The most anticipated game on Steam right now is a survival adventure with an open world on a “not quite” deserted island – Sons of the Forest. MeinMMO wants to help you with the following facts in your purchasing decision.
Sons of the Forest is a dark survival adventure and celebrates its release on February 23 on Steam in Early Access. We will accompany the release on MeinMMO with a live ticker.
If you are still considering whether to embark on the mutant-infested adventure, here are important infos for your decision:
- A comparison to the predecessor
- The release state
- The gameplay
- The story
- The horror
For a first impression, check out the trailer:
1. Sons of the Forest is like its predecessor – But more!
If you celebrated the first part “The Forest”, you hardly need to read on – then there is a clear purchase recommendation, provided the game runs well and Early Access offers enough content.
Sons of the Forest wants to offer everything that made The Forest so good. But more of it. New are NPC buddies and a wide range of weapons.
If you’re not that familiar with the first part, you’ll find more details about the gameplay and information on who it’s worth it for below.
If you are fans of The Forest, you might also find something in the following list:
2. It starts in Early Access
Sons of the Forest starts on February 23 in Early Access on Steam and costs around $30 – which will probably be €30 for us.
The developers had a choice: Either delay the game again or start in Early Access on the planned release date.
Even if you have had bad experiences with “Early Access” games, you shouldn’t write off Sons of the Forest right away. The predecessor also came out in Early Access on Steam and was one of the positive examples of how to shape the development process together with the community.
It’s still not exactly clear how much content Sons of the Forest will offer at release. However, it sounds on Steam as if we will get a complete game that will be serviced in Early Access with additional features, balancing, and bug fixes.
3. Open World with lots of survival
Let’s talk about the gameplay; here you can expect a lot of survival. Sons of the Forest is survival through and through – the weather plays a role, food is scarce, drinking is important, crafting will help you, weapons are useful.
Here you have the full program and an open world with a lot of … forest. However, Sons of the Forest also comes with interesting innovations.
- Construction system offers many freedoms
The construction system partly forgoes prefabricated blueprints and allows you free rein in building your shelter. You chop down a tree, have to carry the trunk to the camp, chop it to the right size, split it, and then you have a nice piece of ground or some walls.
This open construction style can be found repeatedly in the game, as the trailer above shows. It is not enough to have 4 sticks and a tarp in your inventory. You must place the sticks appropriately and secure the tarp to build a tent.
- Restless neighbors
Further depth is added to Sons of the Forest through the behavior of the mutants on the island. The neighbors have different characteristics, sometimes behaving curiously towards you, sometimes skeptically, sometimes aggressively. There are even enemies who can incite others to attack you.
In addition, there are several mutant factions that can also get into fights with each other. There are reports of a tribe trapped in a cave. Once you release this tribe, they will go after another nearby tribe. This can certainly be used to your advantage.
By the way, there is another survival game in development that also wants to use AI factions, which will do their own thing independently of you:
4. Sons of the Forest has an ending – at least
If you enjoy the island’s idyll, you can build your dream home forever and keep the nasty mutants at bay with weapons. However, Sons of the Forest also offers a story that unfolds in an interesting way – through exploration.
In Forest 1, there was no “go there” or “take care of that”. You discovered interesting places during your resource-gathering tours, marked them on the map, and came back later for exploration. Or you went right in, even though you only had a torch with you.
In the large caves, there were always important discoveries: For example, an ice pick with which you could reach other areas because the pick allowed climbing in certain places.
The Forest 1 even offered 2 different endings, and Sons of the Forest will also have a story ending – similar to the popular survival titles Raft and Grounded.
5. Spooky, gore, nasty mutants
With the 5th and final point, we want to issue a small warning. Sons of the Forest calls itself a survival horror simulator and lives up to those claims.
Even in the first part, cave visits were a creepy undertaking – small light cone, flashlights with weak batteries, little ammunition, and mutants could appear everywhere in new, disturbing forms.
Additionally, dismemberments are part of everyday life on the island. For example, you can scare off other mutants with a severed mutant head. Once you are back home, the head finds its place on a stake in the garden – as a deterrent.
Sons of the Forest allows you to run through the open world with up to 8 players. With such a large party, the thrill may be somewhat lost. But solo or with a maximum of 3 – 4 players, you will experience a playable horror movie that is not suitable for every player.
Who is Sons of the Forest worth it for? If you are even slightly interested in the survival genre, keep an eye on Sons of the Forest. The gameplay has already proven itself but hardly worn out. There’s little that stands in the way of a good survival adventure:
- Little content in Early Access
- Technical difficulties at launch
- The creepy setting
If you’re not into the creepy setting, it’s better to steer clear of the title. For more info on content and technical state, you’ll find more details after the release on February 23 on MeinMMO.
If you want more information about the game, visit our large release hub: Sons of the Forest: Everything about release, story, and gameplay
