The new survival game Sons of the Forest is often referred to as “The Forest 2” in the community – as the successor to the popular survival hit. MeinMMO reveals what you need to know about the release and the content of Sons of the Forest.
Update on February 20: Just before release, Sons of the Forest is the most wished game on Steam. We have summarized the impressions of the first tests and the most important information for you.
The game is supposed to be released on February 23, 2023. The release comes after some delays and a long silence about the new part. The announcement created a hype for The Forest on Steam.
We are covering the release on MeinMMO with a live ticker.
The game will be released in early access on February 23. Although it was planned to release fully immediately, there were problems. How long the early access will last is not yet known.
So far, there are no confirmed platforms for Sons of the Forest. However, the first part was playable on PC and PlayStation, which we also expect from the successor. The Forest, however, did not arrive until 4 years after release on the PS4.
According to the developers, Sons of the Forest will cost $29.99, so probably around 30 euros (via Twitter). Find out here if it’s worth it for you: 5 things you should know before buying Sons of the Forest on Steam.
Yes, you can play with a group of up to 8 players. There is now also a trailer for the multiplayer mode.
The first gameplay trailer for Sons of the Forest has been embedded here for you:
Story and gameplay of Sons of the Forest
What is Sons of the Forest about? The story was already the driving force for players to keep playing the popular first part of The Forest. Depending on the choices you made, the game had different endings.
The story of The Forest summarized
You crash with a plane on an island in the middle of the sea. Your son was in the plane with you, and you must find him now. In the process, you discover mutants and cannibals on the quite populated island.
While you survive, you uncover more and more of the backgrounds. Eventually, you stumble upon your predecessors and a strange machine that can cause planes to crash. You must activate it and thus sacrifice human lives to save your son.
In Sons of the Forest, you apparently play as Timmy, the son of the protagonist, who is now older. You now seemingly crash with your helicopter on the same island that served as the setting for the first part, as the second trailer for Sons of the Forest shows. There is even a third trailer with gameplay now:
The developers have already revealed more about the story. Although in one of the trailers, the father of the protagonist seems to appear, Sons of the Forest is not about family. You are supposed to rescue a missing billionaire.
Concrete information about the island where the sought person has disappeared is scarce. A detail in the trailer, a flyer, suggests that this is a vacation spot – which could well be a trap set by the same people responsible for the horrors in the first part.
What features does the game have? The Forest already relied on story and exploration, but also offered survival elements like building and crafting. The same is already visible in the trailers for Sons of the Forest.
The building system has been completely overhauled and improved. It receives new animations, and you no longer fill a blueprint or a foundation with resources, but now edit and place things like logs directly. This allows you to design buildings yourself. However, if you want, you can also use the old system.
IGN was able to play Sons of the Forest for 5 hours in a hands-on session. The video reveals some new details about the content. You can see it here:
In the gameplay, it can be seen that there will be at least 2 NPC companions. One is Kelvin, who crashes with you. The elite soldier can no longer speak due to an injury, but you can write him tasks on a piece of paper to send him to chop wood for you.
Kelvin is even available in coop. However, you must take care of him and treat him well. He needs water and breaks; otherwise, his work ethic suffers. And if you want to get rid of him… Kelvin can be killed and has no respawn.
The second companion is Virginia, a mutant with three legs and three arms, who has already been seen in earlier trailers. Virginia must first be “unlocked” by gaining her trust. The developers promised “more companions with their own AI”.
Some other new features are already known:
- changing seasons with different effects – in winter, for example, food will become scarce
- enemies determine their AI on how they behave in combat – there are also new enemies
- there are several firearms such as pistols and shotguns, with a ammo shortage already hinted
- boss fights similar to the first part will apparently occur again
The predecessor, The Forest, is already a huge hit on Steam and can still attract thousands of players despite its age. The game released in 2014 is considered one of the best survival games on MeinMMO. Perhaps the successor will also find a place on our list:
