The Forest Review—Survive The Wilderness Or Become One With It

Being dropped in the middle of an open world with nothing but your wits as you terraform the surrounding environments to suit your needs and transform an untouched wilderness into a sturdy base is a concept many gamers are familiar with. The Forest is one of the many open-world survival games currently on the market; however, unlike most, this title has a huge fan following.

Even though developer Endnight Games has released a more refined version of the Forest, known as the Sons of the Forest, the original title still holds a huge fan following, and I aim to discuss everything that makes the Forest stand out in this review.

Story And Settings

The Forest starts off with you being on an airplane with your son, but your trip is interrupted by your plane being crashed. As you regain your senses on a mysterious island, you see your son being taken away by a mysterious figure.

After you wake up, it is now up to you to survive on an island full of cannibals, find and make the tools required to explore new areas, and locate the clues left behind your son throughout the Island, to find him.

The premise is pretty much the same as every survival game on the market: you are dropped in the middle of a map filled with secrets to uncover and locations and caves to discover.

The premise is pretty much the same as every survival game on the market: you are dropped in the middle of a map filled with secrets to uncover and locations and caves to discover. However, the somber and ominous vibe of the title is what sets it apart.

From creeping your way through the dense forest while feeling uneasy that you are being watched to walking along the shoreline in search of fresh water and food. The Forest has it all in the gameplay department, but more on that later.

Gameplay

The gameplay is where The Forest really shines at its peak, involving meaningful progression and exploration while giving off a horror vibe that adds to the tension. You can explore the forest alone or with friends in a maximum 8-player coop option. I personally dislike playing survival games solo and love jumping in without a second thought when a friend is playing as well.

As you are stranded in the middle of The Forest, the first thing you need is to create shelter before nighttime. You can make temporary shelters until you find the perfect spot to create your base. If you ask me, I’d suggest creating your base with your friends near the shoreline, on the huge tree that overlooks the sea. 

The gameplay is where The Forest really shines at its peak, involving meaningful progression and exploration while giving off a horror vibe that adds to the tension.

The island is riddled with caves, and each cave on the island consists of something unique, whether it’s a clue leading you to your son or a new weapon or tool that will aid you in either further exploration or helping you defeat the cannibals with further ease.

The More, The Merrier

Aside from getting new weapons, The Forest incentivizes you to go out and hunt cannibals, as you can only create armor with the bones of cannibals or the hide of special enemies. One thing that always catches me off guard is the unpredictability of the cannibal’s AI. Instead of being your average mob whose only objective is to kill you, they take a more disturbing approach.

They either stalk you from afar to learn where your base is, so they may report back, sometimes, they may straight up attack you, and other times they may run away mid-fight to preserve their own life. It is up to them, making them far more threatening in a title like The Forest.

The only flaw I can think of in the gameplay of The Forest is just how sluggish the movement feels during combat.

And finally, the game gives you the freedom to decide how far you will go in order to survive. That also includes cannibalizing the cannibals on the island. There is a sanity meter that determines just how sane you are; it starts off at 100% and falls down as you perform more cannibalistic acts.

The only flaw I can think of in the gameplay of The Forest is just how sluggish the movement feels during combat. The delay between pressing the attack button and your character actually landing the attack feels very unnatural. Especially when enemies are rather versatile in the game, however, that may also be just part of the charm.

To sum up, the combat does need some getting used to, but thanks to Forest’s fantastic exploration and atmosphere, the combat is something that many players may overlook or quickly get used to after playing for a few hours.

Visuals And Performance

If you dig the ambiance of ominous forests, the feeling of being watched, claustrophobia-inducing caves, and being enveloped in a great mystery, then The Forest does a phenomenal job of delivering that with its visuals and art direction.

Thanks to the cave design and visuals, I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been totally immersed in the game while exploring, and having a constant worry at the back of my mind that what if I get lost and can’t find a way out? The Forest does a fantastic job designing and following through on a concept.

The Forest easily hits the mark for being one of the best open-world survival games to enjoy with your friends.

In terms of performance, I have personally played the game on my RTX 3060TI, and even then, I have experienced some performance hiccups like FPS dips, especially in caves. For a game that is more than five years old, having performance issues does not give it a good outlook and is rather inexcusable. 

Verdict

The Forest successfully recreates what makes a horror open-world survival game fun, and for that, it deserves all the props it has gotten. If you are a fan of open-world survival titles, then this game could be one of the best investments that you and your friends can make.

With a bewildering open world, terrifying enemy design and behavior, and a plethora of locations to explore, it easily hits the mark for being one of the best open-world survival games to enjoy with your friends.

And with that, my review of The Forest comes to an end. For more reviews like this, keep checking back with us at eXputer. 

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