Written by Kevin Kennedy, @thekevmiester

If you are a first person character in a video game, it might be a good idea to avoid riding on a plane, at least at the beginning of your game. Though much like Jack from Bioshock, it appears the main character from The Forest missed that memo.

Much like the massive slew of survival games that came about after Minecraft, this game is all about building shelters, hunting for food and fending off enemies. The game starts with a plane crash, and while you do survive, you wake to find your son kidnapped by the locals, whom are usually decked in white paint and sporting fashionable skulls.

Despite an opening that sets up a heroic quest to save your kidnapped son, The Forest is more of a social/survival simulator as you survive the elements and cope with the locals.

The controls mostly work fine, the inventory system can be a touch annoying as you’ll find yourself equipping items you didn’t mean to and switching between the lighter and torch can be a hassle, but other than that everything feels quite intuitive. While there is a tutorial in your survival book, for the most part it simply isn’t needed.

One of the default items is your axe, and without needing any instructions you’ll naturally find yourself chopping down trees for supplies and hunting in no time. Building structures is as easy as selecting it in your manual, placing the blueprint somewhere then simply dumping the supplies on top of it.

For extra points, you can even craft weapons from items in your inventory, allowing you to craft bows, arrows and spears, making combat and hunting much easier.

What’s most impressive about The Forest however is it’s intense atmosphere. You never feel truly at ease whilst going about your business. You’ll be chopping down trees when you suddenly hear strange metallic clanging behind you (play with headphones for extra spooks) or see strange shapes in the distance.

One time, I picked up a couple of logs when I turned to see three men and two women, twenty feet away, staring at me. They didn’t attack, though they did occasionally snarl, and eventually they simply walked away. While most of my confrontations weren’t nearly so peaceful, it’s clear that the local tribesmen, or cannibals as they are called in the forums, aren’t simplistic AI who attack on sight, but are instead curious, territorial, though oftentimes aggressive survivors who are just trying to get by, as you are, and may see you as a threat.

After being chased away from my cabin one time, I returned to find charming effigies on my front garden, mostly consisting of severed heads on sticks. It’s almost as if they are trying to communicate yet lack the linguistic skills to do so.

Jumping into this bizarre world with a limited supply of provisions and a survival manual is a great touch. There are no overbearing waypoints, quest markers or even a map to speak of and while the game is, of course, still in early development, I really hope that the game maintains this level of mystique and foreboding as production continues.

There’s a fine line between simply telling the player what to do and keeping things too vague and that balance is mostly achieved here (though the idea that his survival book details sacrificial effigies from the get go is rather strange). I just hope that when the final product comes around, our son isn’t under a giant arrow that we simply follow.

While there is much to admire in The Forest, the simple fact is that there isn’t much going on. I’ve currently been playing the game for five hours now and feel I’ve pretty much exhausted all there is to do.

With no real objectives to speak of, your only option is just to build defenses and avoid contact with the cannibals, as exploration usually results in more combat. Though with no goals to accomplish, it starts to feel somewhat pointless after a bit. It’s not as if you can get your creative juices flowing by designing new shelters as they all come pre-made, all you have to do is get the supplies.

I truly look foreword to a more polished, less glitch filled game in which you have to find clues as to the whereabouts of your son whilst surviving the elements. While there is clearly much more to come as updates seem to be very regular, I’d still say this game is worth picking up, especially if it’s on sale.

Despite jumping into the same paddling pool as many other Minecraft inspired games, there is enough atmosphere and intrigue here to help it stand out from the rest. My mouth is watering at the prospect of what the finished product could be.

The Final Word: Even though The Forest is missing some features and can be a touch on the buggy side, this survival horror game has enough tension and atmosphere to make it worth a look.