INTRODUCTION

I think that it’s only fair that I start this blog off with a personal favorite of mine. I’ve been playing this game for several months now, and I really think that it’s a stand-up game. So I guess diving right in, The Forest is an open-world survival horror game currently in early access on Steam. There’s only one goal: survive. And, as you’ll soon see, that’s one hell of a challenge.

This is a good time to put in a disclaimer. There’s gonna be some spoilers to the game coming up. A really good way to play the game is to know nothing about it, and this might ruin that for some people.

Oh yeah, and this game is also pretty violent/graphic. So if you’re really not into that sort of stuff, you should probably check out a different game.

GAMEPLAY

The background story of The Forest starts with a plane crash on a forested island. Our daring rugged hero (you) seems to be the only survivor. However, it quickly becomes apparent that you are not alone on the island. Before long, beings appear from out of the underbrush. To call them human would be a big stretch. To call them dangerous, however, would be just about right. You quickly learn that surviving a plane crash was the easy part. Living in this forest is going to be tough.

So at first glance, you’ll probably just think it’s another in a long list of zombie games. But it’s more than that. These creatures are mutated cannibals. …Yeah. Ok so they’re pretty much zombies. Except these are advanced zombies. They like to form up into groups, different tribes fight each other, all sorts of stuff like that.

Despite being all advanced, they still try to kill you, meaning they have to die. Slice ‘em up with an axe, smash them in with a rock, just try to survive against the hoard. They’re not even the only threat out there. You have to scavenge and hunt for food, stay warm, and try not to drink contaminated water.

It seems like the whole island is out to kill you. Luckily, in most situations, after “dying” you wake up in a cave. This is your one respawn. Not so luckily, the caves are infected with mutants, and if you take one too many hits, it’s game over forever.

BUILDING

Probably the biggest part of this game is building and crafting system. I’m not going to explain every single little detail that you can build, I’ll leave that for you to discover. But I will say that by the time you’ve sunk a couple of hours into the game, you could have a network of treehouses and be at almost no risk from the locals.

You can craft a bit too, although this hasn’t received all the attention that the building aspect has. The most notable and useful feature is the ability to upgrade tools for speed and deadliness. This was broken and nonfunctional for the longest time, but now that it’s finally back, it is a must do to survive comfortably.

UPDATES

Graphically, this game is amazing. It really approaches photorealism. Plants sway in the wind, wood chips fly everywhere when you cut down trees, it’s just an all-around beautiful scene. Except, you know, for the cannibals. Those graphics are only going to get better and better as the game goes on. Updates tend to come out at a steady stream of about once a month, adding all sort of new features and game mechanics. The next update, set to release in around 2 weeks, is overhauling the whole system to get that extra bit of detail out of the game.

All in all, I really got to recommend this game to anyone looking for something to sink many hours into. There’s not a ton of stuff to do in-game, but the constant updates as well as threats from the cannibals will keep you coming back.

Have you played The Forest? What secrets to the game have you found? How long have you survived so far? Leave some comments!