The Forest: A must have survival game
I rarely write reviews. But I think this game deserves one.
The Forest is a very fun game to play with friends, and kind of scary playing alone. It is fun to build a base and then go exploring if you don't want to build anymore, just to come back to your base with more supplies and maybe even new structures, you’ve unlocked, to build.
When you're wandering around in The Forest, you always feel unsafe. You feel like anyone or anything could jump at you at any time. Which makes you always stay alert.
The cannibals belong to different tribes, that have different patrol routes around the map. Which means you'll have to scout the island to find the best spot to set up camp, where you'll be safe for the night. But watch out! Because some things might attract unwanted attention. For example, making fires, cutting down trees, or drying food. Which again gives you that feeling of fear.
The cave system in this game works great. You’ll always get more curious about what’s next, the deeper you go into the cave. But you will very quickly get lost because some of the cave patterns look very familiar. Which is both good and bad. The good thing is, that you can get lost which makes the game more realistic. But the bad part is, that you sometimes will get bored going through the cave and seeing almost the same thing over and over. All though the caves are hiding supplies and new weapons/tools for you to use. It is a very nice feeling when you find something you’ve been needing for a long time.
You’ll be given a todo-list at the very start of the game, that will be updated and expanded upon as you progress through the game. It will work as a compass, guiding you through the game, and making sure you always know what to do (but not in what order to do it.)
I really like the way that the story works in this game. In the beginning, when the plane crashes and you see someone taking your son, you’re left with a lot of questions. You’ll slowly get those questions answered while you’re exploring the island and the caves. You’ll find notes, books, pictures, drawings etc. scattered around the map. That gives you hints as to what is going on on the island. Which, in my opinion, is a great way to make a story-based survival game. Because you’ll have to think about what the story behind the island is. And it might even change your perspective of your final goal: Find your son.
The Forest is a fun game to play through 1-2 times. But after you’ve played through the game a couple of times, you will not find the same joy, that you did in the start. Because unfortunately, the camps and caves are the same each time you see them. Which ruins that curious feeling you get when exploring, as you’ve already seen it all.
The game features a few bugs/glitches to say the least. The most annoying one is probably, that the game “forgets” what things you’ve seen. Which means, that if you fully explore a cave, and it gets checked off your todo-list, then save and restart the game. The cave will still be marked as explored, but as soon as you reach the same cave entrance, the game will re-add the cave to your todo-list, and it will be marked as not explored. This is also why one of the least achieved achievements in the game is “Spelunker”, with a mere 1.8% completion rate, because it requires you to explore all caves. This goes for multiple things in the game, including animals and plants. Every time you reload your game it will say “New animal discovered” when you see an animal, even though you’ve already seen it.
Summary (TL;DR)
This is an absolute must have survival game if you like getting spooked, exploring, and playing with friends. The games island, story, and cave system leads you into playing multiple hours each session. I really like the building system in this game. You can literally build a base anywhere you want. And build it just how you want it to be. Playing this game with friends makes it much more fun.
All in all, this game is a solid 8.5/10
