I don't have much experience with survival games but this really got me wanting more.

The game is very well polished with few issues, not very many bugs or glitches and even fewer are really of any inconvenience. It really does deserve it's Overwhelmingly Positive status as of the time of reviewing.

Subnautica is entirely first person and does a good job of being atmospheric with clear boundaries in difficulty of zones, resources and threats. The game features a progressively harder resource mining style where you will need to search for better materials in order to dive deeper and explore the eerie, almost spiritual trail to the bottom of the ocean.

Food, water and oxygen play a crucial role as you feel the failure of having not packed enough food, spare oxygen, clean water and the pressure of sacrificing inventory space taken up by your food and water for a good haul. But you will overcome this with vehicles - the Seamoth, a small and agile personal submarine, the PRAWN Suit which has drill arms and walks, or the Cyclops 40ft mobile base submarine.

Everything in this game has a use of some form and there are smart uses and functions. Some good, some bad. Your Cyclops engine may overheat if pushed to maximum speed or depeletes your battery when you use its modification functions like shielding or sonar. Floaters, a symbiotic balloon-like gel ball of living bacteria that produce gas and therefore buoyancy, can be used to float something to the surface. Salt can be used to cure fish for longevity while cooked fish will spoil. Certain types of fish can be used to make moderately safe drinking water much like how you will use the environment's bounty around you to craft everything you need.

The game is surprisingly colourful for a world often portrayed as black, dank green and brown in the real world. Corals, fish, minerals, customisable paint jobs. You will struggle with light as you go further down where certain creatures prey from the shadows.

Weapons are not the basis of this game and reliance on tools, escape and distraction in what is a very much living environment, are encouraged. While some weapons do feature in the game, they are often non-lethal such as the Stasis Rifle which can freeze an area around the target that the shot lands on. Tools like flares can distract some enemies sensitive or inquisitive to light while you lay glowing discs with the Pathfinder Tool to lay out your "string" in the mazes underwater.

Build a habitat using materials salvaged and reconstituted by your Fabricator device and create Desalinator machines (removing salt from seawater to make fresh, pure, free water). Build bioreactors and throw whatever you want in there or mine uranium for a nuclear reactor, sensor survey rooms which can map select resources and moonpool vehicle bays to park your vehicles.

Story is told through PDA writings and radio recordings and transmissions recieved from survivors of the initial reason you are on the planet but may well not have survived the ordeal of living off the ocean.

I cannot recommend this game enough and cannot stress enough to people to take your time with this game because a lot of the fun is in the exploration and overcoming technical boundaries with new upgrades gained through scouring the seabed and it's inhabitants.

Subnautica, a great game for survival game enthusiasts with enough intelligently thought out functions to please players who want more than grinding the environment and a stunning palette of colourful environments to make survival fun.