The Forest (video game)

The Forest
Developer(s) Endnight Games
Publisher(s) Endnight Games
Composer(s) Gabe Castro
Engine Unity
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 (TBR)
Release date(s) May 30, 2014 (pre-alpha version)
Genre(s) Sandbox, Survival horror
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

The Forest is a first-person open world-survival horror video game developed by Canadian company Endnight Games for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4. The game's pre-alpha version was released through Steam Early Access on May 30, 2014. The game takes place on a heavily forested island where the player character and a young child presumed to be the player's son are the survivors of a plane crash. The game is an open world sandbox, with no set missions or quests, empowering the player to make their own decisions for survival. Early reviews for the pre-alpha version were highly positive.[1][2] The alpha is currently in a playable state with additional gameplay features planned and in development.

Gameplay

The player is empowered to explore the open-world environment in search of resources for their survival. (In-game screenshot)

In The Forest, the player must survive on a forested island after a plane crash during which mutants are seen taking the player's son away. The player survives by creating shelter, weapons, and other survival tools. Inhabiting the island, along with various woodland creatures, are a tribe of nocturnal, cannibalistic mutants who dwell in deep caves beneath the island. While they are not necessarily always hostile to the player, their usual behavior is aggressive, especially during the night.[3] However, the developers want players to question whether the island's cannibalistic tribe is the enemy of the player, or vice versa.[3] For example, when first encountering the player, the cannibals may hesitate to attack and instead observe the player from a distance, attempt to communicate with the player through effigies, and send patrols around the player's base camp. In combat, they regularly attempt to protect one another from injury, remove torches, surround the player, hide behind cover, drag wounded tribesmen to safety, keep their distance, use tactical decisions, not overextend into unknown territory, and occasionally surrender out of fear. They are also afraid of fire, and will refrain from approaching the player if there is a campfire or torch nearby. Though there are no set missions, there will be an optional conclusion to the game.[4]

The game features a day/night cycle, with the player able to build a shelter and traps, hunt animals and collect supplies during the day, and defend themselves against the mutants by night.[5]

Development

The Forest was inspired by cult films such as The Descent and Cannibal Holocaust and video games like Minecraft and Don't Starve,[5][6] and was accepted as part of Steam Greenlight in 2013.[7] Developers Endnight Games have said that Disney was an inspiration for the game, commenting that they do not want the whole game to be entirely "dark and depressing."[5] The game is being developed to be compatible with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.[8] The development team is considering a multiplayer mode, and have said that a co-op mode could add to the sense of randomness in the game, though they wish to stay away from the massive multiplayer feel of DayZ or Rust.[4][5]

The development team has a background in film visual effects, having worked on films such as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Tron: Legacy. The game has currently been developed using Unity 4[9] although on March 17, 2015 it was announced that the game would be moved to Unity 5 on the next release.

On November 10, 2014, a patch was released on Steam for The Forest that allowed multiplayer; however, the developers stated that this is their first pass at implementing multi-player into the game, so bugs and glitches are to be expected. As of the latest Alpha version, there is full integration of Steam to play online and online playing is continuously worked on by the developers. Multiplayer currently supports 2-8 players. On December 6, 2014, it has been announced that The Forest is coming to the PlayStation 4. There are unknown features of multi-player for the PlayStation 4, and has yet to be announced, but will most likely use PlayStation Network's services.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jeffrey Matulef (8 May 2013). "First-person open-world survival horror game The Forest looks brilliant • Eurogamer.net". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  2. ↑ "The Forest early look: scavenging and survival in a land of clever cannibals - PC Gamer". PC Gamer. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  3. 1 2 Savage, Phil (28 May 2013). "The Forest interview: survival, horror and the VR wilderness". PC Gamer. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  4. 1 2 Matulef, Jeffrey (13 January 2014). "Ambitious open-world horror game The Forest detailed". Eurogamer. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Robertson, John (29 January 2014). "The Forest: survival, horror and the guilt of killing – interview". VG247. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  6. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (8 May 2013). "First-person open-world survival horror game The Forest looks brilliant". Eurogamer. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Savage, Phil (11 November 2013). "The Forest trailer shows continued survival, panicked combat and questionable effigies". PC Gamer. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  8. ↑ Hinkle, David (24 January 2014). "Explore virtual reality horror game The Forest in new screens". Joystiq. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  9. ↑ Nunneley, Stephany (25 March 2014). "The Forest looks creepier with every set of screenshots released". VG247. Retrieved 26 March 2014.

External links

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