The Forest

The Forest is a thrilling first-person open world survival-horror game.

The game begins with a plane-crash on a densely forested desert island and when the sole survivor regains consciousness, he finds himself marooned in a challenging and hostile environment. After collecting items from inside the plane, namely food, drink and an emergency axe, players, taking on the role of the survivor, must exit the plane and get away from the crash scene before the island’s cannibalistic inhabitants arrive.

The aim of the game is to survive on this picturesque but dangerous island. By gathering resources such as leaves, sticks, rocks and logs, players can begin to craft shelters, fire and crude weapons. Hunting, catching and cooking animals and fish becomes a necessity in order not to starve, but berries and mushrooms can also be scavenged. By pressing ‘B’, players will have access to a survival-guide full of crafting recipes and information about which foods can safely be consumed. This guide is extremely helpful and even advises players how to lay traps and build defence mechanisms to protect their camp from danger.

It soon becomes clear that the island’s cannibalistic inhabitants pose the biggest threat. Although falls, fire and poisonous plants can all cause damage to a players health, these cave-dwelling mutants constantly show up and are significantly dangerous. So, whilst players build and hunt during the day, they need to defend their camp by night as the mutants are certainly more of a threat when the sun goes down. Players need to either run and hide to evade the mutants or fight with weapons made from sticks and stones. These cannibalistic mutants are not always hostile and can sometimes be spotted quite far off in the distance, seemingly just watching. More often than not, however, they will start to circle the encampment and will eventually attack. In some cases this will mean certain death, but on occasion the player will instead wake up in a cave surrounded by mutilated bodies. This aspect of the game is ingenious as it makes the player actually feel as if they are being hunted and genuinely vulnerable, making it both terrifying and extremely challenging. There is an option to set the game to Peaceful Mode, but without these flesh-eating cave-dwellers the game is certainly not as tense.

The island may prove to be a brutal place to survive, but the excellent graphics used make it simply beautiful. The birds, rabbits, lizards and fish that also inhabit the island are very lifelike and both the landscapes and the attention to detail are impressive and very realistic. The sound effects are also good, from the sounds of rainfall and storms to the footsteps, creaks and far-off noises that can be heard whilst exploring the terrain.