The Forest is a survival game from that time they got really popular. While that era gave us a lot of mixed and below average titles in that genre, The Forest is one of the better ones. It has a setting that at first might seem generic, stranded on an island, but the cannibals, weird creatures and the mystery of the island, makes the game far more engaging than the usual zombie apocalypse. However, just the main gameplay loop of making a base and surviving is more interesting than following the story, so I never actually got to the end. Multiplayer with proximity chat is also a feature and I would highly recommend, even more than the single player experience.
Story
While on flight with your son, your plane loses control and crashes on a remote island. You and your son survive, but a mysterious cannibal kidnaps him. Now your task is to survive and find your son, even though one might think that being kidnapped by cannibals he has probably been eaten already. Really, the story is there mostly so that there is an end goal.
Mechanics and gameplay
All the standard features of a survival game are here, hunger, thirst and even sanity, but I don’t think it works. Overall, taking care of them isn’t a big issue, but it does become once there are 10 cannibals chasing you.
That’s where the difficulty comes from. At first, they won’t be that big of an issue, but once you set up a base, they will become more and more relentless in their goal to kill you. It's not just human that you will face, there are also horrific abominations. It's rare that you will have an encounter with them on the surface, but once you go underground you are bound to see one.
So just don’t go in any caves. Wrong. If you want the best weapons, tools and generally to just progress the story, you will have to brave the depths. Overall, while most of the island is just forest exploration, it is still worth it.
Building in The Forest is pretty good. It no Minecraft, but I did enjoy making my base, setting traps and decorations.
Graphics and artstyle
The graphics are surprisingly good. Most of it has to do with the good lighting and the detailed foliage. This does mean that underground the game looks a lot worse, and sometimes the lighting gets quite messy there, but that probably a bug.
Atmosphere
If you play The Forest singleplayer, there is an astounding level of loneliness. Even if the cannibals are human, there is no humanity on the island, It's only you vs the world.
Soundtrack
There are just a few tracks, and they can only be heard at specific moments, so I can’t really say much. My favourite part is “Main menu theme”.
Final Thoughts
Timmy is the name of your son. It just is.
Story
While on flight with your son, your plane loses control and crashes on a remote island. You and your son survive, but a mysterious cannibal kidnaps him. Now your task is to survive and find your son, even though one might think that being kidnapped by cannibals he has probably been eaten already. Really, the story is there mostly so that there is an end goal.
Mechanics and gameplay
All the standard features of a survival game are here, hunger, thirst and even sanity, but I don’t think it works. Overall, taking care of them isn’t a big issue, but it does become once there are 10 cannibals chasing you.
That’s where the difficulty comes from. At first, they won’t be that big of an issue, but once you set up a base, they will become more and more relentless in their goal to kill you. It's not just human that you will face, there are also horrific abominations. It's rare that you will have an encounter with them on the surface, but once you go underground you are bound to see one.
So just don’t go in any caves. Wrong. If you want the best weapons, tools and generally to just progress the story, you will have to brave the depths. Overall, while most of the island is just forest exploration, it is still worth it.
Building in The Forest is pretty good. It no Minecraft, but I did enjoy making my base, setting traps and decorations.
Graphics and artstyle
The graphics are surprisingly good. Most of it has to do with the good lighting and the detailed foliage. This does mean that underground the game looks a lot worse, and sometimes the lighting gets quite messy there, but that probably a bug.
Atmosphere
If you play The Forest singleplayer, there is an astounding level of loneliness. Even if the cannibals are human, there is no humanity on the island, It's only you vs the world.
Soundtrack
There are just a few tracks, and they can only be heard at specific moments, so I can’t really say much. My favourite part is “Main menu theme”.
Final Thoughts
Timmy is the name of your son. It just is.