Highlights
- Sons of The Forest, a survival game with horror elements, is set to have its full release in the near future, making it a great time for both new and early-access players to check out the game.
- The game has gone through numerous changes and improvements during its early access period, particularly in multiplayer, with updates such as player-count difficulty scaling and dedicated servers.
- While the game's storyline has seen additions, it can still be confusing, so it is recommended that players experience the prequel's story before diving into Sons of The Forest. Additionally, the combat and building mechanics have seen significant enhancements, providing more challenge and variety for players.
Endnight Games’ Sons of The Forest was first released in February 2023, albeit in an early access development state. The game had a complete storyline at the time, but it was meanwhile lacking several much-needed features and quality-of-life improvements. Assuming the current release window is a realistic deadline, anyone who played Sons Of The Forest during its early days, as well as new players looking for a survival game with horror elements should check the game’s full release in the near future.
Leading up to Sons Of The Forest’s expected release date sometime between August and October 2023, the game has changed a lot throughout its early access period. At the same time, Sons Of The Forest still has a few kinks to iron out, so it may arrive at the latter half of its expected release date window. it‘s also worth noting that Sons Of The Forest's expected release date hasn’t been discussed since the game was released in early access, so it’s also entirely possible that the game will be delayed again as the date draws nearer.
The Biggest Changes Since Sons Of The Forest’s Early Access Release
Even though Sons Of The Forest saw a considerably high player count upon its early access release and maintained a fair amount of players throughout, the upcoming full release is arguably going to be a great time to hop into the game, especially in multiplayer. Sons Of The Forest’s early access updates have done a lot to improve the multiplayer experience of the game, namely including player-count difficulty scaling and the implementation of dedicated servers.
There haven’t been too many new tools or weapons added to the game since early access, so Sons Of The Forest’s shotgun still remains the go-to weapon, even after recently getting nerfed. The shotgun and the other firearms are particularly helpful because several new bosses, mini-bosses, and cave systems have been added to the game, mainly surrounding the scripted story events. Not to mention, the overall enemy AI has seen plenty of improvements and new functionality that make for an incredibly immersive and difficult atmosphere.
Even after the latest additions to the story of Sons Of The Forest, it can still be plenty confusing at points. For this reason, it’s recommended that players experience the prequel’s story before hopping into Sons Of The Forest. Especially while there’s still time before the sequel’s full release arrives, it could be a great time to gather a group of friends to play both games in order.
On the topic of enemies in Sons Of The Forest, the overall combat has seen an increase in difficulty, but this buff also applies to players. The game can be extremely difficult in the beginning moments when players are trying to settle themselves into a fortified base and gather weaponry and armor in Sons Of The Forest, but the difficulty curve generally balances out after this point.
One of the most notable additions to the game that shows a major difference from the prequel is the new vehicles in Sons Of The Forest. Originally, Sons Of The Forest only had sleds that players could use to navigate downhill faster, or ziplines to cross large distances. By now there are a few motor vehicles as well as hang gliders that players can use to navigate around much faster than walking or swimming everywhere.
The building mechanics in Sons Of The Forest are still the same slow process, except the newer building options provide a lot of variety and utility. One of the biggest changes to the building system has been the ability to build with large stones, which makes incredibly resilient structures. Although it has limited functionality at the moment, players can add electricity to their buildings via solar panels. There have also been many new styles of traps added for players to use against both intruders and wildlife, which makes building all the more worthwhile despite how slow it can be.
Sons of the Forest is out now in early access for PC.