That's right, it's essay time again! Subnautica is one of the scariest non-horror games. You read that right. Subnautica is not technically a horror game. In fact, the developers never intended it to be one. Look again at the categories on Steam: horror isn't one of them. But if Subnautica isn't a horror game, then why is it so scary?
I think a good place to start is getting a good grasp on fear. According to the Wikipedia page on Fear: “Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat.” It’s a biological mechanism, designed to keep us alive. Without fear, all of us would be dead. Why are we afraid of heights? Because we could fall off and die. Why are we afraid of snakes or spiders? Because they could be venomous, attack us, and we could die. Fear is a complicated thing, but the important thing is that it exists to avoid death.
Now, obviously, I expect most of you to roll your eyes at that last paragraph, you get it. You know what fear is. You've experienced it. But remember how I said it’s a complicated thing? Let's use the lens of games to understand it a little better.
The right balance between fear of what might happen and fear of what is currently happening is probably the most vital element of any horror media. Think about it like this: if you had a game that was just constantly shrouded in darkness, or always night, or whatever, but there were no monsters, no eerie sounds, no unusual visuals, it would be pretty boring. Basically just nothing besides a regular game, that just happens to be in the dark. But on the other hand, say you had a game where it's always filled with monsters. Things are always attacking you, and you can always see them. The game hardly gives you a breather before the next one. Now what do you have? I guess it would be Doom, which isn't that scary, despite the horrors you constantly bear witness to. Sure, it's high adrenaline, but you're not allowed to be anxious when you're busy killing what's in front of you, and you can see several more ahead of you.
The goal of any horror media is to strike a good middle ground between these two concepts.
Subnautica has just about the perfect blend. You'll have your run-ins with Reapers, and Ghosts, and other big scarys, but then suddenly you're in darkness. There's strange white plants that look like they're covered in blood. You hear a strange sound, like a creaking door, but you turn around and see nothing. You dive deeper, but you have no idea what's down there. That's when you encounter a Crabsquid. A Warper suddenly pulls you out, the Crabsquid disables your vehicle, and you put up little resistance before you are vanquished.
See? Terrifying. Because it has the creepy atmosphere that isn't actually dangerous, but by following it up with truly dangerous foes, it delivers in that promise that something does indeed know where you are, and will attack you.
Now bare with me for one more story. Take the Reaper Leviathan. It’s basically the poster child of Subnautica, and for good reason. You hear it roar, quiet at first, but when you look around, you see nothing. As you approach, you see a faint shadow in the water. A bid shadow. It gets louder. You follow that shadow, but… it’s gone. This is fear of anticipation at its finest. You have little idea what’s going to happen, and there’s a million scenarios racing through your head, trying to figure out what it is. But then, once you’ve almost become resolute, BAM! The Reaper grabs your Seamoth, and you hurriedly jump out. You’re panicking, your vehicle, a source of comfort, has been thrust away from you. You have to choose between risking facing the leviathan again, or losing that vehicle. This is fear of what’s happening. Notice those two words: you’re panicking. You’re thrust into an event where you must witness what that terror has led up to, seeing your worst fears come true. And while maybe this time, you scurry away in your badly bent Seamoth, that moment of panic remains with you anytime you near the Aurora.
As a perfect little bow on the present, if you manage to scan a Reaper, the PDA rewards you with this simple reassurance of fear: “- If you can hear it, the reaper can see you.” That is why Subnautica’s fear works.
lol i missed writing unnecessary essays