Subnautica

Few survival games have aged as gracefully—or left as lasting an impression—as Subnautica. Even in 2025, it remains one of the most immersive and emotionally resonant survival experiences ever crafted. What starts as a serene oceanic adventure quickly evolves into a harrowing tale of isolation, discovery, and awe, set in one of gaming’s most beautifully realized alien worlds. You crash-land on Planet 4546B, an ocean world with no dry land in sight. Your only lifeline is a damaged escape pod and the surrounding sea. You must scavenge, craft, and survive—but unlike many games in the genre, Subnautica doesn’t just make survival a grind. It makes it an adventure. There are no zombies, no NPCs, no guns. Just you, the ocean, and what lies beneath. And that ocean? It hides wonders. And horrors. The ocean biomes are the heart and soul of Subnautica—from sunlit shallows filled with docile creatures to pitch-black trenches inhabited by massive, bone-chilling predators. Every zone feels handcrafted, layered with visual storytelling and unique ecosystems. There’s a real arc of progression: you go from swimming with flippers and a snorkel to piloting deep-diving submarines through ancient alien ruins. And you always feel just a little bit too fragile, too exposed. It’s survival, but also discovery. Fear and fascination constantly dance. What’s most impressive is how the game guides you without waypoints. Audio logs, signals, wreckage, and environmental cues pull you deeper, both literally and narratively. Subnautica smartly trims the fat often seen in survival games. There's: -Crafting tied to meaningful upgrades (vehicles, suits, tools) -Resource gathering that rewards exploration instead of grinding -Base-building that feels like personal expression and strategic necessity -Food and water meters that add pressure without feeling tedious - Every item feels earned. Every dive has purpose. And while it starts slow, the pace picks up once you begin customizing your base, building your Seamoth (your first submersible), and unlocking alien technologies. Subnautica is not marketed as a horror game—but it might be one of the scariest games ever made for players with thalassophobia (fear of deep water). Descending into unknown biomes, with only a flickering headlamp and the distant roar of an unseen leviathan, triggers primal fear. And the game knows it. It masterfully plays with sound design, lighting, and isolation, delivering dread without a single jump scare. Your only defense? Awareness, speed, and running like hell when something bigger than your sub shows up. There’s more to Subnautica than just survival. As you uncover the fate of other survivors and the secrets of the planet’s ancient alien structures, you realize you’re part of a much larger mystery. Themes of quarantine, extinction, and unintended consequences echo eerily close to real-world concerns. And by the time you reach the climax, you feel like you’ve earned your escape—not just logistically, but emotionally. While not graphically cutting-edge in 2025, Subnautica’s visuals hold up thanks to art direction. The glowing flora, surreal bioluminescence, and shifting ocean light are hypnotic. But it’s the sound design that elevates it. From the relaxing hum of shallow reef zones to the terrifying roars in the abyss, every sound has purpose. The ambient soundtrack is subtle, haunting, and unforgettable. Subnautica isn’t just a survival game—it’s a journey of vulnerability, discovery, and ultimately, escape. It taps into both our curiosity and our deepest fears with elegant pacing and environmental mastery. Even years after its release, few games can replicate the emotional arc it creates: from helpless castaway to confident deep-sea explorer—alone, but never unengaged. Pros: -A rich, handcrafted underwater world full of wonder and danger -Brilliantly atmospheric sound and visual design -Smart, purpose-driven survival mechanics -Gripping environmental storytelling and sci-fi mystery -A genuinely emotional solo experience Cons: -Early-game pacing may feel slow to some -No multiplayer (intentional, but occasionally requested) -Navigation can be disorienting without a custom beacon system Subnautica is not just one of the best survival games—it's one of the most memorable single-player adventures of the decade. Dive in. Just… don’t look down. Rating: 10/10

---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☑ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☐ Old Fashioned ☑ Workable ☐ Big ☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☑ Easy ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☑ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☐ Lovely ☑ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☐ Average ☑ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Never heard of ☑ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☐ 9 ☑ 10 ---{ Author }--- ☑ https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template peak game

A resource gathering base building game thats almost entirely underwater. Theres so few games that take place under the sea and fully explores this concept, you could probably count all of them on one hand. Subnautica offers varying levels of depths (hehe) and a plethora of distinctive biomes to explore, each being breathtaking in their own right. Its hard to discern whether you’re truly immersed yourself in the game or you’ve wet your pants. The creature and environmental designs do a great job at giving you a sense of dread and invoke feelings of thalassophobia. Theres no rigid linear story, the game will heavily encourage you to visit certain points via pings. But, you can play it at your own pace. Any story and worldbuilding that takes place needs you to read/listen to transcripts. I believe the story is simple enough that you wont be lost unless you’re an airhead, which should help out underwater if you need extra buoyancy. The survival aspect can be quite annoying at times but thats just me being nitpicky. The music is okay and the ending is immensely satisfying if you stick to it. too lazy to proofread carry on

literally just started, shitting my pants and too scared to go any further than the lifepod but the game is great so far

[h3] This game knows how to make you feel uncomfortable when exploring deep sea [/h3] I first heard about Subnautica years ago from some YouTubers when I was a kid. They called it a horror game, and yeah they weren’t lying. At the time, I didn’t fully get it, but the idea of an underwater survival horror stuck with me. I finally bought the game when it was on sale and experienced it myself and wow, what a journey. Right from the start, when you first dive into the sea, everything feels peaceful. The shallow waters are bright, colorful, and full of life. It’s beautiful, even calming. But the deeper you go, the more that beauty fades. The ocean gets darker, quieter, and way more unsettling. What starts off feeling like a cozy underwater adventure slowly transforms into something far more tense and terrifying. I usually not very into for survival crafting games because they tend to feel like endless loops, gather stuff to build stuff so you can gather more stuff. But Subnautica isn’t just another survival game. It’s an exploration-driven, atmosphere-heavy experience with real purpose, terrifying depth (literally), and one of the most unique settings I’ve seen in gaming. One of the things I loved about Subnautica is how it constantly evolves. Early on, you're terrified of diving just 90 meters down but as you gain access to deeper-diving vehicles, that fear shifts into something more manageable. Cruising through the depths in a submersible feels oddly safe, at least until something massive slams into your hull and throws everything into chaos. When you finally unlock the massive submarine, it’s a game-changer. It becomes a mobile base, fully navigable with customizable rooms and systems to manage. I’ve got to give extra credit to the sound design in this game, it’s so peak. Every tool you use has its own distinct sound, and each predator has a unique roar that instantly puts you on edge. Even the different areas of the world have their own audio identity, making every new biome feel fresh and immersive. The music? It’s full of atmospheric tracks that perfectly match the mood of each zone, it blends in so well. I found myself obsessed with plotting safe routes, dropping beacons to mark areas so it will be easier for me to get back since the game doesn't provide a map, only a compass, and avoiding unknown creatures in the deep dark. The feeling of discovery never lets up, you’re always collecting rare materials, improving your tools, and pushing deeper. What really makes Subnautica stand out is how it makes you feel like a survivor-scientist: overwhelmed at first, but gradually mastering your environment with the help of clever tools, smart planning, and a growing base of operations. From there, the story starts to unfold naturally, leading you all the way to a satisfying and well-earned ending. It’s not just a survival game, it’s an atmospheric open-world experience that happens to have survival mechanics, and that’s exactly why it hooked me. If I had to criticize Subnautica, there are definitely a few flaws tho none of them seriously detract from the overall experience. One of the more noticeable issues is how unclear progression can be at times. Figuring out where to go next or which resource you’re missing often feels a bit too vague. I had moments where I thought I’d thoroughly explored an area, only to find out I missed something essential. Some biomes introduce new materials without much direction, and I ended up checking the information online just to find that one item needed to dive deeper. Resource hunting can occasionally stall your momentum. Managing food and water is mostly fine, the constant need to drink can be a little tedious but it gets more bearable once you get easy water access. On the technical side, the larger sea creatures, especially the Leviathans, can sometimes bug out when interacting with your big submarine or the environment, getting stuck in terrain or glitching their movement path. Fortunately, the game has built-in "Unstuck" button when you get into awkward position. Combat, while clearly not the game’s focus, also feels awkward. Using the weapons or decoys against aggressive creatures feels a bit clunky and not all that satisfying. Luckily, you don’t need to fight much, but when you do, the mechanics can feel a little rough. In a sense, that actually adds to the tension, knowing you can’t just kill everything makes the predators feel way more intimidating. It took me around 46 hours to finish my first playthrough, building one major base, upgrading stuff, exploring most of the map without rushing, and unlock all achievements. You could probably finish faster with help or stretch it even longer if you want to uncover every secret the game has to offer. This game has legit become one of my favorite games of all time, and I’m genuinely excited that they’re working on Subnautica 2. I definitely will do another full playthrough again if I have time. I forgot to mention that the game has a great fanbase and mods, adding more to game's longevity. 10/10 would recommend.

This game honestly gives me that unbelievable feeling like I’m a deep sea explorer until a Reaper Leviathan shows up and I panic swim back to base lol. this game’s worth every single cent I’d play it every day if I could. And the soundtrack makes everything feel so calm and atmospheric. It’s like a mix between Portal 2 and something I can’t even describe lol.

Muy lindo juego lleno de peces amigables (nunca le den la espalda a un leviathan)

A brilliant and breathtaking Survival Sci-fi Horror Adventure game. The 97% positive reviews says it all.

I got into this game way back when Jacksepticeye was playing the beta for this game. Because of Jack i immediately bought the game back in 2018 and played it all the way through. Jump forward 7 years i picked up Subnautica again mainly because i noticed i some how didn't have all the achievements even thought i beat the game so many years ago. I played the game and beat it again this time on hardcore and i can say HANDS DOWN!!!! This is one of if not the BEST ocean survival game out there!!!

this game has a very deep lore and is great if you like open world single player games. definitely would recommend. please not that the game can be scary at times but you just have to commit, once you get past the scary part, it really is beautiful.

One of the greatest games i've ever played, even better than the next one after it. Amazingly crafted map that is so open and allows so much exploration and discovery, keeps you on edge at times and surprises you at others, and has a cool building system thats been updated since release I don't want to spoil anything i'd say just buy it and enjoy

Spawn in get out of life pod explore an hour and a half later has submarine drives towards the back of the mysterious spaceship dies 10 out of 10 would rage at fish game again

Its unfathomably good, and a real case study in how to build atmosphere!

After completing this game multiple times (especially on console) I can confidently say this is one of the best experiences I have had gaming, this game is unlike any other both in gameplay and atmosphere. Although it can be buggy at times, I love this game and can't wait for Subnautica 2.

Amazing Game, It is fun to play and learn about everything while you play. I also love its counterpart subnautica: below zero, and I can't wait for their next game.

If you like adventure survival, then this game is 100% recommend. It is best to jump into the game blind and without any knowledge, but it can still be thoroughly enjoyed otherwise. This is NOT a horror game, though it utilizes elements of terror to instill a bit of fear at times. The story is bizarre, but in a very good way. Since it is a survival game, the actual game time can range between 0 hours to 1000 hours, but eventually you will become curious and it will lead you through the story. The game never forces you to engage with the story, and nothing is limited by the story progression itself, so you can play the game and enjoy it without ever intentionally interacting with narrative events. However, discovering the secrets really does make the world feel more real. The game is under valued at $30 USD, and when it goes on discount for $10, you are literally stealing from the devs and should be imprisoned for theft. Overall, the game is 9.5/10. There are some places where the physics of the game and character limits mobility, but everywhere you have to go, you can go. If you want the best experience, enable filmic color grading in graphics setting to make for the most realistic experience.

This game is very special to me, it was the first game I played outside of Couch play games I used to play as a kid at a friends house. since then, I have played it on Xbox, PS5, and a bit on switch, and now on Steam, finally coming to my point of origin. Despite having playing it for ever, and knowing the map like the back of my hand, I somehow find a new spot or cave each time I go exploring. Its unfortunate BZ was an absolute let down, but subnautica is still one of my favorite games of all times. It is a unforgettable experience filled with emotions. You develop a fear of the open ocean, and then later crush that fear in the same game.

This is the best VR game second only to Alyx. I LOVED this game. Probably going to fire it back up and play it again. If they screw us on the VR in SN 2 (like below zero) then I will NOT be buying SN 2. Just like I never bought or played Below Zero. No VR no $.

Well.. i completed the game and i'd say it's a pretty good and calm sandbox. Several different biomes, caves, lots of creatures, not so severe to survive , pretty nice invironment, a pretty good base building system with personal customisations including inside room creativity, same with transports.. you can customise the colors and addons in them to match your preferences. Vehicle addons could be changed any time you want. I like it's a pretty nice world, it was interesting to discover every possible corner and make my own lables on the map by placing beacons on every interesting place i see, I like that i see every spot i need with them and not much story line spots pollutted the map which will turnoff themself when you find them. Or manualy if needed. There is a lot of tools for different purpuses, some help you survive some to discover the world. Maybe it's not best of the best games ever, but i definitely can reccomend it! Especially for those who like to explore every corner in the game before finishing it. By pace Subnautica reminded me Red Dead Redemption 2, i mean not quality of the game but the pace. Subnautica will not force you to run somewhere, kinda kill 50 creatures, go here and there bring something, it's as a chilling mode game, like in RDR2 i also liked without any rush just discover the world, peacefully gather some resources, to do some routine in the house, to look up for hidden places and maybe find new secrets of the world. I enjoyed to find new tabs and time capsules [spoiler] which will bring a new breathtaking lore turnout at the end. [/spoiler] Thanks everyone! Thanks subnautica! Solid 8/10 P.S. BTW have you noticed? the "Aurora"s shape is almost perfect shark.

Great thalassophobia simulator. Story so great i might still reminiscent it in my death. And reawaken due to nightmare about gigantic fish in the looming darkness. 10/10 Would recommend to any living being (humans not excluded)

a really great game with interesting story and creepy yet beautiful environment 10/10

This is a really fun game where you get to play as a dude in a big ocean world, trying to keep it vague to not spoil the plot, it has amazingly put together survival mechanics, building, world exploration and narrative. The animals in the game keep the world alive and all ways changing. I enjoyed building multiple bases and moving my operations through out the story until i got the seatruck, i would highly recommend scanning everything you see because it will all come in use later. 10/10 play it before the other ones.

It should have weapons (ik it "explains" why you only have a knife but it doesn't change the fact that it feels like a missing feature and a weather system (mentioned in the lore) but overall 9/10 game.

Not lying when i say THIS is one of the best open world sea exploration games... Well unless you have thalassophobia and megalophobia. There are some big creatures out there. BIG

This game is deadass the best survival game of all time. Especially with co-op mod it makes it 10x funner. Can't wait for subnautica 2 to come out. That game will feed generations.

---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Perfect ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Okay ☐ Bad ☐ Very stylized ☐ They're what they should be for what the game is ☐ MS Paint could make something better ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Fantastic ☑ Excellent ☐ Perfect ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Meh ☐ Bad, but playable ☐ Just go watch paint dry ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Amazing ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not to bad ☐ Alright ☐ Bad ☐ My ears are bleeding ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Babies ☑ Young kids ☑ Young teens ☑ Older teens ☑ Adults ☑ Old people ☑ Anyone with a decent maturity level ☑ Anyone with a lack of maturity ☑ Anyone that is alive ☑ No one, not even your dog ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☐ Just average ☐ A little better than average ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☑ Better than good ☐ Fancy Pants Rich Boy ☐ NASA ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Can choose your difficulty setting ☐ No difficulty needed ☐ Just press 'W" ☐ Easy ☑ Medium ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Hard ☐ Verry Difficult ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if you like to collect things ☐ Only if you care about steam achievements ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Only if you care about rankings/placements/leaderboards/etc. ☑ Average grind level ☐ A little grindy ☐ Too much grind ☐ You‘ll need a second life, maybe some macros, & a will to live for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ Story? What story? ☐ No Story ☐ Twilight was a better love story than this ☐ Average ☑ Good ☐ Lovely ☐ It‘ll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ 1-2 Hours ☐ 2-5 Hours ☐ 5-10 Hours ☐ 10-20 Hours ☐ 20-50 Hours ☑ 50+ Hours ☐ 100+ Hours ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Replayablity }--- ☐ You won't even finish it the first time ☐ None, once was enough ☐ Not that kind of game ☐ You don't stop playing this kinda game, ever ☑ Maybe once or twice, to try something new ☐ You'll want to get every single possible ending & secret there is ☐ You'll pick it up every few years, but never finish a whole playthrough ☐ A lot, just to romance everyone, pick new options. try new classes, etc ---{ Price }--- ☐ It’s free! ☐ Worth the price ☐ If you have some money to blow ☑ Wait for it to go on sale for the 100th time ☐ Ask someone to gift it to you instead ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Circumstantial (PC specs, internet, save/install location, etc.) ☐ Never heard of ☑ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Very low ☐ Low ☑ Average ☐ High ☐ Too much ---{ Worth It }--- ☐ Hell no! ☐ If you have a lot of cash ☐ Worth it! ☐ Get it now! ☑ Life is not complete without this game! ---{ TEXT }--- This game completely changes your vision of the world, of everything that is part of marine life, and it changes it for the better. The balance between the desire to finish the game and the desire for it to never end because you fall in love with everything this game represents and everything you find there, I haven't played this game for a long time but I can say with my hand on my heart that it is an exceptional survival game. It is not a perfect game, it has errors and bugs but it is worth it! ---{ 9 / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☑ 9 ☐ 10

Top 2 most immersive games i have ever played, the other one is Cyberpunk. These 2 are on the spot nr 1 together because both of them manage to draw the player inside of their worlds and they hardly let go. I consider this game to be a masterpiece and a must play if you love survival games!

Might be my favourite game ever. Everyone who can get over their fear of the ocean should play this.

Perfect survival with interesting story and exploring without any unnecessary things. Around 30–40 hours of good, solid gameplay with meaningful progression and no filler.

Unlike most of the other reviews i found this game boring, why? First of all while the atmosphere is great, there is not really a guide on what you are meant to do. I would sit around looking for a single blueprint or item for more than half of my current game time, its like playing hide and seek in a world which is a giant ocean (surprise this game is based in a world with a giant ocean) Other than this i have a few complaints, UI is annoying to navigate Combat feels useless, killing a sea animal has no result and its much easier to run away Walking (swimming) simulator most of the time is spent swimming either looking for resources or not knowing what to do. Will still play this game again, but mainly due to the guilt of spending money on it and not actually playing it.

i like the game but i dont like how hard it was in the begggining because i didnt know what to do or where to get it because it took 30 minutes to find cave sulphure, had to search up, i would say that once you figureit out its really fun!

Such a fun underwater world to explore and an intriguing story!

Great game, I remember messing around on xbox subnactica (why did they remove it from gamepass? it was amazing) when I was younger, and this hit me with nostalgia, I barely know how the game works, but I still love it, modding it is either really hard, or I'm just stupid (probably the latter), but either way, 10/10 game

Great game. Currently playing a modded version to pass the time until Subnautica 2 comes out.

Great Game! A must play! There are few annoying bug and glitches nothing major. 8/10 Im taking 2 points off for 2 reasons. First this game could have been SO MUCH MORE. One you get the hang of the Prawn Suit you wish there was more difficult terrain to hike. Submarine is totally useless due to the size of the map. There could have been few NPCS or at least just couple scenes where so see someone else struggle or not make it as you approach to rescue them. Second reason is building system annoying but you make do. Enjoy!

Subnautica is a fun, action-packed, terrifying game! Think of it as a combination of Minecraft, No Mans Sky, and Alien: Isolation. A bit slow to get started (note the low percentage of people who get story-based achievements), and very intense on your ability to plan and time. But the rewards come quickly, and as the story unfolds you get a peek into a truly unique take on survival horror craft. What begins as a frustrating and sometimes longsuffering story is quickly changed into a very gripping story. I would highly recommend!

Awesome game! I think they balanced the survival and the horror aspect well. Good story if you take the time to read everything. A few bugs once in a while. Always have that itch to come back. Overall great game 9/10

I have recommended this game to a number of people. The experience and story are among the top 5 of all-time games.

A fantastic gameplay, great graphics, and amazing atmosphere!

This is a great game with plenty of suspense and jump scares. Start off in nice warm cozy area and then quickly start going deeper into the abyss. The story is good. I do recommend reading the PDA for new lore and hints as what to do next.All in all this is a great game with great visuals and story.

Great Game, length of play really depends on your play style, the handcrafted world is amazing to look at. Great Job looking forward to the next one.

I have wanted to play this game since I was a very little kid, and remember watching a YouTuber play it with my older brother. Overall, great game

a realy fun game to play with if you tired of playing online competitive game

Pretty game with occasional jump scares, and the ability to choose your difficulty level means you can play it more as a cosy game or as a hardcore survival game. Also has an active modding community which let me play a few more times without being at all bored.

Amazing game, best game to get me awake after a stressful day at work

Very good game with very fun vehicles and base building. Would recommend

Fun underwater survival with an intriguing story that slowly unfolds.

Really good game. Gave us thalassophobia, so the ocean is terrifying now. Wonderful survival sandbox with a little bit of horror. The plot is great as well! It adds up and is really nice to slowly uncover. Even though we knew most of it by the time we got the game (as we have been in the fandom for a while), it was still a lot of fun! 10/10, highly recommend!

its such an amazing game especially if you just need a break from fps games like me, 10/10 would recommend.