Endnight Games' original horror title, The Forest, was released back in 2018 for PC and PlayStation 4 after a four-year-long early access beta. The game was well-received, with players enjoying the classic tropes of the horror genre threaded through the survival game as the protagonist struggled to stay alive after being stranded in the wilderness. Now, Endnight has finally revealed the release date for the series' next installment, titled Sons of the Forest.
The second game in the franchise finally got a new trailer and a confirmed date of release for May 20, 2022, so players won't have that long to wait if they want to get their hands on the Sons of the Forest. Until this trailer released, not much was known about the game after it premiered during The Game Awards 2019. Fans of the original eagerly anticipated more news about the follow-up title, though, and after some initial delays, the released date was pushed back from 2021 to 2022. However, the confirmation that Sons of the Forest will be out in Q2 rather than later in the year will no doubt be a relief, as will the fact that fans finally know a good bit about what the title will have to offer.
The Story So Far
In The Forest, players controlled Eric LeBlanc, a survivor of a plane crash that leaves him stranded in a remote forest. He witnesses his son Timmy being carried off by a mysterious stranger and must spend the rest of the game trying to find him while simultaneously battling against both the environment and the less than friendly inhabitants. Players must hunt to survive, as well as construct shelters and gather materials from their surroundings to craft objects and structures, with a similar gameplay system to other single-player survival games like The Long Dark.
The plot revolves around a science facility and its research into an ancient artifact called the Resurrection Obelisk. After one of the scientists is driven mad by the accidental death of his daughter, he attempts to use Timmy as a child sacrifice in order to resurrect her using the mysterious relic. The mutated humanoid monsters that roam the forested peninsula are experiments of the facility, and the player must contend with them along with a cannibalistic tribe that lives among the isolated forests. With a day and night cycle reminiscent of Dying Light's mechanic, the mutants become more hostile as the night draws in. Although there were two possible endings to the original game, the probable canonical choice sees Timmy and Eric survive their horrific ordeal. An adult Timmy is later shown with maps to a location referred to as 'Site 2,' potentially hinting at another location to be explored.
What To Expect From Sons of the Forest
With several trailers released to date, players have started to piece together what they might be able to expect from Sons of the Forest. In terms of mechanics and gameplay, the sequel seems to be a fairly direct follow-on from The Forest. From a first-person perspective, players explore their environments and hunt animals to sustain themselves as they attempt to build up their inventories and craft a suitable shelter. Gamers start with basic shelters and work their up as they scavenge around for resources and materials, as well as facing down enemies and other threats.
However, players have to be careful not to become the ones who are being hunted, as there's more than just woodland animals out there. Like the first game, mutants are roaming the darkly atmospheric forests and murky depths of caves, with players able to explore both subterranean and surface areas in their search for supplies. Players will be able to utilize a number of different weapons in order to take out enemies, including an axe, a taser, a makeshift bow, and of course a range of guns.
A GPS device was shown in the second trailer released in December 2020 for players to help navigate their dangerous new environment, and fans also saw the helicopter crash that initially strands them in the forest. This trailer also showed the player exploring a cavernous area as the beam from a torch swept across the pale bodies of a group of mutants. Like the first game, they seem initially placid, hinting that there might be times of the day or different circumstances where the mutants will be hesitant to attack the player first. In addition to caves, the newest 2021 trailer shows a variety of different locations for players to explore, like a beach, a mountainous snowy region, the familiar sinister forests, and even modern building interiors. Gamers will be battling against changing weather conditions, challenging environments, and nightmarish creatures as they attempt to survive.
Additional Story Details
While there are still plenty of details that have yet to be revealed, players can pull together clues from the trailers that have already been released to speculate on what the story of Sons of the Forest might be. From what might be an opening cinematic, the player is traveling in a helicopter with several other individuals. There are what appear to be ration meal packs beneath the seat in front, and this combined with the protagonist's wrist tattoo that says 'Fight Demons' seems to hint at a level of preparedness – perhaps the main character is deliberately heading into the mutant-infested wilderness to tackle the problem.
A mysterious, multi-limbed woman has appeared in both of the last trailers, and in the most recent one, she is even seen helping the main character defend a shelter as she takes out more feral mutants with the help of a pistol in one hand and a shotgun in her other two. This potential new ally points at intriguing plot developments and may hint that the mutants are definitely more than they seem. Although it's unclear where exactly Sons of the Forest takes place, a hint in the most recent trailer could point to a possible location. The protagonist examines a leaflet at the site of another plane crash that advertises 'an exclusive luxury bunker community,' supposedly referencing the area in which they now find themselves.
With the player clearly exploring an abandoned house, arming themselves from a table of heavy-duty survivalist supplies, and glimpsing brightly-colored pool inflatables floating in an underground body of water infested by sharks, it's clear something bad has happened. In the recent trailer's final shots, a horrifying pile of crawling flesh can be glimpsed, looking like something David Cronenberg might have come up with. It appears to fire the carcasses of mutant babies at the player like some kind of possessed tennis ball machine, and two unidentified males fire upon it to help the protagonist. Although it's hard to tell if the younger man has a facial scar-like Timmy, it's possible the man yelling 'get down, son' at him could be an older Eric accompanying his son to put an end to the mutants once and for all. This is, of course, just speculation, but luckily fans won't have to wait too long to learn more.
Sons of the Forest releases May 20, 2022, on PC.