For almost five years The Forest had been in production by Endnight Games. Anyone that has been following this game on Steam knows that the progress has been slow yet interesting. This survival single and multiplayer open world experience is now fully available and ready to go. Hopefully the new story elements will leave players a bit freaked out and internally examining their choices.
Starting in 2014, Endnight began this nonlinear creation. The main character Eric Leblanc is on a plane with his son and suddenly crash. Among all of the dead passengers, Eric survives and wakes up just in time to see some type of tribal member take away his son. Now, he must not only survive, but find his son as well. By exploring the peninsula and all of the caves that hide below, eventually answers will arise.
Answers seem hard to find at first when survival is the main objective. Fires must be built, shelter is required and exploration is key. At night is when things get kicked up a notch. Night time brings the cannibalistic tribe to you. In a way they are a lot like zombies. Sometimes they steal your fire, other times they observe you. There is something different with this type of survival. The enemies of The Forest are unlike the norm. Somehow they protect each other and aren’t as aggressive as a typical target. Also, Endnight created this game with no side quests, you must find the answers and survive completely on your own, a new twist on standard survival.
Eventually these enemies will get aggressive but that will happen later when you discover clues about your son and where he has gone. Mechanically the game responds well with movements and crafting. The camera is decent and your inventory is easy to access as well. The graphics however make exploring feel much more realistic with great shadowing and little additions like flowers and the details of the landscape.
Overall, now that The Forest has been released for PC, there is hope that another release will be made for Xbox or other consoles. For anyone that likes a good challenge, this game should be fun to play. Those that like a little bit of gore will like The Forest as well. The people you come across often look distorted and zombie like which has an unsettling feel. Happy that the game has finally grown and been completed, this new world to explore will be unlike anything else.
8/10
Available now on PC
