While I go on a tear of survival games with my friends, my last purchase from the Steam Winter Sale was The Forest. I had heard plenty about the game when it was in its janky Early Access stage a few years back, so I had faith in the title now that it had its official release and time to be enhanced with further patches. I used to cynically write off games like these as bait for streamers with little substance or replayability, but I’ve grown and look forward to experiencing them for myself now.

The Forest starts off like the first episode of Lost, where you crash-land on an airplane in an uncharted setting with no technology. I have to admit, for as brief a cinematic as it was, the plane crash is a thrill and reminiscent of how Bioshock kicked off. Once you come to, you and your friends have free reign to navigate the island and do everything it takes to survive. You’ll immediately find this is easier said than done, as you encounter your first batch of other humans.

The enemies in The Forest are tribal warriors that will demolish you if you’re not careful. They vary from intelligent survivalists to frantic savages, to abhorrent monstrosities. Other than the ax you are given from the plane, you can also craft spears for fast attacks, bows for enemies far away, and even set your foes ablaze with a combination of your lighter and a can of hairspray. Enemies tend to fight in packs, so it’s paramount that you and your friends work together to dispatch them.

The main attraction of The Forest is ironically not the areas within the trees but instead, the massive caves spread across the island. You’ll find key items in these dark, expansive areas, like flashlights, chainsaws, and climbing tools for cragged rock. Past this, you’ll need to manage your hunger, thirst, and body temperature. Sometimes the best food available is the tribal warrior you just killed, making cannibalism seem like a normality for survival. Morality is truly out the window in this game.

For sanctuary, you can build a nice shelter with the resources scattered about your surroundings. Chopping down trees feels great, watching them fall with great physics and a subtle creaking sound as it plummets to the ground. Once your housing is built, you can save your progress. Unfortunately, I did encounter a universal crash and lost 30+ minutes of progress at one point, so an autosave feature upon entering/exiting caves would be welcome instead of the ear-splitting bats.

In the survival game landscape, I’d still put The Forest very high on the list of quality, as the game clearly benefitted from its long development time and player input. It’s always great to see a game emerge from Early Access and earn Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam. If you have a group to play with, it’s easy to recommend The Forest at this point, even several years after its initial popularity, as it’s been a blast for me so far!

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The Forest

$19.99

8.5

Score

8.5/10

Pros

• Huge Map
• Fun Exploration
• Freaky Enemy Design

Cons

• No Autosave
• Overabundance of Resources

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