Sons of the Forest

 PC
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Shacknews
    Mar 8, 2024
    60
    Unfortunately, Sons of the Forest doesn’t quite manage to bring all of its elements together in a tidy package. While the building, crafting, and survival elements are neat, they’re not intertwined with the story, with both feeling like they’re completely separate ideas. Even the story seems unsure of what it wants to be, with odd pacing and poor audio design. I feel that fans of the original Forest game will relish the experience on offer here, but for everyone else, there are far better survival games out there.
This publication does not provide a score for their reviews.
This publication has not posted a final review score yet.
These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation.

In Progress & Unscored

?
  1. Destructoid
    Feb 28, 2023
    There’s still some work to do, and I have a laundry list of things I want to see, but I have zero regrets about binging the whole thing over a single weekend. [Early Access Review]
  2. GameSpace
    Mar 9, 2023
    Despite the bugs and crashes, incomprehensible mechanics and the complete emptiness of the island, there is something to like in Sons Of The Forest. The best part of this game, as weird as it sounds, is the forest itself and what they did to the game's visuals. [Early Access Provisional Score = 75]
  3. PCGamesN
    Feb 28, 2023
    Sons of the Forest is an utterly engrossing game, and in losing myself in it, hours went by as I explored. For me, the main concerns are in content density, lack of direction, and a lingering feeling of being unfinished which, to be fair, is totally understandable from an early-access title. The building is a little clunky. There are visual issues with certain animations. It’s also given way to many hilarious glitches, including a physics issue that launched my character into the sky while chopping down a tree. If you can tolerate these issues, it’s absolutely still worth playing. [Review in Progress]
  5. Polygon
    Mar 1, 2023
    It’s too early to say whether Sons of the Forest’s new flavors will be enough for the experience to stand out from its predecessor in the long run. So far, it’s less of a puzzle box I want to unravel, and more of a pit that I’ve fallen into. But I’m not desperately trying to crawl my way out just yet. I’m eager to continue learning more about this world. Even if it means losing a piece of my own humanity each time I abide by its rules. [Early Access Impressions]
  6. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Mar 1, 2023
    Familiarity is the fear killer, and there are only so many caves you can crawl through before the monsters become obstacles to sprint past rather than terrors to flee from. If I’d been able to explore more naturally without the threat of excessive backtracking, maybe I’d have shifted to that mindset a little later on - though I still spent many hours quivering through the dark. Creating a Forest that can go toe to toe with Subanutica’s Ocean when it comes to dread is a huge accomplishment, even if the full package still has some leaks.