Sons of the Forest 1.0 Review (PC)

So there I was, swinging a makeshift axe at the fifteenth tree of the hour — eyeballs glued to the back of my head and drawn to the unsettling sounds of a faint rustling between the nearby branches. It was dark out—pitch black, even, and the only weapon I had left in my back pocket was on the verge of breaking into a collection of frail stones and bark. It was around then that I knew, alright, that one more swing would bring forth an unwanted surprise—a ravenous foe of whom I had spent numerous hours trying to avoid for the sake of keeping my head above water and out of the jaws of a flesh-deprived cannibal. I needed that resource, but obtaining it would mean having to go toe-to-toe with my pursuer. Sons of the Forest, unsurprisingly, had successfully managed to entice me into rolling the dice.

Similar to its predecessor, Sons of the Forest delivers a heart-pounding survival-crafting expedition that revolves entirely around a larger-than-life map—an ever-changing locale that’s teeming with mutated creatures, cannibals, and a seasonal drought that hangs over the borders. Suffice to say, it isn’t an easy world to make a living in, let alone carve into something that won’t slaughter you in your sleep or leave you clutching at straws and beckoning for the break of a new dawn. It’s a hostile world — and one that, quite frankly, wants you to fall. Joy.

After a good year of drifting in and out of its Early Access phase, Sons of the Forest has, at long last, launched its 1.0 version—a finalized draft that comes equipped with all of the same boney fragments and tropical elements as its 2018 original. The question is, is the sequel worth playing? Let’s talk.

The Prodigal Son Returns

If you’ve ever so much as nibbled at the tip of the spear of a full-fat survival-crafting game before, then you’ll know exactly how Sons of the Forest operates: there’s a hazardous locale, and a limited amount of supplies nested between a rock and a hard place. Oh, and not to mention an entire population of hostile cannibals and bloodthirsty creatures, to boot. It’s your role, as the world’s newest arrival, to not only arm yourself with all of the appropriate makeshift gadgets and gizmos, but to also brave the darkest depths of the opaque region and learn how to flourish and prosper in a land that’s clearly out to hurt, scar, and ultimately swallow you. Fun times.

What’s new in Sons of the Forest is its ever-changing seasons—a four-tier cycle that bears the power to transform the landscape and create vast new climates for you to tackle. With that, of course, comes a dilemma, and one that can only be solved by adapting to the changes and learning how to roll with the punches, so to speak. Take winter, for example — resources are hard to come by in the cold, and the bitterness of the low temperatures can, and often will, kill you. The summer, on the other hand, is another story altogether; the humidity can cause you to feel somewhat encumbered and unable to quench your thirst. Point is, each of the seasonal swaps (amounting to twenty in-game days per season) are as equally tormenting, and as such, real nightmares to overcome, regardless of your ability to withstand the elements.

Seasonal changes aside, Sons of the Forest also comes loaded with a fresh batch of quality-of-life improvements, as well as better performance, lighting, and combat mechanics. In other words, it isn’t just a 2.0 of the original.

If You Go Out to the Woods Today…

You’re sure of a big surprise — and then some. Being a textbook horror game at heart, Sons of the Forest often strives to capture the ambiance of a seemingly desolate world that’s visually striking, but equally as terrifying in all the right places — particularly at night. For the most part, goals can only be completed by making reckless expeditions through the twilight hours and into the underbelly of a cannibal camp or two. And believe me when I say this: braving the depths of a seemingly vacant encampment whilst under the watchful gaze of a wide-eyed brain licker who’s slyly hanging from the overhanging trees can be utterly terrifying. It isn’t a task that you’ll want to do, but it’s also something that, well, you’ll need to do, if only to remediate a deteriorating health condition, or to fill a gaping hole in your stomach.

It goes without saying at this point, but playing hooky with the cannibals is half the battle, and something that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat from the moment you embrace the borders of the woodland, to the second you depart it — whether it’s in a mock-up treehouse that stretches for a quarter mile away from the surface, or in the fragments of a shoddy vessel that was left behind by another succulent ̶s̶n̶a̶c̶k̶ survivor.

Sons of the Forest isn’t the easiest of games to play, that much is true. Like before, players need to keep on top of several “simple” needs: hunger, thirst, and the need to stay sane in a world that’s forever pushing you to the brink of a mental breakdown. Fortunately for you, there’s an entire forest that’s teeming with supplies and natural rarities to accommodate such issues; it’s finding the right tools to acquire them, that’s the problem.

The Search Continues

To put you in the picture, Sons of the Forest takes place several years after the events of The Forest. The CEO and founder of PuffCorp, Edward Puffton, along with his wife and daughter, have been missing and presumed dead, which has ultimately led to a well-overdue search-and-rescue mission that will transport several private military contractors to the roots of “Site 2”—a tropical region that’s bursting at the seams with unusual activity. This is where you, either alone or with up to eight other like-minded personnel, will begin your journey — bound for the beating heart of the forest, and in the footsteps of the ill-fated family.

Story-wise, there isn’t a huge amount to unravel, nor are there any loose strands that are made to be torn apart in a certain order. For the most part, it’s just you, the forest, and an infinite web of things to do, making it less of a story-driven experience, and more of an open-ended sandbox with the choice to pursue a number of different avenues. But if you do happen to favor the lore and adventure that ties in with the narrative, then you’re looking at a good dozen or more hours of quality storytelling. But again, that’s barely scratching the surface, and not to mention the wealth of content that bundles in with its crafting, building, and exploratory work.

I will say this: Sons of the Forest isn’t an easy cookie to crack, especially if you’re running it as a lone adventurer. Case in point, when looking to ransack a local settlement, cannibals can overpower you and leave you vulnerable, more so if you’re running low on ammunition and tools. Add the fact that building takes thrice as long to complete, and it’s easy to see why multiplayer is the preferred option.

Verdict

Sons of the Forest is an excellent survival-crafting game to pour a dozen or more hours into, especially if you’re hell-bent on biting into something that’s both visually appealing and mechanically unforgiving. Granted, it isn’t the easiest survival game to involve yourself in, doubly so if you’re the sort of person who prefers to hunt at night and play life a little closer to the chest. With that said, there’s a lot to enjoy here, and a great deal more if you’re into base-building projects and scavenging expeditions that stretch for miles.

Let it be said that, while the survival aspects of the game are pretty solid and free-flowing, the storyline itself is a little bare bones, to say the least, and thus, hardly something that can hold a candle to other, more refined games of its kind. However, this isn’t all that much of an issue, as the real experience idles within its genre-defining horror components—nodes that, while a little cliche and repetitive, are a real pleasure to shovel through, more so when walking hand-in-hand with a friend or two in its multiplayer mode.

To say Sons of the Forest is a rewashed version of the same game that launched back in 2018 wouldn’t be fair. Sure, the framework is still there, as is the foliage-imbued locale and its troupe of cannibalistic inhabitants — but it’s also in receipt of better combat mechanics, UI, and a world that’s roughly four times bigger than the last, making it a lot more than a run-of-the-mill 2.0 of The Forest.