The Forest - PC game review

---SPOILERS---

If you're looking for a game that will let you live out your fantasy of being an adventurer, traversing a breathtaking landscape, living off the land and assembling mutated body parts into a festive wreath and then setting it on fire, look no further!

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/242760/The_Forest/)

My brother bought me The Forest on Steam a year or so ago, knowing my love for horror, gaming and generally wasting my life away. When I first tried to play it I ragequit almost straight away and didn't pick it up again til a few months ago. I think I hated it at first because it was hard, but also just really fucking scary! I've also gotten so used to playing on PS4 that using a laptop was too hard for me (I like being able to lie down while I game, I'm just that lazy)

Flash-forward to now, and this game has ruined my already wracked nervous system and given me a newfound appreciation for the little things in life (fresh water, fire-roasted meals and hand-crafted, artisanal weaponry). I have never been so startled by inanimate objects seen out of the corner of my eye; convinced they are enemies disguised as mutilated tree-trunks. I love it!

(https://www.vg247.com/2014/03/25/the-forest-looks-creepier-with-every-set-of-screenshots-released/)

The caves! Holy hell. There's another world underneath you, if you can find it. I spend most of my time in The Forest looking for suspicious rocks which may house secret cave openings (ayyyy). Once you get in there, you're basically blind, even with the brightness turned up to 100% and a torch in hand. There are dozens of entrances scattered around the map, some of them incredibly hard to find. You traverse down a rope and are faced with an endless, pitch-black labyrinth filled with an array of different creatures, supplies and general hazards. There are pools of water, some of which are so deep you need a breathing apparatus to dive into them.

The storyline (which I still haven't finished) seems interesting: you're stranded on an island after a plane crash and you need to find this little boy Timmy who you were with on the flight (I'm assuming, I wasn't really paying attention). Common sense tells me Timmy is fucking finished, but the game tries to get me to stick to the plan by giving me an 'achievement' when I finish building my base: "You Should Be Looking For Timmy".

I love games with a good crafting element, and The Forest definitely delivers that. You can make arrows with sticks and feathers (a LOT of dead birds), cook food on a fire from slaughtered animals (or humanoids) or eat berries/mushrooms/fish/whatever you can find scattered around the landscape. The best part is finding old weapon parts in little mounds that you have to blow up with dynamite (I still haven't found them all, but I have heard rumours of a flamethrower!)

Oh also, some of the creatures are legit fucking terrifying in a Silent Hill kinda way. My favourites are these Mutant Babies:

(https://theforest.gamepedia.com/The_Forest_Wiki)

They crawl towards you when you're in the presence of these huge motherfuckers:

(https://theforest.gamepedia.com/The_Forest_Wiki)

The babies screech when they're near you and make a very satisfying sound when they die, like a deflating balloon filled with the screams of children. Fabulous.

I can't really concentrate any more cos all I want to do is go home and play this game (I took a bit of a break as it was really fucking with my nerves, making me literally jump at every sudden movement) so I'll stop here. I'm pretty sure the game is still in early-access, so I'm sure I'll come back to this "review". So far I give it 9/10 severed arms.

25/2/19

Okay so I just finished the story for this game and I am ruined. The lab at the end with the mutated bodies fused to the walls and bulging out of rooms was just... and then my kid started having a seizure? I really want a sequel, like, now. But this game is still in early release :')

Yeah I'm fully addicted and definitely recommend this game if you like ruining your life. I finished it in 40 hours, but it felt so much longer... and yet not long enough.

#horror #horrorgaming #theforest