Sons of the Forest Review – The Hills Have Eyes

I remember the first time I truly killed someone in Sons of the Forest. It wasn’t when my damaged but reliable squadmate Kelvin and I first crash-landed on the remote island or when going toe-to-toe with the cannibalistic locals with nought but a spear and a good feeling (ending in a quick demise).

Maybe the island is really just a test to see how far one is willing to look into the abyss, superseding those so-called monsters. “Maybe we really were The Forest’s Sons,” I told Kelvin, who probably nodded vacuously or gathered more wood, but that’s only one component of Sons of the Forest, which recently left early access almost exactly a year after it entered.

"Fans of the first game will doubtless appreciate the connections and continuations from the first game, but make no mistake – this is more of a Volume 2 to the ongoing saga than the answers to all your questions."

On the flip side is the set-up and story. You arrive on a mysterious island dubbed Site 2 to locate Edward Puffton, CEO of PuffCorp, his wife Barbara and their daughter Virginia after they go missing. It’s not long before your helicopter mysteriously loses power (in a call back to the first game) and crashes. With a survival pack, the faithful Kelvin and a whole lot of incentive, you need to survive and probably find the Pufftons.

Things aren’t quite that simple, as vicious cannibals roam above ground while the caverns are teeming with mutants. As you discover the fates of your other team members, various clues about the Puffton’s dealings with the island, his rivalry with Sahara Therapeutics from the previous game and the involvement of Jianyu Zhang, a PuffCorp employee-turned-Sahara agent who takes none too kindly to your presence. What is the mysterious Cube, and why does everyone want it? Those are but some of the questions to answer.

Fans of the first game will doubtless appreciate the connections and continuations from the first game, but make no mistake – this is more of a Volume 2 to the ongoing saga than the answers to all your questions. Furthermore, the plot boils down to going from one waypoint to another on your GPS, though occasionally, you need to explore the different caves to acquire the items necessary for further progress. For some, that may be underwhelming, especially considering the open-ended nature of some mysteries.

The characterization also leaves a bit to be desired – outside of some returning characters, there’s little known about Kelvin and Virginia beyond the personal bonds you forge with them. Some of the lore bits and notes are interesting as cover plans to turn the island into a resort emerge. Meanwhile, the maintenance workers and employees slowly discover the bodies on this supposed abandoned island. The main plot may as well be in the background during most moments (and isn’t that long if you know what to do).

"The longer you survive, the tougher the survival experience becomes. Mutants start to appear top-side while cannibals begin donning stronger armor."

While the game doesn’t restrict you from focusing on the narrative, mulling about and leveraging the survival crafting mechanics is another choice. It’s a potent combination that allows for being as hands-on with the story (such as it is) as you like – if you want to stay on the island, surviving its changing seasons and calmly build up a base, then go right ahead. There’s plenty of reason to follow the main story path and explore the various caves inhabiting the island, as they unlock tools that can benefit your crafting needs.

A rebreather for diving underwater and venturing deeper into caves where precious Solafite awaits. A pickaxe for mining said Solafite. A rope gun that allows for quickly zipping along lines and makes scaling cliffsides that much easier. Foldable gliders for more easily exploring the island. The list goes on, even if some items – like the putter and golf balls, guitar and radio – are more for fun than practicality.

It’s all up to you. Collect rainwater to serve as a fresh source of drinking water or live off of energy drinks. Kill animals and cook their meat to serve as a food source, or hoard MRE Packs for your sustenance. Just as you can build a house and bed to serve as a save point and means to pass the day, you can set up camp with little more than a stick and some tarp. Don’t do it on the road or nearby – enemies tend to patrol and will give you a rude awakening at night.

The longer you survive, the tougher the survival experience becomes. Mutants start to appear top-side while cannibals begin donning stronger armor. Camps for the latter slowly but surely blossom into settlements with more complex structures. Other random points of interest may spawn, like a PMC camp littered with bodies, but despite its open-world structure, Sons of the Forest isn’t jam-packed with these. It’s more like a twisted ecology that slowly but surely evolves, with its volatile elements slowly set to blow as you struggle to survive. How you prepare for that and manage aspects of your base-building, arsenal, and traversal is ultimately up to you.

"While the combat in Sons of the Forest doesn’t set the bar for the genre, its responsiveness and impact are still top-tier, whether it’s a shotgun blast sending an enemy flying or limbs coming undone from axe blows."

Enemy AI is a little odd sometimes, but it’s fascinating at others. Some of the locals are content with observing you before suddenly lashing out and will run away if you get too close or reposition. Other times, they may attack all at once just as easily as standing around while you line up a headshot. Some members of the pack have little issue with menacingly walking up. Still, they’re as dangerous as pitiable when begging for their lives.

The mutants are arguably a bigger threat – even the grunts can quickly overwhelm you if you’re not constantly on the move. It makes exploring the caverns much more harrowing, especially some of the more labyrinthine sections that go on seemingly forever. The maintenance hatches and bunkers aren’t quite as impressive but still offer their share of unique sights and dangers.

While the combat in Sons of the Forest doesn’t set the bar for the genre, its responsiveness and impact are still top-tier, whether it’s a shotgun blast sending an enemy flying or limbs coming undone from axe blows. The variety of weaponry and tools is also solid overall, which expands upon further exploration and experimentation with the materials in your pack.

I didn’t experiment too much with the new organic building system, sticking to the tried and true blueprint design instead. Still, it’s impressive how deep the tools can be when designing a house, especially if you decide to scare away enemies and lend a macabre air to your territory or create a launch pad for your hang-glider. Again, it’s to the game’s credit that it doesn’t tie you down with maintaining a base, but if you decide to focus on it, several systems are in place to make it more rewarding. Resource collection rarely feels like a chore, especially with Kelvin helping out.

"As odd as the narrative can feel, especially with its pay-off, the terror and abject horror at some monstrosities – especially those staring back in the mirror – remain as compelling as ever."

While performance on the higher end is reportedly not the best, I found Sons of the Forest to run decently on my ageing set-up at Medium quality (albeit with FSR 3.0 enabled). There was only one freeze leading to a restart and some issues where objects would clip through the world, but otherwise, I didn’t encounter any serious bugs. Your mileage may vary.

Still, the island is truly something to behold, whether witnessing the sunrise on the beach, frantically scrambling on a beach during a thunderstorm or watching the raccoons stand up on their hind legs. Snow piling up and parting is also an incredible detail to behold alongside the lighting and shadows.

Sons of the Forest won’t make the same novel impact as its predecessor when combining a compelling mystery and narrative with impressive survival crafting mechanics. Nevertheless, it does stand out as one of the better examples of the same, especially with how it expands on its predecessor with all kinds of new items and mechanics. As odd as the narrative can feel, especially with its pay-off, the terror and abject horror at some monstrosities – especially those staring back in the mirror – remain as compelling as ever.

This game was reviewed on PC.