How Scary is Sons of the Forest?

Survival horror isn’t a genre for everyone and The Forest sequel Sons of the Forest definitely is no different. Whether it’s the anxiety of starving to death before you can get to your next meal or having to fight for your life with unsightly monsters, Sons of the Forest prides itself on a number of different varieties of fears that can be terrifying to deal with. So how scary is Sons of the Forest?

Sons of the Forest is Significantly Scarier Than the Previous Game, and Offers a Wider Variety of Horrifying Enemy Designs

Those who have played The Forest know that the series has plenty of scary fight-for-your-life moments, but Sons of the Forest has upped the ante. Players will be dealing with cannibals, mutants, and monstrosities in dark environments and cavernous passages, dealing with fight or flight moments and plenty of eerie primal screams, grunts, and squelches in its sound design.

In broad daylight monsters and cannibals will still be somewhat frightening, as their impressive AI gives them a unique randomness on whether they will or won’t attack at any given moment. But at night, you’ll be dealing with these same entities with only the light of a campfire to illuminate their grotesque forms in the shadows just outside your camp, adding additional horror layers to any encounters. And when dealing with enemies in the poorly lit and echoing caves, players can get jump-scared pretty consistently, all while being able to hear an incoming monster without being able to place where they are. 

Some of the scariest enemies in the game include hideous figures like the fingers, which are humanoid torsos and legs with a large gaping mouth torn down the center of their bodies, or the twins, which are conjoined crawling monstrosities. And, while not as scary in concept, things like the mutant babies who fling themselves at players from afar can be just as terrifying to deal with. The game is filled with plenty of other grotesque body horror, so be warned that there are some heinous looking amalgamations of flesh and blood you’ll be dealing with.

We will note that while the game certainly pulls no punches at being scary, playing with friends can be a great way to mitigate the terror, as tackling these monsters with a team makes the game considerably easier. Also with more numbers it’s easier to light up a cave system with multiple torches or build the safety of a base much faster. Also, the addition of NPC Kelvin who can join you in building and fighting in single player, is certainly a comforting element of friendship for those tackling the game solo.

And that’s how scary the Sons of the Forest is.