Sons of the Forest

Continuation The Forest about survival in the woods. The main character sets out to search for a missing billionaire on a remote island and ends up in a nightmarish place teeming with cannibals. To survive, he searches for resources with the aim of building a sleeping place, hunts, crafts various items and weapons. Designed for cooperative play with a squad of up to 8 players, but there is also a single-player mode.

Regardless of the mode, there will be bot companions, one of whom can be commanded directly, while the other helps from time to time.

Hardcore survival remains the core of the gameplay. Starting with empty hands, the player needs to create primitive weapons and tools, a safe roof over their head, gear, and consumables like first-aid kits. Over time, traps, furniture, various armor, and other elements of deeper gameplay will unlock — more than 1000 items in total.

Many recipes and blueprints are available right away, but first, you need to gather the necessary resources or find components, which is limited by the lack of the right tools or hidden deep in dungeons that need to be cleared. The bottomless inventory is designed like a magic table with an intuitive interface. A 3D printer has been added to the crafting system, producing arrows, flasks, armored fabric, and more.

Enemies, as before, are aggressive, mobile, and powerful, differing from The Forest with a more frightening appearance and grotesque bodies. Each type of enemy has been assigned behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses. Their extermination will require suitable weapons and tactics. Hunger, cold, thirst, and fatigue will also make themselves known, affecting both rest and combat states. A strength indicator has been added, increasing with physical activity and resetting after rest.

A full-fledged firearms have been introduced — a pistol, revolver, shotgun, and rifle. Simple modifications, like a silencer or scope, can be added. There’s a lot of shooting, but the scarcity of ammunition and difficulty in control prevent the game from becoming a shooter. Boxes and secrets with supplies, ammunition, and other essentials for clearing locations are hidden everywhere. Among unusual gear items are a stun gun, chainsaw, scuba gear, and grappling hook.

Long before the events of the game, billionaire Edward Pafton purchased an abandoned island in the ocean for personal use. Obsessed with finding artifacts that could make him even richer and more influential, Pafton dug through the island back and forth until he discovered deposits of unusual metal, from which he made a mysterious golden cube and other items.

The findings were studied for many years in numerous bunkers, as they caused irreversible mutations and turned scientists into monsters that crushed everything in their path. They scattered across the island, hiding in caves and corners, much to the dismay of the local cannibal aborigines. However, Pafton's private army kept the situation under control, suppressing everyone by force.

The facade for the true activities of Pafton and his real goals was a VIP island hotel for the wealthy and celebrities, featuring luxury rooms, golden beaches, bars, spas, a pool, a golf course, and a nightclub. All of this is presented in the game world.

Shortly before the events of Sons of the Forest, communication with the island was completely lost. The board of directors of the corporation owned by Pafton sent a rescue team of professional soldiers from his private army to find and evacuate the boss and his family. As they approached the island, the helicopters were shot down, and only the hero and his companions survived.

Even in early access, the plot of Sons of the Forest could be completed from start to finish and, unlike The Forest, did not require deep immersion in survival mode. The backstory of the events was explained in general terms, the reasons that led to Pafton's venture's downfall were revealed, and key points of the future story were disclosed. However, there were no additional quests or secondary storylines.

As in The Forest, the narrative relies on conclusions drawn by the player, finding notes, journals, audio recordings scattered throughout the game world, and watching simple cutscenes rendered in the engine. There are minimal dialogues, as well as characters encountered throughout the gameplay. The bot companions are useless in terms of the storyline. The path to the ending is more interesting than the ending itself, and after the finale, players can continue survival.

The world of Sons of the Forest is a square piece of land in a meadow-forest biome with a rugged landscape, crisscrossed by streams and lakes fed by a snowy mountain range in the center of the island. The lack of movement restrictions made the territory truly vast for exploration, justifying the appearance of GPS with markers for all points of interest on the map.

The natural environment amazed with its detail and visual quality. The deciduous forest, in all its variations and diversity, occupies a large part of the world. Here, players can fight with natives, hunt for hoofed animals and birds, fish in the waters, drink rainwater from a turtle shell, and search for cozy or more safe places. However, in the mountains, there were almost no activities during early access.

As before, any area can be cleared for construction, fenced with a log palisade, and then built into a multi-level fortress-house. The physics have become even more realistic, with objects interacting better: ceilings can collapse without support, logs can be floated down the river, rain extinguishes fires, and more heat is needed in winter.

In Sons of the Forest, seasons have been introduced with smooth transitions and interactive elements such as leaf fall, the first snow, icing, and even deep snowdrifts up to the knees. In frozen bodies of water, players can break through the ice for fishing. In spring, the forest transforms again.

Sons of the Forest has developed and expanded gameplay in small details while maintaining the core principle of "entertain yourself." The situation on the island worsens every day as the plot progresses, either with excavated caves and bunkers. The natives and mutants become stronger, their numbers increase, and new species appear. The development and further strengthening of the base is the only endgame activity.

Co-op play is faster and more fun than playing solo, all else being equal. In co-op, loot is unique to all participants, and its volume adjusts to the number of players, avoiding scarcity. Item exchange is free. Story quests and saves count towards the host.