The Forest Preview – Alpha Dog
Coming out of the studios of Endnight Games, The Forest is a first-person survival horror that should grab the interest of many gamers out there. Since become released in Alpha state, it has quickly become the number one game on Steam and I can say, with certainty, that it delivers in many aspects and is also full of potential to become even greater.
Opening inside a plane, with a child that is believed to be your own, that is on it’s way to crashing on the ground, The Forest takes no prisoners, and once you awaken from the wreckage, you see a man pick up the child and carry them away. You know what you must do.
When you crash in the opening sequence, The Forest begins and it is up to you to survive the gruelling days that are to come by building what you can and eating anything that is edible; while trying not to be eaten yourself by the bunch of cannibals that roam the surrounding area. This is a game that praises patience, and challenges you to think. Once you get the hang of everything, it becomes easier, but not to the point where it is a walk in the park – in the same vein that Don’t Starve tested its players.
You will have to collect wood, branches, leaves, rocks – anything you can get your hands on and carry – in order to build shelters to keep covered for the night, as well as building fires to stay warm. You must hunt your meals for the day to keep your energy and nutrition up. Animals roam the forest so you will need to keep on your toes in order to survive. All of this comes together very well and makes you feel like they truly are scavenging for supplies and food to survive for as long as possible, all without feeling too overwhelming.
Starvation and freezing to death are not the only threats that you have to worry about during your time in the forest. There is another trouble to be apprehensive about: Cannibals. The people that need food themselves to survive, only their idea of a nice meal doesn’t involve some animal meat with a side order and a glass of wine. No, they are out to get you, for their nutritional pleasure and you, needing to survive, must fight them off using whatever weapons to survive. If they do manage to get the better of you, it is not the end of your game. You get a second chance to survive. Instead of dying, you wake up in a cave: their cave. Starting with nothing, you must find what you can and get out, with them getting in your way, obviously. It’s a very nice feature that makes the game a little less punishing if you do make a mistake when fighting off the enemies.
So far, The Forest has been an absolute joy to play. The environment; the scavenging for supplies; hunting your own (whilst trying not to turn into food yourself) – it all converges to create a wonderful survival horror experience. From fans of DayZ to Don’t Starve, The Forest will appeal to a wide audience of players that enjoy the aspect of survival. Endnight Games are on to something impressive here, and with some improvements, along with fixing a couple of the bugs and making the overall product run even better, this game could be one that you can always go back to time and time again. Grab the early access as soon as you possibly can and experience the frenzy that this game offers.
The Forest is available now for £10.99 in alpha state via Steam. Code was provided by developer.
