Two million copies sold in 24 hours from the release is a result that analysts dream of for any AAA game, let alone one that starts its life from the early access phase. It is also a perfect proof of how much players love the first part of the production by Endnight Games.
No wonder – initially also released in the form of early access on May 30, 2014, The Forest successfully combined survival aspects with horror. Gathering food, materials necessary for the construction of the base, and finally crafting weapons – all this was done with the thought that soon the day will turn into a pitch black night, and with it the legions of terrifying inhabitants of the island will come. The atmosphere of fighting against time to hide in a relatively safe shelter was overwhelming enough that there was never a moment to take a breath, and the story and exploration elements only complemented the picture of the whole as a game where you can spend long hours.
Back to nature
The long-awaited Sons of the Forest aims to evoke exactly the same feelings. Everything starts almost the same as in the original, although this time, instead of looking for our own son, we get a mission to find a millionaire and his family. The situation soon becomes much more complicated. A few moments after the enigmatic opening sequence that introduces the plot, we land next to the wreckage of a helicopter, practically devoid of anything that would help us survive. So you have to roll up your sleeves and get to work to discover the secret of the island.
This once again hides above all in caves scattered here and there and hidden from the curious eyes of mysterious underground facilities, which can be accessed only after obtaining certain equipment. As in the original Sons of the Forest, however, it does not necessarily intend to lead the player like a string – sometimes the task to be performed comes down to an enigmatic sentence like “find a scuba”, so it becomes inevitable to look into all corners of the island in search of the desired equipment. The player is free to explore, and the organization of subsequent expeditions is largely left to the player’s shoulders here, but it is difficult to get completely lost, as the more interesting spots are marked here on a handy GPS.
The emphasis on forcing the players to cut their own way through the proposed story also manifests itself in the way it is presented. The lion’s share of information here is limited to telling the events through the environment and its appearance or notes scattered in individual locations. Although you can clearly feel the shortcomings in the script related to early access, it’s hard to deny that the whole thing once again successfully creates a climate of science fiction mixed with horror, making the recipient seriously anxious several times.
Bob the Builder aboard
Playing a few-hour-long storyline, however, is only one – and by no means the most important – element that makes up the whole experience with Sons of the Forest , because in order to be able to get to it in the right way, you first need to make a cozy nest in an inhospitable area.
To help us achieve this goal, we will first of all come to crafting, which is virtually untouched compared to the first part – just by collecting single garbage here and there, such as watches, spools of wire or ropes, we will be automatically notified about the discovery of new schemes. Although it doesn’t seem like it at first, there is still a surprising amount of tinkering here, because you can make arrows, armor, new weapons, and time bombs. This whole arsenal is additionally supported by items related to discovering subsequent tracts of land on the island, among which you can find a rope with a zip line, a flashlight, binoculars or a huge number of murder tools, including several different axes, a bow and a crossbow or firearms.
A separate issue is the issue of organizing one’s own place, and thus – a thorough lifting of the mechanisms related to the construction of the building. In addition to the standard predefined sketches, when implementing which our only concern will be to obtain the appropriate raw materials (which again are divided into stones, sticks, balls and their variants), now we also have the opportunity to create original ideas, having fun with arranging the wood horizontally or vertically, without a predetermined plan. Already in the current version of the game, it works quite well, because not only does it eliminate the need to rely on a not-so-large catalog of “ready-made products”, it also allows you to create constructions whose sizes are limited only by the game’s physics and our own imagination. In this way, especially when playing in co-op mode, you canTurn Sons of the Forest into a real construction site, where part of the team deals with felling trees and their processing, while the rest give free rein to their own architectural inclinations.
Three heads are better than one
This does not mean, however, that during the single-player campaign we will have much worse fun, especially since, unlike the original, this time we have a second and third pair of hands to help. Together with us, Kelvin lands on the island – one of the members of the special unit, whose primary task is to help us in any survival troubles. Thus, Kelvin can be ordered, for example, to build an appropriate structure, bring the necessary materials to the indicated place or even get food. A slightly different role is played by the timid at the beginning of the game, tripod Virginia, which, after being properly tamed to our hero, can be equipped with firearms to help us during meetings with representatives of the local fauna.
These, in turn, will intensify during the exploration of the island – each open cave, each felling of trees will make enemies more willing to venture into our base. While initially we will usually deal only with the natives, the further – ironically – into the forest, the more surprises will be waiting, with ghostly mutated children, moving pieces of meat straight from Something or giants armed to the teeth . In other words, it’s hard to complain about the variety of enemies here, and since their intelligence has been significantly improved, any clashes (especially those under the cover of night) are an immediate adrenaline rush to the blood.
The survival aspect evokes a little less emotion. In order to live in relative happiness on the island, we have to keep an eye on two indicators – our hero’s hunger and water levels. Although at first it seems not an easy task, as you acquire new equipment and a lot of supplies scattered throughout the location, the level of difficulty decreases significantly. There is a system of seasons implemented here, which theoretically should make the game more difficult (in winter it is more difficult to get food supplies, and you can’t draw water from the surrounding lakes), but with the standard difficulty level, this should be treated more as a visual curiosity than a solution that would change the gameplay dramatically.
There are as many bugs as stones on the beach
Since we’re talking about the areas related to graphics, it’s hard not to mention the level of technical advancement of Endnight Games’ production … because it can be different. On the one hand, we have the aspect related to what is supposed to please the eyes – and it really does its job. The island itself is a large area to explore, but it is virtually impossible to find fragments on it that would be made with less attention to detail. Both the titular forest and closed, underground spaces present a good level here, the textures in most cases are detailed, and the real masterpiece is the extremely climatic play with light and shadow. The soundtrack is also good, because although you can’t really say anything about the music itself, other than that it appears sometimes,
It is a pity that with such a good setting, Sons of the Forest actually shows all the problems of early access in the form of minor and major errors. What is not really here: frames per second falling out of nowhere, raging physics of objects, legendary stupidity of Kelvin (who can even happily destroy our structures to obtain wood from them), complete loss of responsiveness of the coop game. In this respect, there is definitely a lot to choose from and, to be honest, most of the listed problems are more funny than annoying, and in addition they are constantly being repaired by the developers – it is worth bearing them in mind when deciding to buy.
Everywhere is good, but the forest is the best
Although it is certainly not an ideal product in its current form, Sons of the Forest is still a unique item for fans of survival, if only because of the dense climate. A lot of things to discover, a new story to learn, some improvements that make the gameplay even smoother than in the original, and above all, the awareness that this is really just the beginning of the road for everyone who will go on an expedition with Endnight Games. For early access, there really isn’t much else you can ask for.