Just filling in your PDA as you scan every creature and coral you come across here is a full time occupation and you can absolutely expect to spend triple digits of hours if you're looking to see most of what this engrossing world has to offer.

On the flip side of this, it also somehow manages to be one of the most chill games we've ever played, absolutely devouring our time as we mine for materials to build bases and upgrades, explore great neon reefs and spin endlessly around in search of more secrets, treasures and tech. You'll find yourself sneaking past great leviathans, holding your breath and turning off the lights on your submersible as you attempt to pass silently, or panicking as you lose your bearings in a cave with an almost empty oxygen 's nerve-wracking stuff. There is as much horror here as there is sci-fi. This game digs its hooks into our most basic, primal fears of the ocean, of drowning, of getting lost in treacherous underwater caverns or succumbing to some great monstrosity in the deepest, darkest depths. This is such a wonderfully well-realised world too, remarkably beautiful at times with a diverse range of biomes to slowly and methodically discover - it can also be truly and utterly terrifying. That said, we really don't want to spoil too much about the unlockable gadgets or the story, as just uncovering it all for yourself is where the real magic of Subnautica lies. There's an absolute ton of craftable tech and building components to discover here that expand and evolve cleverly as you progress, enabling you to search ever further and deeper.

It's a constantly thrilling marriage of fiendishly addictive gameplay loops, with hugely satisfying crafting and base building, well-implemented survival mechanics and a world and story that absolutely ooze wonder, mystery and full-on existential dread in equal measure. Subnautica really is one the great indie early access success stories, a game that's been honed to near perfection over a long gestation period on PC, with lots of input from avid fans helping to shape the core experience as it exists today. Beyond the now expected lowering of textures and graphical bells and whistles across the board - and some asset pop-in that we've actually also experienced whilst playing this one on PC and PS4 - this is one of the all-time great survival experiences, and its excellent sequel, looking and running spectacularly well on a handheld gaming device. We're not exactly sure what kind of secret underwater alien technology Unknown Worlds has employed in its porting process here, but both Subnautica and its sequel on Switch feel like nothing short of a minor miracle.

Subnautica below zero gameplay