The sound design is also excellently translated and an entirely engrossing experience especially with headphones in handheld mode. It is clear that this was a priority, which makes sense. The light rays present on other platforms are missing here, but otherwise the water looks beautiful. The water itself, which is probably one of the most visually striking elements of Subnautica’s presentation, is preserved remarkably well on Switch. Especially in handheld mode, Subnautica looks excellent. All that being said, the image it presents is clean and reasonably sharp. It isn’t a huge difference but it does make exploring certain areas slightly more difficult. Pop in, which in all honesty was never Subnautica’s strongpoint, occurs very close to the camera at times. Textures and materials in general take a significant downgrade. Compromises are of course present, but most of the experience translates smoothly. The Switch version itself arrives mostly unscathed. It makes what can so often be a cumbersome experience to navigate with a controller a simple non-intimidating part of the experience. Within each of these are a couple subcategories, and within these can be found individual items to be crafted. Rather than a giant grid, craftable items are separated into a few simple categories. The crafting menu itself is one of the best implementations I’ve seen on a console. Signals from other lifepods will draw you out farther from your own where you’ll find information and blueprints to be crafted. While Subnautica almost never tells you exactly what to do, it does constantly urge you to push deeper. Eventually you’ll find ways to extend your oxygen supply, to swim faster, even build a base on the ocean floor. You can return to your lifepod in order to craft supplies, materials, and equipment. At first your oxygen won’t last long, so you’ll need to stick to the shallow reefs near your lifepod. You’ll dive beneath the ocean’s surface and harvest materials from the seafloor. The core of Subnautica’s gameplay loop lies in crafting. I found the option to remove the food and water meters a particularly nice addition as it makes the experience more approachable to players not as familiar with survival games, without negatively impacting the experience. The default in which you’ll manage air, food, and water, a simpler mode that removes the food and water meters, a survival mode with only one life, and a creative mode which disables the story but lets you build and explore freely with no oxygen limits at all. Upon starting a new game, you’ll be able to choose from four different difficulties. What lies beyond the darkness is the source of Subnautica’s intrigue. Beyond the ocean floor lie deep tunnels that may span the entire map, and dig ever closer to the core of this world. There is a constant feeling that below you, far into the dark, more and more terrifying creatures lurk. Many, myself included, will find the world of Subnautica a blend of serene beauty and ever-lurking horror. The only thing stopping you is breathable air, and your own bravery. And while there are some mysteries to uncover on the surface, the vast majority of Subnautica’s gameplay lies waiting beneath your kicking legs. Ocean stretches as far as the eye can see but as long as you have clean water and food, there’s really nothing stopping you from setting off in whatever direction you choose. From the moment you open the hatch of your lifepod the world is open to you. The reason for the crash and the nature of this world are, at the outset, totally unknown. Subnautica opens with a crash landing on an uncharted, ocean planet. Luckily it arrives on Switch better than one might have expected. Given the lackluster incarnation of similar games on Switch, such as ARK Survival Evolved, Subnautica seems an imposing port. On its journey, it has also proven difficult to run on powerful consoles and even PCs simply due to the scale and complexity of its world. Its blend of crafting, survival, a vast laberythian open world, freeform progression, and gripping story truly outdid anything that came before. Despite only being a few years old, having officially left various early access programs in 2018, Subnautica has already proven a hugely influential game in the survival genre.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |