My honest review on the game (making it visible)

[Argos Supplier]

Worth the purchase

I'll start this review by saying, What a game! This game is truly an amazing example of how ambience, perfect sound design and a well-written story can be combined to form a captivating masterpiece.

At a glimpse

In the first couple minutes of the game you are introduced to your main protagonist: Robin Ayou and with an amazing cut-scene you are swiftly introduced for a second time to the world of 4546B. As a direct sequel from the previous game Subnautica you can expect more breathtaking scenery as well as a wide variety of perfect visuals as shown in the beautiful variety of fauna and terrain. Like its predecessor Subnautica , Subnautica: Bellow Zero does an even better job at portraying a sense of mystery as you dive deeper into the unknown. With a well-written and well-structured storyline Subnautica: Bellow Zero captures the true meaning of gaming. It embeds you as a player and makes you want to keep on playing for hours and hours, however, this is only to a certain extent .

What this game does well

• Subnautica: Bellow zero makes good use of ambience to create a sense of mystery. It truly captures the idea of being so small in an ocean of horrors. With that said, this is done without causing much tension making it an enjoyable experience
  
• The story is astounding with you (the main character) exploring three co-existing narratives which intertwine with one another to form a brilliant story overall. The ending is downright phenomenal and gives you an amazing sense of completion. Additionally, we gain more information about the story of the previous game creating a wider sense of immersion: We are greeted with the character Marguerite, a survivor of the Degassi crew from the previous game, We gain more knowledge about the precursors and how the Kharaa bacterium breach occured
  
• This game also gives the player a greater choice of accessibility when compared to the previous game. A perfect example of this is how players can pin recipes for easier crafting and more enjoyable grinding sessions - without the need to constantly check the PDA for recipes.
  
• Finally, The game offers fresh and original content with the likes of new leviathans (and fauna), more land exploration, 2 NEW vehicles and 25 NEW BIOMES

What the game does not do well

• Like with all games, Subnautica: Bellow Zero does have several negatives. Firstly, the gameplay is very much the same (with the previous game that is) with the rinse-repeat cycle of 'go here, scan this, craft this, repeat'. However, it is still interesting as you explore the whole of the games content with gameplay such as this.
  
• Secondly, I would not recommend the game for those expecting more of a horror aspect. As unlike Subnautica , this game dismisses many of the features which made the previous game scary. For example: the Cryptosuchus has a loud roar sound but after a while this desensitises you to when an actual leviathan comes at you. Additionally, the 'scary' creatures don't cut it to me personally as having seen first-hand how little damage they do to you PRAWN suit , or how easy to counter using the Sea-Truck you begin to just not acknowledge them as you learn there is little to no risk if faced with one
  
• There is no element of having to hide from threats, although you still feel smaller and vulnerable to large class leviathans, such as the Shadow Leviathan , you cannot simply hide or slowly propel past them in your submarine. They will still sense you and come straight towards you. This can be frustrating especially in late game. Like in the crystal caverns being attacked every few seconds by a shadow leviathan. Whereas in the original game the main submarine: The Cyclops could be equipped with Silent running , this allowed for leviathans to be avoided with caution and created a greater sense of vulnerability and therefore immersion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Subnautica: Bellow Zerow is a phenomenal game with an improved story, new content (i.e land exploration, new vehicles, more leviathans etc.) and one of the best endings to a game I have seen in a while. It is definitely worth the purchase for anyone who enjoys exploration in open world games or even an elusive story. Therefore, In my opinion, the game is almost perfect with very few negatives and Certianly worth the purchase .

Thank you for taking some time to read this review and any support you have given me through steam awards or likes

If you wouldn't mind, please like it on the steam store to help with visibility, thanks:
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561199022927141/recommended/848450/

[Phaota]

Missing a lot of commas where they should have been, but a competent review. Disagree on the story being brilliant though. As one reviewer noted here on the forum, the main character has one of the worst cases of Stockholm Syndrome ever shown and doesn't give a crap that she has basically given this alien race the coordinates to Earth.

[Cat®]

This is the discussion page, not the review page.

[Atlana]

uhm, the deep crystal caves with the shadow leviathan were actually easy, all you have to have is two large ION batteries in your seatruck and the electro-/EMP-zapper built-in.
let the MoFo come at you
BRRAAZZT
takes about ~2% off the ion batteries, and they instantly let off your seatruck and piss-off.
Just watch out that your seatruck isn't getting too big/long, all you really need is the Fab-pod, Storage-pod, PRAWN-docking-pod. If you don't like truckin' in the dark of the night or w. music, maybe the Sleeper-pod too.
I also didn't had the horsepower- nor the booster-mods.
it's all about timing, frying the shadow leviathan's ass

[deepdive0777]

Disagree with calling it a masterpiece. Well written is debatable. Having said that not a bad game by any means but no masterpiece in my opinion. A good little game is best i can do.

[ItsThePaddy]

Originally posted by deepdive0777:

Disagree with calling it a masterpiece. Well written is debatable. Having said that not a bad game by any means but no masterpiece in my opinion. A good little game is best i can do.

I agree. For me the story and land sections were the biggest let-downs. The ice worms were not fun and felt like they had clunky game design. Overall though, a good game that didn't live up to the first game's story and atmosphere (horror/terror was missing completely imo).

[ElBarto56]

The story isn't improved, it's a big step back from the first game

[Tux]

Originally posted by ElBarto56:

The story isn't improved, it's a big step back from the first game

the previous story was actually 'good'?

[GAMING_Alligator]

Good review. I would have also mentioned the (IMO) less than stellar overland sections. Also compared to the first game this one feels kind of cramped, with everything being more compact.

While it's definitely not the train wreck that a vocal minority likes to make it out as, and I enjoyed playing it, to me the first one is the better game.

[GAMING_Alligator]

Originally posted by Cat®:

This is the discussion page, not the review page.

Well it's generated a discussion, I guess.

[Cougarific]

^Which is why there's a separate section for Reviews. Posting your opinions on the Discussions page will *always* generate a discussion/arguments/flame wars.

[Andreas]

Originally posted by Cougarific:

^Which is why there's a separate section for Reviews. Posting your opinions on the Discussions page will *always* generate a discussion/arguments/flame wars.

Well, at least it's a good example of why you can't take reviews seriously.