When comparing Subnautica vs Quantum Break, the Slant community recommends Subnautica for most people. In the question“What are the best story rich games on PC?” Subnautica is ranked 8th while Quantum Break is ranked 51st. The most important reason people chose Subnautica is:
The game takes place underwater, and it looks very good especially because of the new candy eye update. Looking up at the sun through the ocean looks pleasant and real. Coral reefs have multiple colors and look real as well. Graphics wise this game looks great and pulls off its theme of an underwater survival quite well.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great theme and looks
The game takes place underwater, and it looks very good especially because of the new candy eye update. Looking up at the sun through the ocean looks pleasant and real. Coral reefs have multiple colors and look real as well. Graphics wise this game looks great and pulls off its theme of an underwater survival quite well.
Pro The sound effects really set up the overall atmosphere
The sound design in Subnautica is amazing. Even though the soundtrack can be bland at times, the sound effects for the ocean noises are incredibly atmospheric and really help to get the player in the mood for exploring a vast, alien ocean.
Pro Interesting creature design
The creature design in Subnautica deserves some major praise. Spotting a new, never seen before creature is extremely rewarding and there's a large variety of alien creatures to look for.
Pro Has a mode for people who just want to explore
Subnautica has four game modes: survival, freedom, hardcore, and creative. The first one pits the player against the elements and forces them to think about food and water through its thirst and hunger mechanics.
The second game mode basically removes every mechanic that is related to surviving, such as the aforementioned hunger and thirst mechanics. It also leaves all the items in your inventory after you die. In other words, it's a game mode for people who want to explore without having to bother with surviving. Which is nice, since Subnautica has a lot of stuff to explore.
The third one, as the name tells us, is more difficult. Not only do you have to worry about health, oxygen, water and hunger, you will have to worry about your life. Since this game mode gives you one chance to live, no respawning. If you die, you'll lose your progress and will have to start over again.
The fourth one will let you build a base of your dreams without worrying about food, oxygen, or thirst. It is the best mode for people who want to build and don't want to gather resources.
Pro No pointless multiplayer
Not every damn thing needs multiplayer, and multiplayer can often ruin an otherwise incredible experience. There's none to be found here, and that intensifies the lonely atmosphere. Also, the creators didn't waste resources on something that would fundamentally undermine the experience so they could focus on making the game the wonderful thing that it is.
Pro Very interesting for both new and long-time players
But it goes faster when you learn the game. Because everything is done manually.
Pro Incredibly satisfying tool-building mechanics
The whole process of creating new tools is mostly done using a sophisticated 3D-printer available from the start of the game. You gather various resources and transform them to create tools that you will need for your survival.
For example, organic matter gets printed into raw carbon, combine carbon with some zinc and you get a battery; combine that battery with some glass and you get a flashlight that helps you see in the dark. It's very straightforward but incredibly satisfying when you build your tools, especially since you are doing all of this while swimming in an ocean filled with predators.
Pro Real actors are used in an interesting way
During gameplay the character models in the game are made to resemble their real world counterparts, using their voices and mocapped animations. What is even more interesting is that the game will have live action plot TV episodes staring these actors in between gameplay segments of the game. these TV episodes will differ in play depending on what the player is choosing to do in the game. While not the first time to base characters off of real actors, the TV episodes will definitely flesh out the game into even more of an interactive story than previous games out there. Which makes for an original experience.
Pro Real time destruction
Each stage in the game allows for real time destruction, either done by you or your enemies. This makes for shifting elements in each stage due to enemies being able to destroy your hiding spots. This way the player can't just camp in one spot in order to kill everyone to then advance forward, it forces the player to stay on their toes, which is welcome for those interested in constantly adjusting how they play.
Pro Interesting time manipulation mechanic
An iteration on bullet time (something this developer is familiar with as they also created Max Payne) the game allows for time manipulation in that the user can slow down or stop time in order to solve puzzles as well as get the upper hand in battles. It is a pivotal mechanic in the game and as such looks to be very well done.
Pro High production to TV segments
The TV segments of the game are really high in production value as they rival any top show on the big networks or streaming services. On top of this the story contained within them offer some great incites as to the motives of the bad guys and heroes alike. All this adds up to a level of polish not seen in many games.
Pro Replayability through branching paths
For those that would like to see all outcomes of the game and all live action story elements, the game will have to be played through again, making different choices than the first playthrough. This adds replayability to the game for those that would like to see everything the game has to offer.
Pro Choices affect gameplay
Depending on what choices a player makes in the game the story will adjust to reflect them. This is often done in many games (such as one made by Telltale Games) but for Quantum Break there are TV episodes that will also play depending on what choices are made, making for a very interactive and deep story through professional acting.
Cons
Con Lacks Co-Op
This game was meant to be a survival game (and a bit of horror), most survival games are difficult, may get boring to play alone after time and this game has both. Having a second survivor in the story would mean to rewrite it again, but having a friend in an alien world would be better.
Con No real story
A bit underdeveloped story. Only in notes and some short cgi animations.
Con Awful performance
The game has serious issues running smoothly on PC. The framerate is capped at 50fps no matter what equipment is used. Being that monitors are normally 60hz or more, this means the framerate can not even reach the refresh rate of any monitor available for PC. Though there is a 30fps cap available in the settings (which ideally should allow the game to run smooth, though at a low frame rate), it does not work properly and results in a jerky framerate.
Con Exclusive to Windows 10 store on PC
Games on the Windows 10 have several minor issues. Can't add to Steam games list, no third party overlays, can't disable V-sync, no unofficial mods, etc. Might not matter to most people, but can be an issue to some.
Con Gameplay progression is not balanced
The first half of the game sees the player unlock all of the main characters special powers, meaning the second half of the game gives little to work towards other than finishing the game and defeating the bad people. It would have been nice to see elements of gameplay still being unlocked in the second half of the game, as there is no little incentive to finish other than a bit of closure.
Con Poorly implemented action sequences
There are sections of the game that require a bit of platforming, sadly these sections are pretty linear, which break the immersion of the game tanks to areas where you just walk against walls instead o being able to climb. It seems like these segments could have been designed better, to at least give the impression that they are less linear than they actually are.
Con Shooting and cover mechanics could be better
The cover mechanic in the game is dynamic in that you walk up to somewhere were you can cover, and you auto cover. While this itself is not that bad, the shooting mechanics once you are under cover are poor in that you can't shoot at all while under cover (there isn't even any blind fire with guns). You will have to stand up in order to shoot, which leaves yourself vulnerable. Other games have done this system better and it would have been nice to see as much polish put into the gun-play as it was into the story of the game.
Con TV episodes are streamed online
The TV segments of the game are no on ones hard drive or disk, they are streamed from the game developers server, meaning those with a poor connection may see stutter and dropped frames in the video. This makes for a poor experience for some and it would have been nice to see them as local file, but of course the storage requirements for the game would have been a lot higher due to the size of the HD video.
Con Really short
The game is at max 10 hours, and that is including the 4 live action TV segments of the game. While the mashup of these elements can be appreciated, to see the game beaten in such a short time for a $60 game is disappointing.
Con Main story is a bit cliché
The basic premise of the story in the game sees the main character in a catastrophic accident, which gives him special powers. There is definitely nothing new about this story element and it would have been nice to see something new or fresh as to why the games story develops as it does.
Con TV episodes may interrupt flow of gameplay
Being that the game has not been played yet it is still unknown, but 20 minute TV episodes that take place in between gameplay may interrupt the flow of the gameplay. It is still unknown if they can be skipped, and even if they can are they necessary to enjoying the game.