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

Subnautica plays on a number of key human fears which can put even the hardiest adventurer on the edge of their seat. Today we discuss how an alien world paired with an ocean environment with mysterious creatures cause fear, and how you learned to love every moment of it.
You’re being hunted: How Subnautica Preyed on Your Fear
Edited in conjunction with BountifulVermin, check him out below! / @bountifulvermin
----- Time Stamps ----
0:00 - Fear of The Unknown
1:08 - The Environment & Mechanics
3:24 - The Lack of Sound
4:02 - The Soundtrack
4:24 - Creatures, Leviathans and Weapons
5:15 - Falling in Love with Getting Hunted
7:00 - Closing Thoughts
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[@j.c-6424]

I think one terrifying aspect about Subnautica is that Some Leviathan's like The Reaper Leviathan will constantly roar but then go silent and ambush you

[@iAletho]

Yeah they can be super sneaky, always out to ambush you when you aren't looking! Thanks for watching J.C!

[@XensRebirth]

And there's some ghost like leviathan that's absolutely MASSIVE and then when you go to scan it.... *It's a baby leviathan*

[@iAletho]

@@XensRebirth I always wondered what the gargantuan leviathan would look like if it was alive!

[@X33_go_brrrrrrr]

@@iAletho there is a mod for subnautica called return of the ancients it adds lots of creatures as well as the gargantuan wich is mind-bogglingy huge

[@leobamabaconator]

ghost leviathans are dead silent until they are ready to attack

[@JohaDahlgaard]

I thing I love about Subnautica is that when you get near the Aroura, the music just completely disappears. What is scarier than scary music? The lack of music.

[@FlyingPenguin196]

In my game for some reason the sky just went dark for a minute, despite me leaving for the aurora right in the morning. Terrifying, but probably a bug.

[@normalgamergal]

​@@FlyingPenguin196 Actually, that was probably an eclipse. Next time that happens, look at the sky and check if there's something blocking the sun. (Never do that on real life, though 😆)

[@Mrsir529]

@@FlyingPenguin196that was just a solar eclipse

[@SamH-yw7mj]

yeah and then a leviathan roared right behind me out of nowhere as i was swimming through the shipwreck and scared the shit out of me

[@jackpfefferkorn3734]

My very first Reaper Leviathan encounter was in the crash site biome, near the back of the Aurora. I had disembarked my brand-new Seamoth to go scan some fragments at the sea floor, and I swam back up to see this massive shark-like creature I had never seen before. If its earsplitting roars didn't reveal the intentions it had for my poor squishy body, the pathetic wreckage of the Seamoth it had just bitten in half told me all I needed to know.

[@iAletho]

This was written like a horror story 😂 Thanks for watching Jack :)

[@nosuchname1813]

Mine was near the mountain island. I was just searching for cyclops engine fragments then I hear. "ROOAAAARRR" I look behind and see it, it grabs my sea moth. 10 health left. I could still see the shadow of that evil creature. But I had went away. Undetected.

[@mollyencrypted2488]

I first met one right after receiving the first Sea Emperor message. You can imagine how alarming and confusing that was.

[@drugsndrugs]

bruh i literally tried to stall the story and avoid the aurora cause i had ptsd from the reaper around there.What an experience this whole game.I still return to videos like these to share it.

[@headrockbeats]

I too encountered it neat the Aurora engines. Swam down to scan, then looked up to the surface to see the silhouette of the Reaper swimming above. I got into the seamoth and made a beeline back to the shallows. The ship got attacked, but I managed to get away. Fortunately, this made me _so_ cautious afterwards, that I was literally never attacked by a leviathan again. Completely snuck past both the Ghosts and the Dragon. Of course, the game took ages because I never went above slow speed in the cyclops. xD

[@centurosproductions8827]

The worst part of leviathans is that only their head is solid. Which makes scanning them without the freeze gun really freaking difficult. It's even worse in Below Zero, when the Shadow Leviathan will one-shot you if it decides it's hungry, and swims away from you faster than you swim.

[@iAletho]

Yeah scanning Leviathans has always been pain. I only realised when recording my last video that I had never scanned the reaper on my current playthrough! 😂

[@shacochad7052]

Look man you can kill shadow leviathans easily you must have a prawnsuit I used default arms And I was dodging shadow leviathan's attack by jumping above him and then I punched him hard Sometimes he grabbed me sometimes he swam away but all four of them are dead now because they mostly stuck themselves while trying to swim into a ground for some reason Yeah it was fun

[@HollowDog5899]

I can't wait to forget about this game and find it again after 13 years and get to experience it again while not knowing anything

[@iAletho]

Haha better set that reminder for 13 years from now Hollowdog! 😂

[@profadetv535]

For those who are scared by Subnautica, just remember. According to lore, If you hear Reaper Leviathan… they can see you already.

[@iAletho]

I didn't need to sleep tonight anyway... 😂 thanks for watching ProFade

[@thatrandommememan9900]

They use echolocation I think

[@raphaelbeaumont3739]

If you are ever scared take a deep breath.

[@peteramaranth85]

Yup, there actually blind and use sonar so like a trex don't frigin move

[@leobamabaconator]

@@peteramaranth85 that’s not how a sonar works, also they detect you from farther in a vehicle if it’s on or not

[@Inklingboy89]

On the topic of the Reaper, they are actually programmed to behave like an actual predator. They circle you just out of sight before attacking from behind, they use sonar to find you, etc. It's pretty scary knowing that these things basically have a brain.

[@Aethuviel]

I had Subnautica in my Steam wishlist for years. Read a couple of reviews like "I play this with my 3 year old son and he loves looking at the colorful fish!", saw the overwhelmingly positive ratings, and thought "meh, why not", and finally got it last year. Fast forward to the front of the Aurora and the blood kelp zones, and I realized I'd been had. It's a horror game. (And I absolutely love it, late in my second playthrough now.)

[@mairaineplayzgames2205]

only fear i had in subnautica was the distant roars of the reapers, especially when i learned that reapers use echo location, so when you hear them...they see you!

[@iAletho]

Like a giant, watery bat... but bigger.... and massive teeth... 😂 Thanks for watching Mairaine!

[@aguyontheinternet8436]

@@iAletho I think a whale is a better comparison.

[@mikkaribbe6200]

I remember the two moments I was scared the most. One was, where I was in more shallow waters, but all of the sudden, there was a drop into the deep. I was never in deep water before, so I swam slowly to the edge and looked down. It was pitch black. I was afrait whats down there, but I also wanted to know. So I swam a little bit deeper, nearly hugging the wall behind me. Then I saw..big blue Balls in the water? They where shining blue and looked like nothing I had seen before. But then I saw other lights. Little green lights, that started to swim in my direction. Hell, tried to get up as fast as I could. I swam over the edge and sat in the sand and thought: no..not ready for that. That was my first encounter with Bone sharks and the Deep grand reaf. The second scary moment(s) where, when you swim at night, above the deeper areas. And then: the music stops. You hear nothing. It's quiet. To quiet. You can't see you don't hear. And the music stoped like it was saying: well, the fun is over now.

[@Yog-slagunar]

Subnautica remains the scarriest game I have ever played. Not once did it rely on intentional jumb scares but the atmosphere kept me on guard all the tame. And while I have a light aversion to the deep ocean, this game preyed masterfully on it

[@spectraldragon09]

One of the many things I love about Subnautica is how it plays with your fears and primal desires to stay safe. Even after many years and learning the whole game and map by heart. I still feel terror when I play the game probably even worse because I know what's out there and what it can do, but I know that I can't really do anything to stop it other than not going there

[@a43582]

a banger as usual, i wish you to make it big one day. your videos are solid, now you just need the algorithm's favor

[@iAletho]

Thanks a43582, I try my best! It's comments like yours that keep me motivated, so thank you!

[@neongaming8818]

Ive gotten over a good chunk of fear,but going into the dunes or the crash zone then hearing a roar?That is true terror right there.

[@Hammerheadcruiser]

So many memorable moments, nearly all of them involving fear. One of the few I actually remember the location of is exploring the crater. Parked the seamoth as low as possible and swimming around looking for stuff. Hear a reaper roar, freeze, look around, see the distant tail vanish into the dark. Alright, it's still far away, everything is FINE. Continue exploring. A few minutes later, a shadow passes over me, a reaper shadow. Look up, it's swimming above me. Still distant, but not nearly as far now. It was time to go.

[@lizzy4514]

Weirdly enough i only experienced Submechanophobia when playing this game, as a matter of fact i did have nightmares of being in the water near the alien bases and near the aurora and the alien air raid sounds for like 2 years, which makes you wonder why i still played it. The answer is simple i just love the feeling this game gives me, the soundtrack, the beautiful plants and colours, and the fact that i can have a mobile base all add up to being my favourite game of all time.

[@iAletho]

It's a great game Lizzy! It definitely has a unique way of creating dread thats for sure! 4546B just feels so alien at the start of a new playthrough, and nothing else can recreate that feeling! Thanks for watching! :)

[@KumaPlays]

Some parts of Subnautica could definitely be a horror game. Your channel is so good man. Can't wait to see what you post next!

[@iAletho]

There's definitely something eary about the game for sure, a few of my friends said they couldn't finish it as they found it that scary! Thanks Kuma and good to hear from you again! Keep on that youtube grind and we will both get there in the end!

[@JohnDiabol]

I was (probably still am to some degree) a sufferer of Thalassophobia. Then I played subnautica and to me it was the purest definition of a horror game. Even jumping into the water of the safe shallows in broad daylight for the first time filled me with dread, while going out at night came close to giving me an anxiety attack. But the game world was so beautiful and engaging and despite my fear of water I have always loved the ocean and ocean creatures. I persisted with Subnautica and saw it all the way through and I escaped that planet and flew away on the rocket and the first thing I did after the end credits was start a brand new game. This time I was bolder, I was no longer afraid of the creatures or the dark and my enjoyment of the game grew and grew exponentially. Since playing Subnautica I have also gone swimming in the ocean in real life as well. Last year I visited Brazil and I spent almost as much time in the water as I did on land. My fear isn't entirely gone, but I am no longer paralyzed by it in the way that I used to be.

[@ianchambers37]

I feel 100% like your post and the exact same feelings on all of those things minus the trip to Brazil. 😂I haven't beaten the game yet, though.

[@FTLnovaKid]

Awesome video, I honesty only played the game for a little bit before I quit. It of course doesn’t help that I am terrified of deep water lol. But watching the game was much easier. It’s crazy how great of a game they made, and then they made BZ 😑

[@iAletho]

Haha yeah, one of my friends had to quit Subnautica as he just found the game so terrifying 😂 I love watching other people's reaction to the game though when they get jumped scared haha, thanks for watching again Novakid

[@Pack3d_gum]

L imagine quitting the game

[@iAletho]

@@Pack3d_gum I'll be sure to pass on your disappoint to him pack3d_gum! 😂

[@flyingcheese4331]

I found it catastrophic in fear but still ended up bracing for impact watching myself sink in my prawn suit down to the depths

[@moon_sugar]

I played the original Subnautica while it was in SUPER early access, I'm talking like there were only like, 10 creatures in the whole game at the time. I played Below Zero in early access as well, It was so fun to watch the games develop and grow. And it's still exciting to see people making content about the games and all the support they still receive, I'm definitely excited for the next installment in the series (and the possible promise of multiplayer). I hope people keep making awesome videos like this.

[@iAletho]

Oh man you must have been one the early birds! Yeah Subnautica is definitely one of the more unique games of the last few years, here's hoping Subanutica 3 can add some new and exciting stuff (and a few more scary ones!). A multiplayer Subnautica could be a really fun experience! Thanks for watching Moon Sugar!

[@moon_sugar]

@@iAletho No problem! This video is really well made, surprised you don’t have more views/subs.

[@iAletho]

@@moon_sugar I always try to make something that I would want to watch myself, so quality is a big thing for me! Its going up slowly so can't complain! :)

[@lostnova]

I'm a bit late to the party, but what a phenomenal video! You really explained the psychology of the fear incredibly well :D

[@iAletho]

Never to late Lost Nova! I'm glad you enjoyed it and thank you very much for watching! (PS, I hope you find your Lost Nova soon 😉)

[@Ennbeard]

Honestly, I feel this. When I learned that Leviathans do not respawn, my first feeling was "well I'm never gonna kill them then". Because I want them there. If I wanted to pilot a sub around the ocean freely I'd just do a creative save. But that's not what I want. I want to shit my pants with fear no matter how many times I pass through the dunes.

[@louisbaldwin1416]

I love the absolute cut off of all sounds as you go off the edge of the void. Then you heat the ghost leviathan scream. Shivers me timbers!

[@SaltyRocksPew]

me building scanner rooms every 300 feet and painstakingly inching my way through the entire world in absolute safety: yeah

[@aquaplush7531]

If you’re looking for a game like Subnautica but leaning more into the horror side of things, check out Barotrauma! It’s a terrifying game set on Europa, where you and your crew explore the pitch black depths of the frozen seas. Your little submarine may feel safe, but it is far, far from it…

[@tomdjani9140]

Mate awsome vid. Love it to bits, love how much research you've put in. Easily my favourite game of all time. All the best Aletho !

[@SamanthaLaurier]

I've only seen three of your videos and I already subscribed. Love your content so far, am definitely going to watch more

[@gilernt]

despite numerous playthroughs, subnautica still makes me shiver when i swim out juuust a little too far over a cliff leading to the unknown below

[@Acheronpanda]

My biggest fear in Subnautica were the bleeders. I guess I had some unique phobia when it comes to them because I could barely progress through the Aurora.

[@willy.b.b3427]

Incredible video bro. You've got yourself a new sub. Top job, you deserveore than 300 subs 👏.

[@iAletho]

Thanks dude, it's comments like yours that motivate me to put out better and better videos! So thank you for being awesome :)

[@willy.b.b3427]

@@iAletho well if all your vids are like this, I have no problem giving credit. Keep her going, I'll stop by the next video to drop another comment if it keeps the videos coming. Thank you and good luck mate.

[@iAletho]

@@willy.b.b3427 Thanks Willy, I'll be keeping an eye out for ya 😉

[@citricamoeba]

This was really well made, well done! It's very interesting to learn more about what's causing the absolute terror this game instills in me

[@iAletho]

Thanks Critic! It's an interesting topic for sure, thanks for watching :)

[@phenk3294]

Certified Diver here, when I was doing my first dives at about 25 meters, One of the people I was diving with had a panic attack. When we cut off the dive and ascended slowly, he had already burned through a considerable amount of air that would have usually lasted him for about a third of the dive. He said that what was terrifying about diving at that depth for the first time was how little he saw and how as you go down further, you will hear nothing but the water, and your breath and ocassionally your equipment shifting. And as he saw less and less, he began to panic. And as he began to panic he started breathing faster and faster and that made him panic more because he knew that he could run out of air quickly unless he didnt calm down. He is a certified rescue diver now but he still points to that story when talking about safety and the buddy system. I think what is terrifying about the ocean and diving in general, is how unforgiving it is. As you go deeper, you will burn through your air faster, as you go deeper, you will need so much longer to go back up and you cannot just ascend like you do in game. This game just adds another layer because now the fauna is out to kill you too which makes it far more terrifying.

[@dogsareknockoffwolves]

I defy every single of those fears with just a single vehicle, the prawn, or as i call it "the leviathan slayer"

[@iAletho]

The two armed beast of the depths, piloted by Tankboi!

[@dogsareknockoffwolves]

I've never been happier to see a reply as much as now

[@iAletho]

@Tankboi Haha take two! And a heart comment! 😝

[@creatorxxiii6156]

Warpers can teleport into both the seamoth and prawn suit and take you out of the cockpit.

[@dogsareknockoffwolves]

@@creatorxxiii6156 Either get back in immediately, or stab the warper to make it teleport away. I apparently have little fear, if not no fear at all, and I'm very proud of that.

[@victorvargas1321]

my anxiety sky rocketed and every time at a noise i heard or jump scares from creatures i couldnt see until they bite me. Truly scary game

[@maxthasavage]

I scanned a ghost leviathan yesterday. I’m pretty proud of myself.

[@jonathanhott3070]

Even as a twenty-nine-year-old yes I definitely got scared lol I specifically didn't look up anything about the game so I could have an real unmolested experience with the game! The first time a Leviathan found me behind the big ship next to the engines I nearly had a heart attack! Also having a 55inch 4k tv 7 feet away gives you a ton of immersion! I'd love to do VR!

[@TheSchultinator]

The Blood Trench is terrifying because it hits so much fear triggers: deep, dark, confined, quiet (and 3 more but I don't know what they are 🤪)

[@andrewthebandit0223]

love your Subnautica videos

[@iAletho]

Thanks Andrew! I love your comment!

[@XensRebirth]

Keep making content like this bro ur underrated asf

[@iAletho]

Cheers man, I'm going to keep grinding!

[@Tralbo]

Fantastic video man, really underrated

[@iAletho]

Cheers Tralbo! We can start our own secret cult, nobody has to know 🤫

[@Tralbo]

@@iAletho 🤣

[@andythernda]

great video!

[@iAletho]

Thanks RNDA!

[@SupaThePotato]

i never feared subnautica because its way too beautiful. i do understand why someone would fear subnautica tho

[@iAletho]

Yeah it can definitely put some people "supa" on edge :P

[@SupaThePotato]

@@iAletho lmao ya didnt

[@iAletho]

@@SupaThePotato the supa pun leviathan strikes again! ;)

[@lizardlord6560]

That a rare power to have

[@iAletho]

@@lizardlord6560 If a LizardLord is scared what hope do us mere mortals have 😅😂

[@parkerdelacruz3802]

I’ve gone done the rabbit hole of these videos and I am not disappointed

[@shiden239]

I absolutely experienced fear while playing Subnautica. I believe it was primarily kenophobia but in conjunction with thalassophobia. I don't mind wide open spaces on land. But in the ocean when your visibility is limited, that's when I started to freak out and not enjoy the game anymore. I basically played until I had to go out of the shallows. I do remember playing a bit further but once I got into the deep zones where light couldn't penetrate, I quit playing because my fear overcame my will to play.

[@sandscrapper8320]

The best moment in the game is seeing the big ship for the first time and swimming towards your sleepless night

[@Winterizes]

And all these reasons together made an absolute banger of a game

[@vostok2096]

3 videos already subbed

[@cryolitegem]

Funny thing about Subnautica is that it made me feel way safer underwater than on the surface, or at the very least more comfortable. I feel like having gone scuba diving myself, I had some advantage as far as getting used to being in the water is concerned. That being said, as comfortable as I say I am, you won’t ever catch me near the Aurora outside of necessity.

[@louiesatterwhite3885]

Mate, a seaglide can outmaneuver reapers. Just don't get too close and you'll be peachy

[@danieldickson8591]

We may not have a lot of deliberately lethal weaponry in Subnautica, but you can certainly build the means to defend yourself against even the biggest predators, with both hand-held and vehicle equipment. You can even make use of environmental resources, e.g. carry Gas Pods, Acid Mushrooms, or Crashfish in you inventory, and throw them at an attacker with the Propulsion Cannon.

[@bens7938]

For me it was the unclear, dusty water. Just see the siluette of a reaper and then it dissapears, then suddenly its in ur face again. Chills.

[@mozxz]

Usually I play music whenever I game, But not in Subnautica, several hundred hours, and I still need every single sound I can, in order to dodge incoming creatures.

[@problyNotJava]

4:46 "if one of these bad boys decides you look like an incredibly tasty lunch, there's not much you can do about it other than run away" stasis rifle + knife: are you sure about that

[@StarDriveGaming]

What’s actually really Interesting and deep. Never thought about it like that! (Btw still watch haha)

[@thenotorioustyayyayyayyay]

For a game not intended to be scary, this is the most horrifying video game I have ever played in my life.

[@lazyhatman]

How do you not have more subs explain HOW

[@iAletho]

I'm a small seamoth vs the KZbin Leviathan 😂 thanks for watching heavy from tf2!

[@lazyhatman]

Its a really good vid you explain it easily and and efficiently

[@iAletho]

@@lazyhatman thanks man! I spend a lot of timing editing as I'm a bit of a perfectionist, but I hope it makes the final quality of the video worth it!

[@XensRebirth]

He is going to blow up soon don't worry about it

[@iAletho]

@@XensRebirth Haha I'm loving the confidence CDLCrystal!

[@tiffyfemboy]

*QUICK TIP TO LOSE YOUR FEAR:* Use your research drones, yep, those ball cameras used to scan. Reaper Leviathan don't attack those, so if you're in 500m, you can see first and analyze them... and even bonk them, it's kinda funny. And nope, they don't eat them, cause it's metal balls. There's metal literally everywhere, so they're not dummies.

[@345635356]

I actually tense up way more with the Reaper than the Ghost or the Dragon. In part its because Reapers are more likely to ambush you while swimming or in a Seamoth while Ghosts and Dragons are more likely to find you in a PRAWN or Cyclops, but also in part its because the roar of a Reaper just puts me on edge way more than the other Leviathans.

[@raitheon]

4:57 "minimal" damage, -continues to contort a reaper into a donut..

[@nemanjanemanjaa4551]

Played both games multiple times, and still I stand by the fact that Sparse Reef is the most frightening place once you encounter it for the first time. Not only is it very low visibility both during the day and pitch black during the night, but the fact that your AI gives you warning that there isn`t much living things there and that the cause is unknown and also the fact that music stops playing. And on top of all that there is nothing, just the constant fear of you waiting for something to happen.... what`s not helping is the fact that radio signals take you there just as you build your first sub and think you are getting hold of things. I had to stop my 1st playthrough and actually watch on youtube that part of the game because I couldn`t take so much pressure

[@geeknupthenight7417]

You get nothing from killing a leviathan....except for a kick ass screen shot

[@nessyno-name3855]

I have over 70 hours into the first Subnautica and I still can't bring myself to fully explore the dunes, the mountains or behind the aurora. I have encountered Reapers before, I know the signs, I know the what they sound like when they're looming nearby, I have a perimeter defense equipped on my vehicles, heck I even know how to strafe in a seamoth to avoid being bitten at all. I am still terrified of the reapers. The biomes where they prowl are so utterly murky, and depending on the time of day, the water is black as ink. Sometimes I tell myself I am going to be brave, but as soon as I cross the biome boundary and visibility dwindles the dread sets in. Then when I begin to hear the reapers "singing" from beyond the murk I have to nope out so fast.

[@xfactor1777]

Yes, yes I did I was absolutely terrified.

[@nohandlesplease]

Falling in love with getting hunted. Until you get a prawn suit anyway, then the tone shifts to "in other words, catch these hands."

[@Tripleseven09]

3:50 SO Thats why when you hit a Peeper with your seamoth its so damn loud, we're to sensetive to noise at all times

[@WinterishsparkSR8483]

Also don't forget, on the Steam website page for subnautica, the tags for the game state "horror" they know what they did

[@a8lg6p]

I never found it scary, but I did enjoy the spooky, foreboding ambiance. BZ made it even more clear what SN did right... In BZ, they force you to have leviathans in your face all the time, making it impossible to avoid noticing that that are basically harmless and most just a nuisance, instead of massive shapes lurking in the distance that you don't even want to get close enough to to find out what they'll do. Venturing deeper than I was prepared to go to get the resources I needed, with that intense music throbbing in my ears, when I'm not sure if I brought enough water to find my out in time... Super tense. In BZ, you never really need to go deep, there isn't anything very deep anyway, and you don't really anything except the things where it tells you exactly where to go. SN: omnipresent sense of desolation and solitude; BZ: an annoying alien pal constantly chattering in your ear (who you end up forgetting everything and running away to live with forever for no reason, even though everything he's said has been super-sketchy)... If there is a SN3, I just hope it's not a total disappointment like the last one. Please let them figure out what made the first good, apparently by accident.

[@iAletho]

Yeah I agree a8lg6p, the first game had a certain amount of dread which BZ just couldn't match. I was generally concerned about getting to close to leviathans in the original, but they ended up simply becoming annoyances in the second game. Like I said in the video, not a single creature actually killed me in this game, which is a bit worrying considering I wasn't playing very passively! Lets hope they figure out what they got right in Subnautica and leave some of the new stuff they tried in BZ behind for Sub 3! Thanks for watching :)

[@centurosproductions8827]

To be fair to BZ, they did seem to make the leviathans more dangerous, actually allowing them to one-shot you, and making the most dangerous ones (Shadow and Chelicerate) more aggressive, as far as I can tell. Said leviathans almost always attacked me on sight, while in the first game, I had to work to be attacked by Reapers a lot of the time. The Ice Worm, though, was nothing but a complete annoyance, knocking you off your bike every five seconds, and basically nothing else.

[@a8lg6p]

@@centurosproductions8827 That's kind of the point though. Dying isn't actually scary. I don't think there's any way to make it scary, other than imposing some penalty that wastes a ton of your time, which is just obnoxious. You die, and you just respawn, and then it's not scary the next time. Even with horrific death animations, like in Calisto Protocol, which was bad in lots of ways... The death scenes were shocking the first couple of times, but then you're just like, OMG, again? Skip! Everything turning black and respawning at your base isn't scary. Almost dying OTOH... Large shapes lurking and howling in the distance was scary... You didn't even want to get close enough to find out what would happen. And if you did... It has you in its jaws, but you get free and you run away saying OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT! Yeah, it's an illusion... It's hard to die unless you really don't make much effort to escape. Because they rigged it that way so you can have the drama of almost getting eaten and escaping. Because if they didn't, it would just be: black screen, respawn, try again, sigh, whatever.

[@tipips]

Subnauticas leviathans were also placed in places you had to go to and equally as unthreatning, got attacked like 15 times tops in subnauticas whole playthrough.

[@tipips]

After meeting each leviathian once in like 2minutes tops in subnautica they werent scary anymore, because the ai was pretty obvious, same with bz only difference is the music producer behind bz

[@user-ns3tz1jt8x]

"Or hiding in jungle" When the jungle speak architect, you knew you fricked up

[@jim_jom]

The roar of a reaper leviathan is a true mans greatest fear

[@H.MPablo]

you may have not tried to listen to the titanic, but the titan did

[@bucketofsunshine6366]

I wasn't scared by Subnautica. I was absolutely terrified the entire way through. 😅

[@rogerveid2270]

The next subnautica game should emphasize the darkness and size, there should be a less visible leviathan and then should roar less frequently. It should be a little more real and terrifying, the lecithins should deal some long term damage and the base should be a little more unstable in terms of sounds and design, to emphasize survival, occasional lighting failures and base it off of the presance of a large creature or an aggressive ocean current, a terrifying game with a beautiful futuristic setting, and satisfying sounds and base designs. I think it would be a worthwhile concept to consider similar to dead space in a sense. Everything getting darker quicker would just be so cool

[@shacochad7052]

I am Always on top of the foodchain in subnautica I can't let these big fish beat humanity

[@demonblade001]

Your fear will only last until you realize they can die. Reapers are easy with a stasis rifle, the ghosts only take longer, and the Sea dragons more so.

[@deejmix7510]

My first reaper encounter was just last week lol, ventured too far west trying to find salvage and ran straight into a dunes reaper

[@O5_CounciI]

1:18 I love how it says *probably* not you. That is suggesting that their is a chance one of us is a shark lol.

[@zharkx_]

I am currently doing my first playthrough of subnautica. After going to the Aurora i realised that this is just a game and i am not scared anymore, ive killed a crabsquid (although i like them, but he was blocking the entrance to the lost river) and the Ghost leviathan that patrols near the big bones.

[@CausedOregano93]

Scariest part in the whole game is when your go somewhere in your seamoth or cyclops after having dead silence for the past few minutes then boom random fish making you jump up in your seat

[@McDanklestank]

0:09 I too am extraordinarily afraid of being attacked by a crabsquid in the middle of the rainforest

[@CRY0RAPT0R]

This video matches 7 of the 9 preconditions for stimulating terror in humans.

[@No1fan15]

Hell yeah for the respect on Abandon Ship 👌

[@iAletho]

Absolute banger of a song, whether actually playing Subnautica or not eh No1fan15 ! Thanks for watching :)

[@nivannakingsman1383]

I have horrible Thalassophobia. But i love subnautica. Ill never be able to play for myself do to locking up in fear at the deeper areas and when going above the water but its fun to watch others play.

[@subjectc7505]

Subnautica is the game that triggers my "fuck around and find out" response. Especially my encounter with the Reaper and Ghost. Even them just roaring i want to check it out but at the same time don't 😂.

[@Ser3k758]

Damn thats deep

[@robertcook5417]

Ive only just started playing subnautica after seeing youtubers playing it, im super scared and have barely left the shallows, i never went to the sunbeam meetup area and havent been to the aurora yet, ill man up at some point, bur right now im trying to avoid a heart attack.

[@kroniisbidet546]

subnautica is just Gold

[@detroid2699]

Recently I was exploring the front of the aurora crash site for blueprints for the cyclops. When I got near the front of the CS, my seamoth (that i re-named aqua-fin) was attacked by a leviathan. When it let go, my aqua-fin was left at 20%. I went to repair most of it before it attacked AGAIN, leaving it at 9%. Obviously, I did what any sane person would do and got the heck out of there. Now that I built my Cyclopes (also, I need name suggestions for it) I’ll consider getting that one defense upgrade for my aqua-fin.

[@error.3036]

first time i went to the grasy plateuse and heard "Detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms in the region. Are you certain whatever you're doing is worth it?" i immediately changed to reverse

[@iAletho]

Backing up! Backing Up! Backing Up 😂 It's such a good line though, I might use that in a future video! Thanks for watching Error.303!

[@blametheghost]

the game also makes the leviathans really scary because of how its built, allowing a GIANT BLIND SNAKE THAT SHOUTS TO SEE AROUND IT TO PHASE THROUGH ANYTHING AND POP OUT OF THE GROUND TO EAT YOU

[@dshadows2966]

The Gist: I think learning about the creatures natural habitats and how to deal with every single one of them safely is part of the games mystique in getting past any initial fear. Like stalkers, once you know what they do, you can moslty just openly swim around them without worry. Drop a bit of scrap metal or a flare and they are distracted. . . . - The Explanation of my complete journey- Once you learn all leviathans are in the far outer areas, you almost always stay between the two islands and within the generally safe circle of the emergency escape pods. Never going too far out in any direction from said pods is a safe zone from giant creatures. Going near giant creatures may make them move towards a nearby zone making them less safe. Scanning with the scanner teaches you what attracts the creatures to attack or notice you. Medium sized predators are no longer scary when you have a repulsion cannon, which also stuns leviathans if you're lucky enough to get a 'head' on shot with one coming at you and the only reason to have a repulsion cannon if if you plan on swimming near them without a fast mode of transportation or a stasis rifle. As for the propulsion cannon handheld it neutralizes small enemies entirely. Basically cave crawlers, biters, blood suckers and crash fish can't hurt you with a propulsion cannon at the ready to repel or move them out of your way. A propulsion cannon can also be used to grab things like resources that have fallen near sand sharks relatively safely. All enemies are affected by the Stasis Rifle the ultimate non-lethal protection, your best shot at getting scans of the more dangerous monsters... honestly they should have let you use a scanner built in to your vehicles instead of having to get out to use a handheld device. At least give us a chance make a mod for a longer range scanning device that's a bit complicated to make, also the scan rooms should have something like that too. The stasis rifle is something they removed from Below Zero DLC because it trivialized every enemy in the main game, they also upped the aggressiveness of creatures in Below Zero while removing your one major defensive tool outside of vehicles. Also because Alterra doesn't want you revolting against them or something for being sent into places underequipped to deal with large monsters. Those are just your out of vehicle options. The seamoth has electroshock defense. It'll stop a reaper from cracking your moth once or twice, but I wouldn't push your luck beyond that. On the whole it's best use it deterring sharks or pushing away medium sized predators affected by it. A prawn suit, with the Prawn Propulsion Cannon deals with most medium enemies that aren't leviathan class easily and can be turned into a gasopod/gas pod firing deterrent if you are planning on going near lethal leviathans just load the cargo with a few gas pod bullets to shoot from the cannon as a makeshift weapon. It can make Warpers disappear from an area temporarily by popping them with a gas pod from your prawn gun, I even shoot Warpers with collected infected fish sometimes for the comedic value of it. I truly think the Warpers are some of the most dangerous monsters for their size, given the disorientation they cause. I hardly ever run into Mesmers to actually see them as threatening since they are the rarest enemy in the game. The cyclops is a brute of a vehicle and is only weak to the larger or more aggressive monsters, that said it is best used as a mobile food truck and doesn't need most of the defensive tools available since you don't want it near Leviathans if you can help it. Shield system for the sea dragons is about all you need as a defensive system. Subnautica can be scary... but once you learn how to route everything it's actually ridiculously easy to avoid courting trouble or even taking a single hit. I can almost do a no health hit run of this game, aside from the crash fish being an issue... the Warpers, Cave Crawlers, Biters and Electric Eels are the only other problems until you are armed to deal with them. I tend to see blood suckers coming and can kill them with a burning knife easily enough before they latch on to me. The late game sea dragons just aren't very scary at all once you understand how they work. My spot to build bases? An area in within the shallows north or northeast of Pod 17 and Jellyshroom entrance. It's a central area, it had tons of resources that can be found on one scanner and the threats are generally minimal around there, it's also near one of the safer entrances to the underworld. There's also the pitstop base that everyone likes to build by the scenic Cave Tree, for where you need to upgrade your depth modules locally using a moonpool and a cyclops with a depth mk1 can sit around above 900 meters while you prep and install a depth mk3. I pre-build a food room, scanner and moonpool for upgrading the prawn and then prepare my cyclops for the trip down, the Seamoth can easily make it to Cave Tree without being attacked by anything. The cyclops is my third base that gets parked in front of the endgames entrance where the local sea dragon won't bother it because it doesn't move at all from that point. After the fear of the unknown is entirely gone, the game is basically an open world playground to test things like base locations. You can even ask what it would take to kill a Reaper Leviathan quickly? Reaper/Ghost Leviathans tend to cause a flight response in the brain. After being properly built up for endgame, that flight response leaves entirely and turns into a solid I can easily fight this thing 'with the right setup' response. Answer to the reaper leviathan thing: A stasis rifle, Prawn Propulsion Gun with a storage container loaded full of gas pod bullets and knowing exactly how long a fully charged stasis rifle shot will last. You can load gas pods directly from the container into the propulsion gun without leaving the Prawn. Some poor reaper leviathans had to suffer my existence eventually, the gas pods are far cheaper to get than making the torpedoes from them. A reaper will generally die to being pummeled with 20-40 directly applied gas pods in quick succession or 12-16 gas-torpedoes that took a bit longer to manufacture. (Yes I've killed some testing this, reapers are not good in one on one fights, taking on two with a Prawn was a little tougher and one ghost leviathan in a particular entryway needed to know that I didn't like them in a quite mutual fashion after what happened in my first encounter with them.) I definitely got a sense of accomplishment from hunting something seemingly scary as to be untouchable, wished I could have gotten some leviathan meat out of it that fills you to one hundred food when turned into jerky. It's survival/horror, your not going to be a complete pacifist with predators trying to eat you constantly when you have defensive tools that can be used in various ways and pain is definitely a good lesson to teach things that you are not very edible or worth attempting to eat. I can understand nature is beautiful and all, like the ever lovely giant lady... but it's also cruel mistress and you should exploit what's available to you, so your best defensive option late game are the excessively gassy seals you likely noticed at the start that are quite dangerous to go near in a risk-reward fashion. An absolutely determined human is quite scary.

[@oscarbrown2835]

I screamed (multiple) times wile playing it😅😂🤣

[@adambarnes49]

I know technically subnautica isn't counted as a 'horror' game but whenever I play it it ends scaring me a lot than other horror games that I've played. I think I find it a lot scarier because it's not the type of game I'm used to playing. I'm ok with being isolated on alien ship and being hunted by a monster or whatever ( not that those are the only ways to scare people but you know what I mean), I've done all that before and got used to It, I know what to expect but being stranded in the ocean underwater in pitch black not being able to see where your going or what's coming your way is something I haven't really experienced before so it's way creeper.

[@Venus_Voldaren]

My first reaper encounter: hear a loud roar, then remember that I have torpedoes, get seamoth snagged, light the reaper up like the 4th of July I survived :)

[@danieldickson8591]

The game developers may not have considered Subnautica to be a horror game, but having horror elements turned out to be a happy coincidence, as most fans of the game consider that to be a significant part of its appeal. While the obvious attempt to tone that down in Below Zero worked against the sequel game's success.

[@kotacus396]

Give this man his likes

[@iAletho]

*Likes and Hearts*

[@donnymcjonny6531]

I remember the first time I got lost in a cave in the shallows... And died ... I was 30ft from my seamoth in some indescript cave system and I couldn't find my way back

[@raelikestoplay3633]

So these are what PDA was talking about when they mentioned the criteria for inducing fear in humans.

[@konstantinos7152]

the first time I saw a leviathan was when I was searching for things and it just appeared next to me silently

[@viken3368]

Im one of the few people who played below zero before Subnautica (cause I already knew of subnautica and its story and all that). Then I played subnautica and damn was it far more scary, think its cause of the deep dark in certain areas which didnt really exist in below zero. And I never thought being in a huge submarine would be so terrifying, turn it of and just watching creatures go by

[@WaterBottle-lb4gf]

Your vids are way too high quality for how little subs you have. Don’t stop man you’re great.

[@iAletho]

Thanks WaterBottle! I'm glad you like them and I'll keep em coming!

[@jamiebro7522]

Even if the devs had put something like a laser cannon in the game that you could use to kill creatures with, I still wouldn't dare to come close to a Reaper Leviathan.