Sons of the Forest review in progress: tense, chilling survival horror

It doesn’t take long to realize how truly haunting Sons of the ForestIt can. After spending a couple of hours on the island, I was able to discover a wide variety of unusual sightings. When I approached shadows, they rattled in the nearby bush and let out an eerie guttural as they ran. After our initial encounter, a woman wearing multiple limbs watched my fearful movements from afar and then began to trace my steps. A creature of flesh and teeth was revealed at the bottom of the darkest cavern.

Endnight Games has established this dark foundation. The ForestAfter an extended early access period, a new survival game for the first person was released in 2018. The ForestThe primary antagonist of the game made it stand out in a crowd: They were eager to see your movements and then tear you apart.

A woman with three arms and three legs runs away from a survivor at night time in Sons of the Forest.

Ambiance and presentation The ForestThe sequel only adds to the fun of crafting with its quick mechanics. It is the main focus Sons of the ForestThe sequel, “The Dark Knight Rises,” is now available on PC via Steam Early Access. It seems that the game’s purpose lies in increasing the horror inherent to its environment. You have many options to protect yourself against the inhabitants of the island thanks to the new creature and other features. The result has attracted me quickly.

This time around, the premise doesn’t revolve around rescuing your kid, but a billionaire and his family instead. As difficult as this task may sound in these current times, Sons of the ForestThe slow process reveals more important matters that you need to consider. The transportation helicopter that you’re in crashes. Upon hard landing on the ground, you’re immediately greeted by a strange individual who knocks you unconscious. One of your fellow teammates is found hanging from the rope that’s tied to a rock. Another one is buried underground, his GPS tracker beeping a signal from six feet under like “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

A stranded survivor holds a hammer and phone with a GPS map on a snowy mountain in Sons of the Forest.

You’re free to encounter these mysteries at your own pace, following as much or as little of the main story as you trek along. During my five hours exploring the island thus far, I’ve been following these objectives loosely as points of reference thanks to a handy GPS device, which has the map of the island available from the get-go, often going off the beaten path to see what I could find. So far, I haven’t encountered many problems in keeping my hunger and thirst levels up, thanks to a generous amount of vegetation with fruit seeds and supply cases scattered around, although this could easily change once winter rolls around (thanks to a new dynamic seasonal system set to affect the environment).

I spent my first night setting things up in my inventory while listening to music from an abandoned boombox — a brief respite from the tension caused by visitors constantly scouting the camp as I waited for the sunrise to grant me clarity. However, it is not impossible to face the people on the island. Sons of the ForestIt is willing to give you multiple tools. It was easy to get two axes and I made some leaves armor to protect myself from the many long trips ahead.

But even on normal difficulty — there are both easier and harder settings to choose from, as well as a custom option to tweak elements individually — enemies can put up a fight. Their speed is a major advantage. They can hop on rocks to jump at you or circle around to try to get back at you. It is not the best idea to eat an energy bar in order to get yourself healed quickly.

A stranded survivor holds a severed head in front of a cannibal on a sunny day in a glade camp in Sons of the Forest.

Although the combat system could be improved to have a greater impact on hits, the changes made by the mechanics make a big difference. Sons of the Forest’s predecessor, doubling down on your reactiveness toward the island’s hostility. You can still chop enemies’ heads off, but you can now hold them in your hand and show them to others to scare them away, as well as place them on spikes for similar effects. Sometimes, enemies crawl back in terror after being hurt and ask for your mercy with hand signals. Let them go, but you risk a group of enemies returning to your place in retaliation. Or you can collect another head, giving into the game’s weirdness.

It’s too early to say whether Sons of the Forest’s new flavors will be enough for the experience to stand out from its predecessor in the long run. So far, it’s less of a puzzle box I want to unravel, and more of a pit that I’ve fallen into. But I’m not desperately trying to crawl my way out just yet. I’m eager to continue learning more about this world. If it means I lose a little of my humanity every time I follow the rules.

Sons of the Forest Steam Early Access was available for download on February 23, 2019. Vox Media is an affiliate partner. Although these partnerships do not impact editorial content, Vox Media could earn commissions from products sold via affiliate links. Here are some links to help you find. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.