With so many horror games revolving around abandoned buildings, spooky woods, and loads of dead things, it’s really refreshing when a horror game comes along that forgoes all of that.  Okay, okay, today’s subject is not technically a horror game, and yet I still find it to be a good deal more terrifying than most typical spooky fare.  Subnautica sees our protagonist stranded on an alien planet covered in a hostile ocean.  And it more than justifies my thalassophobia.  And yet, when considering which biome is the most unnerving, I realized it might actually be the most boring.  The Dunes.

I mean, you could argue that the Safe Shallows and Grassy Plateau are pretty uninteresting.  And…I’d kinda disagree.  Uneventful, sure, but the unique creatures and coral tubes encountered at the start of the game or the red fields of underwater grass are at least visually appealing.  And then you have the Dunes.  Just open, deep water set over submerged sand dunes.  For a location set on an alien planet, it’s positively dull.

Of course, with that logic, Earth’s open water would be considered yawn-inducing, as well.  And I wouldn’t so much as dip my toe in either.

You see, other biomes have lots of nooks and crannies in which to hide, whether they be caves or plant life.  If anything large tried to hunt you, you could easily dart away into safety.  Provided something big could even navigate the cramped space to begin with.  But the Dunes?  No.  There is nowhere to hide.  All you can do is stay low and sneak between whatever sparse cover you can find, looking over your shoulder the whole time to ensure nothing is watching you from the shadowy depths.

Because in the Dunes, thar be Reapers.

You’ve heard of them, right?  I feel like these dead-eyed Leviathans were infamous all over the internet back when Subnautica first came out.  With their long, sinewy bodies, wicked visage, and those four red, grasping claws extending from their head.  Sure, the Dunes aren’t the only place where these unholy abominations lurk.  But in the Dunes, you’re totally exposed. This, dear readers, is why I have thalassophobia.  Because what’s worse than being hunted by a massive beast against whom you’re wholly defenseless?  Being hunted down and having nowhere to hide, that’s what.

Let me end with a story.  When I was building my base, I found for myself a little spiral formation where the Safe Shallows, Grassy Plateau, Crag Field, and the Sparse and Grand Reefs meet.  It was a great place to find a wide variety of resources.  Well, I would often scour the Plateau to the west for quartz with which to build more glass.  But this particular stretch of crimson grass bordered the Dunes.

The more quartz I collected, the farther I would have to travel when my closest resources were depleted.  Eventually, I came upon a ridge bordering the Dunes.  Often during my visits, I would be accompanied by a patrolling Reaper, an unwanted companion upon what would otherwise have been a mundane search for resources.  I always felt so uneasy watching it out there, making snaking loops in the murky waters, close enough to be visible, but just far enough to be somewhat obscured by the shadows of dark water and distance. 

It was always an eerie encounter, and I was always on high alert whenever I was forced to stray so far from my base.  The Reaper, thankfully, wasn’t always there, but it happened more times than I would have liked.  I’m just grateful it somehow never saw my tiny, vulnerable self because there was nothing between us and pretty much no place to hide in the event that I was spotted.  That’s why mice have holes and rabbits have burrows.  Exposure is dangerous.  The Reapers patrol the Dunes because they’re the apex predator.  I’d just like to see how they feel if something bigger comes along one of these days and rains on their parade.

Hmm, if those adult Ghost Leviathans from the Dead Zone ever decide to wander over, the Reapers might want to rethink the Dunes.  Seems like the worst place to be…