Despite sharing a name, survival and survival horror are two very different genres.
And yet, one game manages to take these two very different genres and combine them perfectly.
It has the conquering nature aspects of survival, but also the abject terror of survival horror.
Subnautica is the best survival game, and the best survival horror game.
Your first few dives into the oceans of Planet 456B are simple enough.
Oceans are inherently creepy, but with farting manatee-things and adorable cuddlefish, theres nothing too scary going on.
The survival in Subnautica is simple, but as deep as its ocean.
Go too deep too soon, and your air will run out a lot quicker.
That, or youll be eaten by something awful.
Before long, though, you become a master of the seas.
You build a complex tree of air pipes to breathe as you delve deeper into caves and tunnels.
You build flippers and enhanced oxygen tanks.
You even set up an underwater base.
Your first encounter with a hostile enemy flips a switch for Subnautica.
Layered on top of your hunger and thirst is something much, much more horrifying.
At first, its just a little stalker in the kelp forests.
But theyre the slamming vent in Alien: Isolation, or the spooky jumpscares in Alan Wake 2.
Ill never forget my first encounter with a Reaper Leviathan.
Welcome to the home of TheGamer’s Survival Week, a celebration of all things, well, survival. Here you’ll find features, interviews, and more dedicated to this popular genre, brought to you by Inflexion Games' upcoming open-world survival crafter, Nightingale.
I thought Id seen everything, and decided to stray a little too close to the gigantic crashed spaceship.
The muted groaning of the reefbacks gave way to distant roaring.
Then, as I was picking some debris off the seafloor, a shadow passed over me.
The genius of Subnautica is that it makes you forget two key facts.
Now firmly disillusioned that youre not the big dogfish, even the things you were doing before become terrifying.
The ship is a radioactive nightmare of crabs and reapers.
Everything is awful, and its utterly brilliant.
Subnautica marries survival and survival horror together in a way no other game has managed.
But it teaches survival horror a thing or two, as well.
Subnautica never goes for the cheap scares.
