For those of you that are new to the website, I’ve spent 2018 ranking games for my “best of” end of the year ranking. With every review, the ranking is subject to change. What may end up being my “game of the year” this week, could easily change with the next review, and one other thing before the review officially starts is that it’s important to note that I try and write my reviews a little differently. With every game, I try and find a way to write an article in a creative way that mirrors the game. Some games are easier than others. With all of that being said, I hope you enjoy this week’s review!

I scratched and crawled towards him but I was too weak to stop it. 42 days, that’s how long it’s been since our plane went down. 42 days since that thing took Timmy into the darkness of the forest. I just keep telling myself that if he was strong enough to survive the crash, he’s strong enough to survive whatever is happening to him now.

Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one to walk away from the crash. Two others have joined me in an attempt to find my son. I quietly thank god for them every night before I attempt to sleep. If not for them, I don’t believe I would have survived the first few days that followed the crash and even if I had, the amount of time it would have taken me to acquire enough material confidently to go out on my own and find Timmy would have doubled and by then… by then I’m almost certain that my boy would be… well, I’m just thankful they’re here.

It didn’t take long for us to learn that we needed shelter. Preparation for our makeshift home was filled with trials and tribulations. Figuring out what worked best for us took time. Attempts to build in the trees seemed promising until they either evolved or showed us that there was more than just one type of them. Once we learned about the crawlers, we chopped down every tree we saw. Before we knew it, a large section of the forest lay bare and with their shelter now stripped away these once horrifying creatures were now something we could manage. Traps lined the walled off land we now called our own. As I think back to those days, perhaps we lost sight of what was most important. Perhaps we got so invested in conquering the monsters that harassed us that we forgot about Timmy.

It wasn’t until we began to find things hidden inside the caves that we regained focus. Every time we made our way down into the darkness of this new world we would come across something interesting: Timmy’s drawings, documents belonging to the people who found themselves lost in the forest well before us, and videotapes that gave us the explanations we sought. Once we had all of the information we needed, we prepared. We caught every fish, killed every deer, and collected as much water as we believed we would need for our journey.

It’s actually funny, after 42 days, the things that once scared us had merely become roadblocks to our end goal. Running across a series of creatures that once seemed too overwhelming were now just bags of meat meant to beat on until they stopped moving. Even when we did come across the occasional type that seemed new or rare, we just dispatched it like it was nothing. Everything had become easy. Everything started to make sense… until day 43. What we did on that was truly shocking. Was it worth it? I still don’t know.

Final Thoughts:

The Forest is easily one of the most terrifying games I’ve played since the release of Resident Evil 7, but unlike RE7, because of the nature of the genre, The Forest isn’t able to keep up with the scares. I continued waiting for more monster types to show up but the same waves of enemies continued appearing day after day and once enough traps were built and weapons were upgraded, they really did become pushovers. Thankfully though, the story that The Forest presents is really fun to discover and learn… when you can find it. Having the story hidden in caves that can sometimes be difficult to find is a bit problematic, but the hours of exploration that would come with discovering a new cave entrance more than made up for the frustration. Ultimately, The Forest is in my opinion head and shoulders above so many other modern-day survival games. If you love this genre, The Forest is absolutely a must play.

Final Score: 8.75 (Really, Really, Really Good)