During an online media event showcasing the latest build of Below Zero, developers from Unknown Worlds discussed how several scrapped ideas and concepts from the first game made their way into the sequel. Creatures left on the cutting room floor received new life and biomes like the lilypad islands originated from unused concept art.

So, what's new? For starters, the entire ecosystem is a frigid one, with icy caverns and sealife exclusive to the cold environment. Unlike the first game, where your character starts off surrounded by an endless ocean in all directions, Below Zero literally keeps you on your feet as you step out of your escape pod and onto a glacial floor. Even though the game takes place on the same planet as the first game, the new environment is refreshing. Although diving down to the coral reefs and caves below felt very familiar, exploring the land sections on foot is what gave the game a breath of fresh air.

Like the original, your survival is based on a few key factors. Your health bar only depletes when hit by an aggressive creature or by touching a toxic environment. Your hunger meter, along with your hydration gauge, slowly drains and can be alleviated by consuming wildlife and cooked food made through your expanding list of buildable blueprints. There's also your oxygen meter that allows you to stay underwater for a limited time. This will be the item you upgrade the soonest as you want to be able to explore as far down and long as you can. New to Below Zero is the temperature gauge, a small meter that measures your body temperature as you run around the icy landscapes. Everything works just as it did in 2014, and the addition of temperature checking helps keep traversal on land as risky as swimming in the deep blue.

Right from the start there's a noticeable push to keep the narrative a little more central to the going-ons of daily survival. Robin, the character you control, is fully-voiced and already set on a mission to find her missing sister before you even need to touch your controller. It's an appreciated addition that helps put weight and power into the actions you take to survive and make it through each day. Admittedly, the game doesn't let you slip as easily into the shoes of the protagonist to create your own story, but it's a fair tradeoff for what seems to be a compelling tale of events.

The most "new" you'll see comes with tasks and objectives that get you running around on land. A new hoverbike vehicle lets you zip through the icy terrain but it won't be without its own form of danger. In one particular instance, a giant ice worm will rip through the ice floor and proceed to plunge its tail into your location in rapid succession. Weather effects like pouring rain and visibility changes at night keep the exploration varied. Just like the underwater section, there are still areas to pick up materials and objects to scan.

As with most features in the sequel, base building is back with new improvements. Walls can be placed to create custom rooms, complete with doors. A new control room allows you to customize your character's appearance and visual additions like a glass ceiling allow customization to get creative. There's even a jukebox that reads discs you can find scattered around the world that plays Subnautica-inspired music tracks created by fans.

If you loved the exploration and survival aspects of Subnautica, you'll feel right at home with Subnautica: Below Zero. Here you have a new planet to explore, new wildlife to catch, new tools to create and a snowy environment that gives a new edge to your daily expeditions. There's nothing completely wild that reshapes everything you knew about Subnautica's survival or a core feature adjusted so much that it doesn't resemble how it functioned in the first game. This is Subnautica with more to do and more to see — and it works just as well.

A portion of Subnautica: Below Zero is currently available through early access on PC. The game is set to launch this year across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch.

Photo courtesy of Unknown Worlds Entertainment