NEWS: Subnautica finally surfaces from Early Access January 24th

Unknown Worlds Entertainment’s underwater survival game, Subnautica, has finally made it out of Steam’s Early Access, available for £17.54 (£19.49 after promotion) in the UK, and for $24.99 in the US. Already highly successful and much-loved by YouTubers including Markiplier and Jacksepticeye, Subnautica promises underwater survival sandbox gameplay and base-building elements that bring a unique twist on the flooded genre of survival games.

Subnautica is a deeply beautiful game with lots of bright colours in use bringing a engaging diving and exploration experience to the player. The gameplay consists largely of collecting blueprints and adventuring around a fluorescent alien ocean while also avoiding death from the many dangers lurking in the deadly sea, from dangerous stinging plants all the way up to giant sea monsters called Leviathans. 

 

Subnautica's beautiful, but deadly luminescent ocean. Source: in-game screenshot.

Some of the more promising features of the game include the scavenging elements and the crafting elements. With a fitting sci-fi twist on the formula most common in survival games, Subnautica forges its own identity in the genre; instead of crafting recipes using benches and tables, instead useful items are Fabricated using an in-game tool that 3D-prints such goodies in front of the players eyes. From this, an extensive array of underwater machinery and tools can be constructed to make exploration easier and more satisfying, and not only that but the player can also create sprawling underwater habitats with many cool little personalisations that add to the game’s individual charm. The game offers different options to explore its oceans including the traditional Survival mode and genre mainstays Hardcore mode (giving the player only one life alongside difficulty hikes) and Creative mode (offering players freedom of exploration and crafting).

It is promising to see the game finally out of Early Access after its development period. With the many performance upgrades and features added since its initial offering, including a deep story mode, Subnautica has grown as a game and is a fine example of how to do Early Access correctly. The game joins the likes of Klei Entertainment’s Don’t Starve in its success on getting out of what, for many games, is a long and protracted beta period that is difficult to survive.

On announcing the game’s final release, Charlie Cleveland, Co-Founder and Game Director of Unknown Worlds Entertainment had this to say:

“Since the game’s beta release in 2014, Subnautica has received waves of positive and constructive feedback from our dedicated players. The team is grateful to the community for the overwhelming support. We are proud to deliver an experience that gamers of all ages will dive into and immediately feel the thrill of exploration and survival in an expansive undersea world.”

Further coverage of Subnautica will include a review and a Twitch stream at a later date. The game’s trailer is viewable below:

For more information on Subnautica, a link to the game's page can be found here.

A Game To Watch: They Are Billions

Developed by Numantian games, They Are Billions is an intense, brutally difficult game that entered Early Access this December. Set up as a zombie survival game, TAB is an interesting take on a saturated genre, offering a steampunk setting with real-time-strategy gameplay.

 

They Are Billions comes complete with Reticulating Splines loading menus. Screenshot from in-game.

The minute-to-minute of this game is satisfyingly difficult. Players are tasked with the construction and defence of a post-apocalyptic Steampunk-styled colony. Usual genre mainstays are in full force such as resource and unit management as well as base defences. An interesting mix of survival gameplay elements are thrown in, including food and some elementary colonist management. 

The graphics are an interesting isometric 2D style, with beautiful, smooth animation of both buildings and units, all styled in a unique way that brings out the game’s individuality. For those with hardware of the right calibre, the game art is capable of scaling to 4K graphics, as mentioned on the game’s website. 

Graphics are layered with interesting Steampunk stylings, and look crisp and unique. Screenshot from in-game.

Of most note is the AI, however. Like many zombie survival games before it, They Are Billions doubles down on the attraction of displaying massive hordes of enemies simultaneously on-screen. However, the game’s website states that a custom AI engine has been built to handle up to 20,000 units in real time. Enemies react realistically to sound and roam about the world with their own paths. When playing the game, the sheer, overwhelming force of the horde is an awe-inspiring sight, even as the swathes of undead lay waste to your base. 

Vast numbers of enemies attacking in force is a sight to behold. Screenshot from in-game.

As isometric-styled survival games go, They Are Billions holds promise not only in its style but in its brutal gameplay. The difficulty of the game itself can be tweaked by altering gameplay time and enemy numbers using sliders, but I would recommend leaving the difficulty at default to experience first hand the brutality of the horde, as it provides a visceral, if unforgiving game. 

Expect to see game-over screens a lot. This game is fiendishly brutal. Screenshot from in-game.

If you’re looking for a survival horror fix with excellent real-time strategy elements running the show, then look no further than They Are Billions, which is currently available in Early Access in Steam for just under £20. This game shows a lot of promise as a game to watch for the future.