Beautiful biomes and art direction
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“The environments are beautiful. The speculative biology of 4546B is still stunning.”
Steam review · 24.7 h played ↗
Subnautica: Below Zero
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 90%Very Positive · 90%Unknown Worlds Entertainment2021Open World Survival Craft · Survival · Horror
The verdict
A beautiful, story-driven Subnautica spinoff with fun base building and the Seatruck, but smaller, less scary and less mysterious than the original. Skip it if you want the first game's isolation and horror.
Great for
Fans of the first Subnautica who want more exploration, base building and a story-led arctic trip, ideally on sale
Main risk
Expecting the first game's vast, lonely, terrifying ocean and getting a smaller, land-heavy, chatty story game
What players love
Focused, voiced story
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“the story is much easier to follow”
Steam review · 8.9 h played ↗
Improved base building and quality of life
Mentioned in ~1 in 10 positive reviews
“The base building got a HUGE upgrade”
Steam review · 19.2 h played ↗
Seatruck and its modules
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“I think the sea truck actually fits this game pretty good”
Steam review · 27.9 h played ↗
Same addictive Subnautica gameplay loop
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 positive reviews
“the actual "Subnautica gameplay loop is still really fun". Exploring, gathering resources, crafting better equipment, building bases, and unlocking new technology is still addictive.”
Steam review · 26.8 h played ↗
Cute creatures like Sea Monkeys and penglings
Mentioned in ~1 in 19 positive reviews
“if you like little friends who can bring you things, you will love the sea monkeys”
Steam review · 3.2 h played ↗
What players complain about
Weak, annoying story and chatty voiced protagonist
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 negative reviews
“Having a voiced protagonist and so many other voiced characters was a big mistake.”
Steam review · 5.9 h played ↗
Small, cramped map and slow movement
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“Movement was significantly slowed down to make the map seem as if it's larger than it truly is”
Steam review · 3.8 h played ↗
Less scary and mysterious than the original
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“its far less mysterious, dangerous, and interesting. if fear was an important component in your experience playing the first game, you won't find it here”
Steam review · 22.1 h played ↗
Seatruck is clumsy; Cyclops and Seamoth missing
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“Its replacement, the Sea Truck, is an absolute abomination. It is slow, clumsy, awkward to control, and terrible in narrow areas.”
Steam review · 14.2 h played ↗
Too much land content
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“This is a subnautica game and as the name implies, it is supposed to be played under the ocean not on some arctic terrain doing whatever for hours.”
Steam review · 30.9 h played ↗
Unclear progression forces guides
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews
“The first 5-10 hours of this game is solid. The rest feels unfinished and unpolished.”
Steam review · 36.3 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: VerifiedController support15 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 7 64-bit
ProcessorIntel Core i3 4XXX series / AMD Ryzen 3 2.6ghz+
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsIntel HD 530 or better
Storage15 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 10 64-bit
ProcessorIntel Core i5 4XXX series/ AMD Ryzen 5 @ 3Ghz +
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsNvidia 1050 Ti / AMD Radeon 570, 4GB VRAM
Storage15 GB available space
OSWindows 7 64-bit
ProcessorIntel Core i3 4XXX series / AMD Ryzen 3 2.6ghz+
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsIntel HD 530 or better
Storage15 GB available space
More games to check
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− Late-game grind
analyzed 1 d ago
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Very Positive · 85%+ Great co-op with friends
− Clunky UI, crafting and poor tutorial
analyzed 2 h ago
The Long Dark
Very Positive · 89%+ Best-in-class realistic survival mode
− Disappointing, rushed Episode 5 and ending
analyzed 4 h ago
Don't Starve
Overwhelmingly Positive+ Striking Tim Burton-style art and music
− No tutorial; wiki required
analyzed 10 h ago
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