Survival is an arduous task 

Sons of the Forest is the newest game developed by Endlight Games and published by Newlight. The game is the sequel to The Forest, released in 2018, and reintroduces players to an island full of cannibals where, in order to survive, they will have to cling to every possibility they can find.

Released on February 23, 2023, the game is currently in early access and is available for PC through Steam.



Where are the billionaires?

In Sons of the Forest, the game takes us on a journey in search of a family of missing billionaires on the island. Before we reach land, our helicopter is shot down and we crash in some unknown place. 

Only two survivors are left, you and Kelvin. But because of the accident, Kelvin has gone deaf and is unable to communicate verbally with us. To talk to him, we write notes in a small notebook and stick the sheet of paper on his chest with a very toxic aggressiveness, by the way. It is a strange way to communicate since it would be enough to show our poor fellow what was written, without violence. Poor Kelvin, he has been through so much in his life...

Well, coming back...

The story of the game is not clear, much less objective. To understand what is happening on the island, we collect various letters and documents scattered in bunkers all over the place. They contain information about the targets we have to rescue, diaries of scientists and soldiers from other expeditions, and comments about strange things happening on the island. I confess that the story did not involve me as much, because I could not connect with the world in a deep way. Perhaps because I have not played The Forest before, I am not putting myself fully into the context of the game. Either way, this shouldn't happen, as the narrative needs to be resolved enough for the player to place themselves as a character in the story. 

Perhaps because it is in the early access stage, Sons of the Forest has not yet built its introduction properly. But I don't think I should speculate here. From the impressions I've had, the story of Sons of the Forest, while it will be deep and interesting, as the setting makes me think it is, does not present itself in a clear and/or compelling way for me so far.



A huge island, and almost always empty. 

First of all, I would like to say that I am not a big fan of survival games. A few have jumped out at me, such as Subnautica and Rust, but overall my experience is somewhat unpleasant. I imagined that my experience with Sons of the Forest would be different, given that I quite enjoy survival horror games. However, I had very little contact with horror, because most of the time I was running around aimlessly in the brush. 

The moments that gave me the "it's about time" feeling were when I entered the bunkers and saw several scattered bodies, and the caves with bats suddenly flying over our heads. I imagined that I would encounter some deadly creature against which I should use all my poor combat skills, but my biggest and worst enemy was him: boredom.

At some point I encountered a bizarre creature, resembling a giant worm, trapped in a wall of a completely dark cave. I killed the creature without difficulty and continued on my way. As I found some clues that connected with the cards I found in the bunkers, I imagined that I would slowly put the pieces together and begin to connect with the game, but in fact, the few moments of excitement quickly turned to frustration. All I could think was, "is that it?" 

Seriously, I would love to praise Sons of the forest for its gameplay, but I can't. Despite the many features present in the game, such as survival weapons, quality-of-life tools, and dozens of crafting and building options, I see them as disconnected from the game's proposition. For survival horror, I felt a little challenged. In fact, I was filled with a feeling of peace as if I were playing Way of the Hunter (say no to animal cruelty). 

The map, presented on a small GPS, presents little information. It shows a few points that we follow intuitively, but not always with clear objectives or features. 

Anyway, for those who enjoy survival games, perhaps Sons of the Forest is a good choice, given its complexity when it comes to crafting and building. However, if you expect an intense game, that does justice to the Survival Horror genre, maybe it can end up frustrating you.



The artwork for Sons of the Forest: Is this the real life?

Rumor has it that there are several zombie cannibals scattered around the island. If this is true, I am sure they will be perfectly realistic, because the game, even though it is in early access, offers a graphical experience that is the envy of many triple-A games on the market. But for that, you will need a powerful pc, especially if you want to play with DLSS and Ray-tracing enabled. 

I was thrilled with the quality of the scenery, especially the caves, and bunkers. The dim lighting is compensated for by a small purple light that accompanies us during our exploration. Inside these spaces, everything seems like a potential threat. The darkness will make you apprehensive, but finding walls or other forms of illumination will not bring you peace of mind in any way. 

For me, these environments, besides always making me feel claustrophobic, managed to convey the feeling of being watched. I liked these places a lot and I wish they were used more, with the presence of more information and creatures, as well as the survival resources that are always there. I found it strange to be able to sleep in some of these spaces, next to hanging or completely eviscerated bodies. If that was the intention, it worked.  

Another positive point is the objects scattered around the scenery, which show that the creatures really don't want us there. They are grotesque and brutal warnings that translate the aggressiveness of the children of the forest and remind us that this is a horror game. 

However, I did experience some graphical problems, such as stutterings and glitches. 



The soundtrack manages to be pleasant, with ambient sounds that are complemented by well-crafted tracks. The animal noises, especially those of the bats, manage to be convincing and contribute to the immersion in the game. 

A well-placed detail is that they made the noise of the waterfalls increase a lot when we get close to them. Not many people know this, but waterfalls are really noisy places. 

Overall, I think the artwork delivered an excellent job and I hope that in the future the game will compensate for its shortcomings to deliver a more immersive experience related to the game proposal. 

For this review, Sons of the Forest was played on PC, through Steam.