Can you survive The Forest?

It's hard to nail a survival horror game. The problem is that there's usually not enough of the survival or horror elements present. Thankfully, I think the solution to our survival horror woes is on the horizon.

The Forest (trailer below) is a first-person survival horror game on Steam Greenlight. You play as the lone survivor of a plane crash, stranded in a mysterious forest. It plays out like Tom Hanks in Castaway, as you chop down trees, start fires, build shelter, scavenge food and grow your own food. But mother nature isn't the only thing you'll have to survive against…

There's a society of cannibalistic mutants that inhabit the island. And they want you.

Key features of The Forest include:

• The world: Enter a living, breathing forest with changing weather patterns, plants that grow and die. Tides that roll in and out with the day/night cycle. Below ground explore a vast network of caves and underground lakes.
• Complete player freedom: Chop down trees to build a camp, or start a fire to keep warm. Scavenge food to keep yourself from starving. Find and plant seeds to grow food. Build a small shelter or a large ocean side fortress. Decorate your home with found items. Lay traps and defenses to keep a safe perimeter.
• Gameplay: Explore and build during the day. Defend your base at night. Craft weapons and tools. Bunker down during the evening or bring the fight directly to the enemy.
• Fight or hide: Use stealth to evade enemies, or engage them directly with crude weapons built from sticks and stones.
• A new type of open-world, survival horror experience: Defend yourself against a clan of genetic mutant enemies that have beliefs, families, morals and that appear almost human.
• Full VR experience: Support for the Occulus Rift VR headset for the most immersive experience possible.

It sounds a lot like Minecraft, as far as using the environment and building is concerned. Pacing seems to revolve around building and setting up your defenses during the day, and then defending at night. To put it simply, the concept and gameplay sounds really exciting.  Definitely keep an eye out for this one. If you want to support the game on Steam Greenlight, you can do so below.

You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at LLiebl@GameZone.com