You’re Being Hunted: How Subnautica Preyed on Your Fear

the human mind has a natural fear of what it doesn't know or understand a primal fear built into our very cause designed to keep us safe what's down that hole or at the bottom of that lake or hiding in the jungle just out of sight ready to pounce fear of the unknown is built into our very being and subnautica takes that fear and latches onto it like a Reaper Leviathan and doesn't let go subnautica is an open world survival game based in an almost Endless Ocean with next to no land in sight a world fall to the brim with intrigue mystery and possible unknown threats around every corner and while subnautica is not marketed or intended to be a horror game it can often strike you with a sense of foreboding and fear that not many of the titles can replicate a fear of the ocean is not a new one for humans since ancient times there has been Tales told of Krakens and sea Sirens luring Sailors to their Doom or Sinking entire ships in their rage and that's before we even begin to consider the terrifying things that live in the ocean for real the fear of the ocean is so widespread it even has its own name known as thalassophobia otherwise known as an intense fear of large bodies of water the ocean can often seem as alien to us on and lovers is any far off world so combining this natural fear with an even more alien environment in subnautica can often be a recipe for a fish-induced panic attack subnautica plays on this natural fear of the ocean and The Wider unknown through its environment creatures and intentional design philosophy now I'm sure you won't be surprised to know as two-legged mammals who like to breathe air with lungs instead of gills living completely underwater in subnautica throws his head first into a scenario that we wouldn't have the first idea of how to cope with and the game's mechanics reflect this much like the real world each time you die follow the waves a timer starts and with each tick of that timer you're one second close to Drowning Jesus that was quite dark wasn't it just think of that line next time you go to the local swimming pool will you now this element of time management means that you always have to keep one eye on your oxygen tank when diving deep into the world which naturally adds increased tension a simple Supply run could prove deadly if you take your eye off the ball for too long or if you unintentionally stray too far from your base or vehicle both subnautica and our real world oceans contain a lot of wide open space without much to fill the void and this plays on another key human fear known as Kenneth phobia which as you might guess is the fear of large open spaces humans naturally want to have a point of reference such as trees buildings or Hills to ground themselves within their environment something that subnautica and the real-life ocean deny you looking below and seeing abyss of nothingness makes us feel small and vulnerable with no cover or place to hide if things go wrong as the ocean leaves us floating with no fixed ground an attack could come from any direction above below or side to side the choice by the developers not to include a world Edge in subnautica was also deliberate they wanted the player to look down into the black hole below you and shiver In Fear And while the wide open spaces can be intimidating and make the player feel exposed the tight tunnels and caves can also be claustrophobic with a sense of nowhere to run you really are damned if you do and damned if you don't subnautica's array of different biomes also means you can't get comfortable for too long while the shallows might feel safe the limited resources available mean you will eventually have to venture deeper exposing you to new environmental dangers as well as new creatures finding abandoned living quarters in the world of previous survivors also adds to the heightened tension especially for those who suffer from sub mechanophobia a fear of man-made objects Under the Sea like shipwrecks if this wasn't enough visibility in this environment is also low when underwater it's harder to see due to a haze descending on both Rock and creatures alike from sediment and the Distortion of light sunlight can only penetrate so far into the ocean and when the light travels through water the molecules in the water scatter and absorb it and the deeper we go the less light there is subnautica recreates this real-life effect with the world becoming darker as you descend meaning not only could a threat come from any direction but it's also much harder to see coming the world of subnautica similar to our real life oceans is often eerily quiet often the only sound you can hear is the sound of your own breathing and the bubbles you produce are moving around with the occasional echo of a far-off creature in the distance or perhaps the engine of your submarine humans are naturally alert the amount of noise in an environment and this includes background sounds that you don't normally actively listen to or take it but your brain still processes on a subconscious level the absence of these sounds can make us naturally more alert and more attentive our mind picks up on this lack of sound and instinctively listens harder to figure out what's going on to try and figure out if there are any threats nearby subnautica while maybe unintentionally recreates this feeling putting us more on edge especially when the sound of our own distorted breathing is left to fill the Gap unlike our real-life oceans subnautica also uses music masterfully to build tension unless you can hear the Titanic's band playing from the bottom of the ocean if you listen closely I mean I'm not sure I've never tried subnautica's use of music when venturing away from the surface promotes that feeling of dread in the depths of your stomach and when combined with the lack of light any fixed objects to set your eyes on and the fear of what may lay below you it's easy to set your pulse racing and that's before you even run into any of the game's creatures subnautica's leviathans undoubtedly strike fear when placed within this environment not only do you not know where these creatures are going to attack from you don't even know what they might look like or what they might be capable of seeing the outline of a massive creature many times bigger than yourself in the distance with an additionally terrifying raw is enough to make anyone want to turn around in Terror and flee unlike the world we live in today in subnautica humans are definitely not at the top of the food chain if one of these bad boys decides that you look like an incredibly tasty lunch there's not much you can do about it other than run away and this was an intentional design Choice by the developers subnautica gives almost no practical weapons to fight off an attacker to the player torpedo systems on vehicles exist but these do minimal damage at best handheld weapons such as the combat knife are widely known to be practically useless you can kill creatures with these weapons but it's difficult time consuming and not rewarding to do so the developers deliberately didn't want to include weapons or guns in subnautica and this only adds to the terror when you're being attacked by a creature many times your size not being able to fight back is one of the core pillars of subnautica's design in most games the combat Loop is a key ingredient in player enjoyment and removing this post a few problems for subnautica's developers how can you keep the game interesting when you can't fight back well you make the player fall in love with getting hunted the developers wanted to reframe combat from being a challenge to something you experience essentially they wanted to make getting attacked so fun and interesting for the player but getting attacked would actually be considered a Plus instead of a minus they wanted to create a tense atmosphere such as those in scenes from the films in Das Boot and The Hunt for Red October where the submarine crews had to wait tensely to see if they would be detected by the enemy or in this case alien giant fish they did this in a number of ways making leviathans and creatures react to both light and sound meaning if you moved slowly you might not be noticed the player was able to do this using lighting control panels inside their vehicles with the option to turn off the engine when the creature was near to kill the sound the added effect of you holding your breath while sat in your chair was just an unintended consequence sonar radar was also implemented so you could see your attacker getting closer and closer to you giving you the added sense of Terror that the creature was closing in and it was time to run they also included an absolute Banger of a theme song when you come under attack in the form of abandoned ship that combined with the Cyclops alarm sound means sometimes you have to choose between if you want a boogie or if you want to live the constant presence of the depth meter also shows how far away you are from the surface so you know you're getting further and further away from safety the deeper you go outside of your vehicles the implementation of the scanner tool meant you had to get close to creatures to add them to your database without getting yourself killed this meant while not directly getting into a fight with the creature you still have the added adrenaline boost of being under attack they further promoted a pacifist play Star by not rewarding the player for killing creatures if you do manage to kill one of the game's leviathans you will soon realize that you didn't get anything out of it apart from a sore finger from all that spam clicking key to the overall sense of fear is the fact that the player never knows exactly how the game works keeping that layer of mystery is crucial for keeping the Fear Factor High support because players never know what might be lurking around the next corner and that lets your mind run wild with what possible Horrors might be waiting in the Deep the combination of our ancient human instincts that have taught us to be wary of large bodies of water and what might be hiding within them in addition to our disorientation of being pushed outside of our natural environment with subnautica's alien world is the perfect mix for creating anxiety couple this with time pressures of limited oxygen reduced Vision Open Spaces with no cover from which an attack could come at any time and darkness from a lack of sunlight and you have what some people might consider a very strong horror game even if the title wasn't intended to be one so next time you feel your pulse Rising when exploring one of subnautica's type tunnels be sure to thank your ancient human ancestors for trying to keep you safe from the evil that lurks in the deep did you have any fear when playing subnautica let me know in the comments below subscribe for more and I'll see you next time foreign

Channel: Aletho

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Id: X3gWUQgnvy4

Length: 7min 56sec (476 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 11 2022