These interactions with the world are the core of what drives The Forest’s survival gameplay. EndNight is taking extreme measures to ensure that your palms get sweaty during each encounter and that dealing with the threat is a matter of understanding that these enemies possess their own unique sets of behaviors and patterns that drive your interactions with them from your very first encounter.
“Investing in the cannibals’ believable emotional reactions has been a big focus of the A.I. Cannibals attempt to protect members of their family during combat, dragging downed comrades to a safe distance. So if they come across a slain family member, they may spend a moment mourning the loss, which has gameplay implications by giving the player a chance to sneak up on occupied enemies.”
This dynamic engagement with your enemies presents an interesting moral dilemma for players. Witnessing the care that the cannibals possess for one another may ultimately force you to question your methods and leave you wondering who the real enemy is.
“Cannibals that see a member of their tribe killed by the player will react differently depending on who was killed and in what manner. For example killing a female in front of a group of males is generally not a good idea. Cannibals that are slain in a particularly brutal manner may even freak everyone out causing them to flee temporarily.”
Witnessing the cannibals react to their fallen comrades will certainly force players to consider the cost of their survival and even directly impact the way they play. Are you going to actively hunt the cannibal threat down and slaughter them like cattle, or, will you simply play defense? EndNight has made it clear that at some point in the game they hope that players decide to make that switch from being the hunted into the hunter, but it’s a choice you’ll have to face as you find yourself confronted with life or death.
“There is a balance between survival and dealing with the cannibal threat. We want to give players as many options as possible to deal with the cannibals. Everything will come at a cost, though. You won’t always want to attack them straight on, you will be able to build traps and bombs. You can also sneak into the caves during the day to try and thin out their numbers.”
Whether you choose to explore the complex system of realistically modeled caves and eliminate every enemy (yes, there are a limited number of cannibals), or simply secure your perimeter with traps, EndNight is ensuring that the decision is yours to make.
Just make sure that you can survive the night when The Forest launches later this year.
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