“I’ve been lingering at the bottom of the food chain for far too long”
Showing the fish who’s boss in Subnautica
The moment I learned about the existence of the PRAWN, I had to have it. It’s a suit of power armor that lets you explore the depths of the ocean, and has a pair of arms that can be used to gather resources and fight predators. My little Seamoth can only dive to 200 meters before it crumples like a can, but with the PRAWN I could go as low as 900.
But building one takes work. To find the blueprint for the suit, you have to venture into the radioactive wreckage of the Aurora: The ship you were on before crash-landing on this water world. Here, you’ll find a chamber filled with broken suits that you can scan. A dangerous task, especially with all the fire, radiation, flooded corridors, and hungry Cave Crawlers.
To make my way through the Aurora I need to make sure I have plenty of supplies: Food, water, health packs. I’ll also need an extinguisher for fires, a laser cutter for getting through locked doors, and a knife to deal with the Crawlers. Preparation is essential in this game, especially when you’re far away from your base.
Survival games often gate the best stuff with busywork, and I rarely have the patience to stick with it. But Subnautica’s world is so compelling to explore that I’ll gladly toil for anything that lets me journey deeper into it. And the resource requirements are generally pretty low, meaning you don’t have to spend hours gathering materials.
After finishing the blueprint and escaping the wreck, I start grabbing resources for my armor. Luckily I have most of them already, stored in floating crates near my escape pod. The trickiest part is locating a ruby, which I eventually find hiding among the roots of a giant mushroom. I drop a beacon should I ever need one again. I’ll thank myself later.
Untested waters
It’s been a long road, but it’s time to build a PRAWN. I’m genuinely excited as I race back to the vehicle-building platform in my Seamoth, pockets filled with all the required ingredients. And when the completed suit is dropped into the ocean, ready for me to pilot, it doesn’t disappoint. There’s something hugely satisfying about building stuff in Subnautica. You feel like you’ve earned it.
Near my base there’s a field of kelp, which is a breeding ground for predators called Stalkers. These guys have been terrorizing me for hours, and now it’s time for payback. I climb into the PRAWN and test out its hydraulic arms by punching them. Subnautica is wonderfully nonviolent, but I’ve been at the bottom of the food chain for far too long.
Besides, the Stalkers drop teeth that I can use to make enameled glass: a material required for my next project, the Cyclops. This massive submarine doubles as a mobile base, with storage for my PRAWN, however creating the blueprint will take a lot of scanning. For now, though, I’m content to just stomp around in my shiny new power armor, punching predators and exploring the murky depths.
THERE’S SOMETHING HUGELY SATISFYING ABOUT BUILDING STUFF IN SUBNAUTICA