Subnautica starts you off in an escape pod. Your ships have been hit by something and you hurtle toward an alien planet. There are alarms going off and there are red lights flashing on and off. It’s all very sudden and unexpected. Once you crash a quick cutscene plays showing you your starter home (Escape Pod). Then you gain full control of your character and are allowed to leave the pod. Once you leave the pod you see the Aurora burning in the distance, and now your off on your adventure.

The more you go through the game, the more you learn what's happening to the creatures, environment and even you. Long ago, aliens had already been to this planet, and built a large Ion cannon, which shot you down, along with many other facilities. The planet has been diseased and you are the only one who can cure it. You will end up venturing for hours, discovering biomes, meeting new friends, and learning some more background of what's really going on.

I always thought that the music in a game should be based on the environment you are in. With Subnautica it doesn’t have to change its style of music. All of its songs, no matter where you are, always matches the biome your in. Most of its songs have a calm, relaxing feeling, and it’s very appealing to me. Its sound effects are no exception either. From the environment you are in, to the monsters you hear, nothing is out of place. If you looked at a monster or alien, depending on what you would like to call it, it sounds like what you’d expect. For instance, a sand shark. Sand sharks are about the size of a typical chair. Four small orange eyes, plenty of sharp teeth, black scales with red tints here and there. Large fins and tiny legs. It sounds like a roar, but higher pitched.

With most games controls can be hard to learn and remember. Subnautica falls into that category. With most things it’s what you’d expect. Right and left mouse button to interact, “W-A-S-D” to move, and space to jump. But some things, like opening your inventory, are tab. To leave a modification station or fabricators selection screen you have to walk away. The game itself controls very well, but there are some small bugs. Texture loading can become an issue for the land masses, other than that their graphics are very detailed. And there are lag spikes from time to time.

There are some customization options that can fit most anyones likings.. You can be in Survival Mode, which has food, water, oxygen, and health. Freedom Mode: oxygen and health. Hardcore Mode is like survival, but only one life. And Creative Mode, you can’t die, no stats, and freebuild. Along with console commands, or cheats.

Overall Subnautica is a very well textured, programmed and fun game, to the extent that you have a lot of freedom for a game. And most water based games either don’t do well, or don’t look detailed, like the developers just gave up. And with its predecessor, Subnautica: Below Zero, still in early access, you can have even more world to explore and test on. And for a single player game it has performed better than I expected.