It doesn’t take long to realize how truly haunting Sons of the Forest can be. In just a few hours exploring its island, I came across an array of strange sightings. Shadows rattled amid nearby bushes when I approached them, creatures letting out spine-chilling gutturals as they fled. A woman with multiple limbs watched me in fear from afar, only to cautiously begin to retrace my steps after our first encounter. At the deepest end of a dark cavern, the dim light of a lantern revealed a creature made out of flesh and teeth.
Developer Endnight Games already set this eerie foundation in The Forest, a first-person survival game released in 2018 after a lengthy early access period. The Forest stood out among a crowded genre thanks to its primary antagonists: It pitted you against groups of cannibals eager to examine your movements before tearing you and your base apart.
The ambiance and presentation of The Forest, alongside its snappy crafting mechanics, are merely embellished in the sequel. The focus of Sons of the Forest, a sequel out now on PC via Steam Early Access, seems to lie in elevating the inherent horror of its setting. The new creatures on the island, as well as the options at your disposal to defend yourself from its inhabitants, reinforce that. And the result has quickly lured me in.
This time around, the premise doesn’t revolve around rescuing your kid, but a billionaire and his family instead. As unappealing as the task sounds in our current times, Sons of the Forest slowly reveals far more pressing matters to worry about. 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. Later on, you find one of
Read more on polygon.com