The Forest Review

This is why I don’t go to islands!
That and I don’t like the heat and Humidity of the Southern Hemisphere.
The Forest is a game that I have to dig up out of the archives. With Halloween approaching I feel it best to update yous with all the good spooky games. As such The Forest Review! New and updated for the launch of the gamethat happened in 2018… Sorry.

DISCLAIMERS

-This review was an Early Access Review BUT I forgot to update it as such… Full release review! Sans photos.
-This review will talk about all the old updates as well as the current state of the game

SYSTEM SPECS

Once again this is a game that I have played to death over many systems each with variances in performance over the years. For a title in Early Access, I have added my overall settings of the game to give you an idea of how it went for me.†

†All settings based upon ingame presets at 1080p

Performance

To begin with, the game had very poor overall performance, even when I moved to the Core i5. Slowly however this became less of an issue. Chopping down trees would cause significant frame drops as did being attacked from behind. After so long, however, the game did change and became a better experience overall.I would say that most of the issues I have whilst playing are only due to playing Multiplayer which was riddled with its own seperate issues as well as some Single Player issues.

Though still an issue today when playing in multiplayer, it is overall a much better experience. Log sleds do still go missing and you do often find yourself doing your best team rocket impression but it is genuinely funny in co-op. I can’t fault having a laugh.

STORY

Initally there was a barebones story:
You – a loving caring father – take your son “Timmy” somewhere on a plane – Can only assume on a holiday. When you experience a thing – a literal thing, there is no indication as to what happens, maybe turbulence – that causes your plane to start going down into a crash over an island. You awake in the plane to see a man holding your child before running off as you pass out again. As you awake you find an axe lodged in a staff members back and you want to find your son.

This was the basics of the story – when the game launched this was all you had. Though everyone had a rough idea of the end game the devs did focus more on how the game played and performed before working heavily on the story.

Now the story picks up as the same but with good puzzle-solving clues. Photos and Magazines that add to your journal. Unmarked Christian gravestones – important to note for the lore as you find out the inhabitants are mutant cannibals after they attack you and take you to a cave. This also served as your only respawn back then.

UPDATED

Now with every cave you enter you find new equipment and find you need other equipment from other caves to get all the tools you need to save your son. Each piece of equipment allows you to delve further into each cave giving you a sense of progression. Though you can enter each have without the apparatus, you will always be hindered until you have the correct piece.

As not to spoil much it is recommended you try to find all the caves and all the equipment on your own as most YouTube videos will spoil things. This game can take an easy 10 hours for a new player. Add on the fact you now have a shadowy research group and a proper ending to the game and its a great way to kill time. Guarenteed most of that time is spent building a massive base though.

GAMEPLAY

This game takes survival to a level that Bear Grylls dreams about. Maybe less murder is involved but I’m sure he’d love this.

Initially, you have your Hunger and Thirst – From my experience, this dictates your stamina and health. A full belly is a longer sprint and more stamina to fight with. Hunger can be fulfilled by killing a lizard, rabbit or turtle and cooking it or finding Energy Bars and Meals near the plane and in suitcases. Alternatively, you can go full Alive: The Story Of The Andes Survivors – the locals are in abundance this season.
Thirst is easy – Drink soda, create a water pouch or create a water catcher and drink the rain. Temperature is also a leading cause of death in this game. If you are out in the cold and wet for too long you can catch and die from Hypothermia.

BASIC NEEDS

Things that can cause death or other issues are Sanity & Sanitary.
You have a mental and physical health portion in the journal and even when I played these were not fully implemented but they will make for great gameplay when added.

Now that they are added I can say that your sanity allows you to craft some absolutely disturbing effigies. These drive the locals loco and a hunting party of 4 soon becomes abominations ready to destroy your base. I have never been Dirty enough to get sick or out in the cold long enough to get hypothermia but I feel it’s in there.

CRAFTING

Effigies – Lifes biggest red flag. The natives construct effigies out of victims of the crash and their belongings to let you know that You are in their garden. You construct effigies out of their bodies to let them know you are an unrelenting force of nature. In turn, your sanity will deplete as you hack up their bodies and create elaborate lawn decorations of the natives family members.

Crafting is your biggest ally (next to co-op player multiplayer). With just some tree sap, a watch, tape, circuit board, coins and some good ‘ole TNT you can make a timed sticky bomb. Add a native skull to that for added fun.
Or grab some tree sap and a mouth full of teeth and up the damage on your axe. Maybe a rag and some booze for a Molotov, alternatively, take that lizard pelt and some leaves to craft some stealth armour.

But maybe you just want to play passive and build your dream treehouse. VEGANMODE – type it on the main menu and you need not worry about the natives you can just build. Build a huge fortress or a small log cabin, a bed and a fire pit and enjoy your new virtual outdoor life. The Forest is your oyster!

OVERALL

At the time I wrote this, the game was still in Early Access and as such I could not give you a full review. Well, the game left Early Access a while ago now so I will give you what I said back then and then give you an actual score:

vThe dev team update this game every week and any issues reported are usually patched out by a hotfix the next day
They are very committed to giving each and every player an unforgettable experience in this game. As such I will currently give notes in my overall and any scores shown will be preliminary.

These were the scores during Early Access after multiple updates. How does it rack up now though? I’m glad you asked:

The story did take a dip as it wasn’t very good. It felt more like a side objective and even though it was the main goal – the payoff was rather bland. It lead to an excellent boss fight and moral choice, but it was just above average and no more.

I believe in my Early Access scores I summed this game up rather well – sitting with mates and crafting a huge fortress is definitely fun, as is murdering thousands of cannibals and exploring the island. There are empty parts of the island that I do wish were utilised. There was a whole snow area just unused.

Performance as a whole has been elevated and the time spent on this game was well worth it. I can only recommend this game so many times before I sound like a broken record. You should 100% buy this game is you have not already!

BUY NOW!

Since it’s Halloween season why not take a look at Phasmophobia as well if you are looking to scratch that Horror Co-Op itch?