a passageway. It grabbed it once then bugged out and couldn't grab it again. I had to use Ghost to get past it.
4. A certain item near the end after three, 22 second items, wasn't able to be interacted with. I had to save/quit and reopen the game just to begin the end of the game.
5. Some Sea Truck compartments got stuck as I was moving them. Partly my own fault I suppose but it bugged me.

Aside from the 4th bug, none of these were game breaking.


If you enjoyed Subnautica and want more then Below Zero is a worthy successor. Here's why.


After playing as Riley in Subnautica 1, a mute protagonist, I can easily understand why Robin isn't as well liked. A voiced player in a first person game is risky since it can remove a ton of immersion from the player. I don't think Robin has that issue. From the start her goals are very in line with how the game is played.

She's a scientist looking for answers on the mysterious death of her sister but she's also a survivor who has previous experience in a hostile environment. That explains why she's here and why she's confident she can survive. She wants to explore the planet, scan everything and unlock the mysteries of 4546B. This is also what the player wants. Instead of her personality conflicting with the game it actively compliments the playstyle the game encourages.

Don't open this spoiler if you want to play blind!

AL:AN

I loved AL:AN. Him being in your head and trying to solve the mystery of the differences in Humanity compared to his species provided some insightful conversations that also deepened our understanding of the games lore in a natural way that didn't interfere with exploration. He can seem rude at times, such as calling Robin's body inadequate and inferior but Robin almost takes a motherly role in their relationship. He was superbly acted as well.


No spoilers here. In Subnautica I found myself lost more often than not which was a little annoying but in Below Zero the objectives are quite a bit clearer. You find some maps that tell you key locations but without a world map to reference, you still need to explore to fully understand where to go. This was fine for me. I liked having a vague direction.

Most of the backstory is told through PDA voice logs and I enjoyed listening to the logs left by the crew of the crashed Mercury II vessel. Whoever wrote their story did so wonderfully.


Below Zero isn't as good as Subnautica but it is still good in it's own ways. I wouldn't have played it in Hardcore if I thought it was painful to potentially restart over and over. Now that I've finished it I do hope we get more.

For people playing exclusively with a controller. press Y to turn on auto-aim or space om keyboard

I can't believe I have 72 hours in this. It's such an addictive, chaotic game