Sons of the Forest is a follow-up to the incredible The Forest that was released a few years back. This is a survival horror style of game and even though this is an early access release, it is still a fun and exciting experience that I highly recommend you check out. You do not need to have played The Forest or even be familiar with it to enjoy this.
How to Download Sons of the Forest
You can download the game from Steam. Click on the Download button at the end of this review.
The Game Review
The game is a bit light on story, but I am liking the premise. We are sent to find a missing billionaire on this strange island, but we end up thrust into a fight for survival! This island is as far from normal as you can get as there are monstrous creatures and tons of things that want to kill you all over the place!
You come across two companions in Kelvin and Virginia who are two of the better NPCs I have seen in a game recently. Kelvin is a former soldier with a brain injury that is very useful and Virginia is a weird three-legged woman that is kind of cat-like but will help you if you treat her right.
You get bits of story as you find stuff here and there, but I feel like there is more story to come as the game moves through development.
We are left to explore and pretty much do what we like. Of course, there is an objective driving you forward, but the level of freedom in Sons of the Forest is truly remarkable. You will need to scavenge all of the supplies that you can in order to ensure you have shelter, weapons, items, food, and so on.
The game is very generous with the way that it dishes out resources, so much so that I never really felt like I was in immediate danger. I know this may not be cool for some people, but I liked it. It made exploration feel more “fun” and less frustrating and I was not worried I was going to die and then have to spend hours and hours just trying to get all the stuff I had back.
Sons of the Forest is played from the first-person perspective and it feels great. I like how there are so many different areas on this island and the seasons and weather also come into play as well. From a lush green forest to a creepy underground cave, the monsters in the game have very smart AI.
I like the way that some monsters will be brainless and just come in running. Other monsters will be wary of you and others will even take a leading role and cause you some major problems with an army of enemies coming at you. It makes for such an interesting gameplay experience and while this game can be played in multiplayer. As someone that only played it solo, I still had a great time.
A huge reason why I feel my time as a solo player was so good was my two companions, Kelvin and Virginia. The way you can direct Kelvin to do stuff for you is great and he is very useful. However, you also have to treat him right and make sure he gets to rest and is well fed or he will not be as useful. He ended up being a very good companion and one that I relied on a great deal.
If you like survival and horror games, Sons of the Forest is a game that I highly recommend you check out. Granted it is in early access and there are parts of the game that need some work and it can have some empty areas. However, this is showing a ton of promise and I am very excited to see what the next update will offer.
