The deafening sound of roaring rotors like two helicopters carrying an operational warhead to a remote island. An old man has disappeared and our duty is to find and rescue him. Like in horror games, you won’t even have time to react before the helicopter crashes. Welcome Sons of the Forest! Where no one will help you and you will be practically alone. This approach to survival always reminds me of Robinson Crusoe: you versus nature and its impending dangers. You’ll need to eat, drink, sleep, craft, build, and take medicine if you get sick. If you don’t want to play alone, you can invite a friend and play cooperatively without being able to sleep. And for being released in early access, it works pretty well.
I ventured to this island with a deaf guy named Kelvin. He is a soldier like you, and he also got in the helicopter towards this remote place. For me, the companions are the biggest novelty of this adventure. THE the problems also appear from the first moment, for example if you decide to build a tree house and ask Kelvin to chop down some trees. Chances are he only felled the tree that supports your cabin. This way, your sleeping shelter is automatically destroyed. He can also start chopping down trees around your base, causing them to fall on buildings and destroy them. I hope the devs fix this before the official release. I suggest it can be set up somehow so your partner can’t cut near or on the trees where you’ve built something. As things stand, you have to think a lot if you want to order him to build something. It didn’t take long for me to change his role and get him to make simpler campfires, rest areas and later on foraging for things in the wild.
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It’s nice to have someone who can guard the base, especially for solo players not playing co-op. Another of the companions you’ll meet later knows how to fight and scare away mutants that attack you or your base. Kelvin, on the other hand, who you will meet at the start, collects materials, builds and follows you. Each partner has their own story. The narrative is quite short and in my opinion it’s not the best of the game. But the world around you is. You have a large island to explore, bases to build, and mysterious caves to penetrate. Descending into the caves is reminiscent of The Descent and things can get tricky. Above all, we must bear in mind that the deeper we descend, the more mutant enemies we will find. Speaking of enemies, any self-respecting horror game needs a good opponent. In this case, you are hunted by mutants and cannibals. They can also camouflage themselves in the wild and attack you when you least expect it. They hide among trees and bushes.
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I appreciate what a good scare is and I can say that this game takes that aspect into account. If you survive long enough, enemies will adapt and attack you and your base more often. There is another novelty that does not appear as soon as the companions. These are the seasons: summer, autumn, winter and finally spring interspersed with each other. As you can imagine, summer brings greenery and sunshine, autumn and spring trees of different colors, and snow in winter. The contrast between the landscape of the island, the different seasons, nature and enemies is enormous. At some point you might be trying to catch a rabbit and in the blink of an eye you might be fighting for your life. When winter comes, warmer clothes are needed and food is not so easy to find. You can sew clothes with the resources you find on the island. You can also craft weapons and other items needed to cope with the colder weather.
They rotate continuously, so you’ll have to be prepared for more winters. In many other games it is purely decorative, but in The Sons of the Forest the snow changes the gameplay. To give other examples, enemies become more aggressive in winter. They hunt for food, which is much harder to find. Here we enter, which become walking pieces of meat for cannibals. We run around like headless chickens, build cable cars, throw hand grenades, disguise ourselves with their body parts and tear down the entire forest. Obviously, we are easy prey for them.
Sons of the Forest is still in Early Access, but it already appears to be a full title. In addition to the open world, it includes a short campaign story, though it’s too short to get me involved in it in my opinion. What I loved was surviving and exploring the island. It’s a very beautiful game with a certain touch of darkness. One of the most immersive experiences at first is entering your first cave. The trickling water, the noises mutants make in the depths of darkness. It’s terrifying and very gripping. Design and sound are important elements. I must say that the game is very well done. Even so, there are some bugs in some animations. But it’s true that there are animations that are very well done, like when you run in the vegetation. It can be seen in grass and bushes, among other places. It gives us the impression that our character is really integrated into the island.
Later, however, the game ceases to be about survival and becomes action-oriented. You will start using strategies and you will be able to construct spectacular buildings. Traps, guns and many more will be part of your arsenal. The prey will become the predator. You will still have to defend your base, but you will be well equipped and you will get stronger and stronger. Does all of this make the game worse? No, I think it fits very well with the rest of the experience. The design is amazing and the only real downside is that the story is sometimes a bit short and weird so I won’t reveal it. The mechanics of this game are great, I like how the UI is integrated into the character gear framework. For example, the backpack opens and serves as storage for all the resources you collect. With this menu, crafting items is a breeze. I also think building buildings is easier and smoother. The appearance and operation are more logical than in its previous predecessor. If you select sticks and click on the ground, your character will start a fire. It may sound silly, but small improvements make a big difference.
My overall impression is that the base building, survival system, graphics, sound, and world dynamics have all been improved and done well. One of the things I like the most is the new seasons. Winter and summer change the way you play, not as much as the transition from day to night in Dying Light, but it’s a big change nonetheless. The graphics are so much better and stand out both in caves and in the wild. They’re not as polished as the big budget titles, but it’s amazing what Endnight Games Ltd has come up with. The developers promised more content, updates and improvements for the official release, but I’m confident to see the content in Early Access. The story is its weak point, but if you liked The Forest or if you fancy playing a survival horror game, I recommend it. I still have to try fishing with hand grenades. I’ll tell you if that’s a good survival strategy.
