Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. A sequel to 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn, the game is set in a post-apocalyptic version of the Western United States recovering from the aftermath of an extinction event caused by a rogue robot swarm. The player can explore the open world and complete quests using ranged and melee against hostile machine creatures.

Horizon Forbidden West
Developer(s)Guerrilla Games
Publisher(s)Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)Mathijs de Jonge
Producer(s)Joel Eschler
Programmer(s)Michiel van der Leeuw
Artist(s)
  • Jan-Bart van Beek
  • Misja Baas
Writer(s)Ben McCaw
Composer(s)
EngineDecima
Platform(s)
Release18 February 2022
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Horizon Forbidden West was released on 18 February 2022 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and received generally favorable reviews.

Gameplay

Horizon Forbidden West is an action-adventure game with RPG elements played from a third-person perspective. The player controls Aloy, a hunter in a world populated by dangerous, animalistic machines. In an open world, she explores the mysterious frontier known as the Forbidden West, a post-apocalyptic version of the Western United States, specifically the states of California, Nevada, and Utah.[1] The map is larger than in the previous game.[2][3] Exploration is improved with new underwater exploration,[4][5] and improvements to traversal using the Valor Surge system, freeform climbing, and tools such as the Shieldwing, Focus Scanner, Diving Mask, and Pullcaster.[6] The mission structure for quests better supports variety in objectives with compelling reward systems.[7]

Synopsis

Setting

Horizon Forbidden West continues the story of Aloy, a young hunter of the Nora tribe, as she leads a band of companions on a quest to the arcane frontier known as the Forbidden West to find the source of a mysterious plague that kills all it infects. On her journey across these uncharted lands, Aloy encounters new regions ravaged by massive storms and deadly machines, and conflicts with a tribe of nomadic raiders who have tamed the machines as war mounts. She discovers a vast array of environments and ecosystems, including lush valleys, dry deserts, snowy mountains, tropical beaches, ruined cities, and underwater settings.[8]

Plot

Six months after the defeat of HADES, Aloy searches for a backup of GAIA to reverse the planet's degrading biosphere. Aloy and her friend Varl search a facility once belonging to Far Zenith, a company specializing in space colonization; they find a GAIA backup, but it has been sabotaged. Sylens contacts Aloy, having stolen GAIA's subsystem HADES, and asks to meet her in the Forbidden West region.

Crossing into the Forbidden West, Aloy finds the ruling Tenakth tribe are in the midst of a civil war between Chief Hekarro, who advocates peace with the Carja, and the rebel leader Regalla, who wishes to continue the war against them. Aloy tracks Sylens to a facility where she finds HADES badly damaged, and permanently deletes it. She recovers a GAIA backup that is missing its subordinate functions, and resolves to restore it. A group of humans arrive, exhibiting futuristic technology that grant them invulnerability, consisting of their leader Gerard, his lieutenant Tilda, enforcer Erik, and a clone of Elisabet Sobeck named Beta. They take a second GAIA backup, while Aloy escapes them.

Varl reunites with Aloy and takes her to the Utaru tribe. A member named Zo guides Aloy to a control center where GAIA's subsystem MINERVA has hidden itself. Aloy rejoins MINERVA with GAIA, who locates the other subsystems AETHER, DEMETER, and POSEIDON. GAIA advises Aloy to retrieve them before attempting to capture the more advanced HEPHAESTUS. GAIA also reveals the extinction signal that triggered HADES originated from the Sirius system; Aloy suspects that it was sent by the futuristic humans.

Aloy recovers AETHER after helping Hekarro advance in the war. She later tracks down Beta, who informs Aloy that Far Zenith has since acquired subsystems ELEUTHIA, ARTEMIS, and APOLLO, but she has stolen their GAIA backup. She reveals that the humans are colonists who fled Earth during its global extinction, having managed to extend their natural lifespans. After their colony on Sirius collapsed, the humans returned to Earth to use GAIA through Beta's genetic make-up for their own recolonization.

In Las Vegas, Aloy retrieves POSEIDON, before journeying to California to find DEMETER. She encounters the Quen, a foreign tribe who are attempting to solve ecological crises in their homeland. Aloy helps tribe member Alva with acquiring data, while recovering DEMETER. GAIA devises a way to capture HEPHAESTUS, but requires Ted Faro's access code. Aloy and Quen leader Ceo travel to San Francisco and enter Faro's bunker. They discover that Faro has kept himself alive for the past millennium using gene therapy, but has severely mutated. Ceo orders his men to kill Faro, which triggers a failsafe that destroys the bunker; Aloy and Alva escape, while Ceo is killed.

With Ted's clearance, Aloy uses GAIA to trap HEPHAESTUS, but Far Zenith arrives. Erik kills Varl and recaptures Beta while Gerard steals GAIA, but Tilda helps Aloy escape. Tilda explains that she was close friends with Elisabet and, having been inspired by Aloy, wishes to stop Far Zenith. She further reveals that Sylens has been supporting the Tenakth rebels to use them against Far Zenith. Aloy refuses to sacrifice the Tenakth and resolves to defeat Regalla herself; she thwarts Regalla's attack on Hekarro and chooses to either execute or persuade Regalla to join her.

Aloy and her companions assault Far Zenith's base, with Regalla (if spared) sacrificing herself. Beta releases HEPHAESTUS into Far Zenith's network, allowing it to manufacture machines that attack Far Zenith's army. Sylens disables Far Zenith's personal defences, allowing Aloy and Zo to kill Erik, while Tilda kills Gerard. Aloy and Beta learn that the Far Zenith colony was destroyed by Nemesis, a failed mind-uploading experiment they created; Far Zenith fled from Nemesis and hoped to steal GAIA to colonize a new planet. Nemesis also sent the extinction signal to Earth, and is en route to destroy the planet. Tilda tries to force Aloy to escape with her, but Aloy refuses and is forced to kill Tilda. Sylens reveals that HADES told him about Nemesis, and plans to escape Earth, but has a change of heart and decides to aid Aloy against Nemesis. Aloy's companions disperse to spread the warning of Nemesis, while Aloy and Beta reactivate GAIA.

Development

Horizon Forbidden West is a sequel to 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn.[9] It was developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.[9][10] The director is Mathijs de Jonge and the narrative director is Benjamin McCaw.[11] Joris de Man, The Flight (composed of Joe Henson and Alexis Smith), and Niels van de Leest return to compose an original score for the game alongside Oleksa Lozowchuk.[12] Ashly Burch, Lance Reddick, and John Hopkins reprise their roles as Aloy, Sylens, and Erend, respectively.[13][14] Angela Bassett plays a new character named Regalla, and Carrie-Anne Moss plays Tilda.[15] Using motion capturing, Aloy's motions were acted by Peggy Vrijens.[16]

The PlayStation 5's increased processing power, custom solid state drive storage, Tempest Engine, and DualSense controller provides the game with advanced haptic feedback, 3D spatial audio, enhanced lighting, special water rendering, improved visual effects, and reduced loading times.[17][18][19] This version has an optional "performance mode" at 60 frames per second with a lower base resolution,[20] and an updated version of the Decima engine supporting high dynamic range.[21]

Release

Horizon Forbidden West was announced during Sony's PlayStation 5 reveal event in June 2020 with a planned release in 2021.[9][22][23] On 27 May 2021, Guerrilla Games showcased a 14-minute PlayStation 5 gameplay demo for the game in Sony's State of Play presentation.[21] In June 2021, head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst said they were on track for a late 2021 release but development was being partly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as they were having trouble getting access to performance capture and talent.[24] On 25 August 2021 it was announced that its release had been delayed to 18 February 2022.[25] The game had "gone gold" on 27 January 2022 according to Guerilla Games, meaning that physical copies were ready to be produced, with any further development delivered through online software updates.[26]

The PlayStation 4 version can be freely upgraded to the PlayStation 5 version.[27][28] The PlayStation 4 version comes on two Blu-ray discs using 97GB, and the PlayStation 5 version comes on one Ultra HD Blu-ray using 98GB.[29]

A comic book series, set after the events of the first game, was published by Titan Comics on 5 August 2020.[30] On 3 June 2021, Guerilla released an extended play (EP) titled The Isle of Spires composed of four tracks.[12] On 16 February 2022, Argentine singer Nathy Peluso released "Emergencia", an electronic single inspired by the video game. In the music video, Peluso takes on the role of Aloy.[31]

Reception

Horizon Forbidden West received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[32][33] Critics disagreed about the impact of the expanded scale of the game's map, story, and missions.[48][49] In a review published by Wired, Swapna Krishna praised Horizon Forbidden West as a successful open world game and as a manageable alternative to the less forgiving gameplay of The Witcher 3.[48] However, in a mixed review for The Telegraph, Dan Silver characterized the game's open world and scale as "overwhelming".[49] In a separate review published by NPR, Krishna compared the game favorably to the first in the series, writing that it "continues the achievements of its predecessor" while "seeking to improve upon them in every way".[50] Jason Schreier, in a review for Bloomberg, echoed this sentiment, writing "The mantra for Horizon Forbidden West's development appears to be: make everything bigger, better and more beautiful."[51]

Some critics noted technical issues at launch, ranging from minor graphical issues, to crashes and losses of save files.[51][52]

Sales

In the U.K, Forbidden West was the best selling game digitally during the week of release. At least 49% of all sales in the U.K were made digitally.[53] In Germany, over 200,000 copies of the game were sold during its launch month.[54] The PlayStation 4 version of Horizon Forbidden West was the third bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 48,476 physical copies being sold. The PlayStation 5 version sold 43,012 physical copies in Japan throughout the same week, making it the fourth bestselling retail game of the week in the country.[55]

References
  1. Singh, Surej (31 July 2020). "New explorable regions in 'Horizon Forbidden West' revealed". NME. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  2. Woo, Ginny; Gurwin, Gabe (11 June 2020). "Horizon: Forbidden West Confirmed At PS5 Reveal Event". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  3. Avard, Alex; Sheridan, Connor (11 June 2020). "Horizon Forbidden West is the Zero Dawn sequel and it's headed to PS5". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  4. Crouse, Megan (16 June 2020). "Horizon Forbidden West: 7 Things We Want to See in the PS5 Game". Den of Geek. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  5. Gartenberg, Chaim (17 June 2020). "Horizon Forbidden West aiming for a 2021 launch on PS5". The Verge. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  6. Gingerich, Megan (4 June 2021). "Horizon Forbidden West: All Combat and Traversal Improvements Shown in the Recent Trailer". GameRant. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  7. Sinha, Ravi (7 January 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West – Improved Cinematics, More Rewarding Side Quests, and More Detailed". GamingBolt. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  8. Clark, Nicole (19 January 2022). "In Horizon Forbidden West, Aloy and her friends 'save a dying planet'". Polygon. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  9. Dornbush, Jonathon (11 June 2020). "Horizon 2: Forbidden West Announced for PS5". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  10. Bonifacic, Igor (16 September 2020). "'Horizon Forbidden West' is also coming to PS4". Engadget. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  11. Jonathon, Dornbush (3 June 2021). "Horizon Forbidden West: New Details on Free Climbing, Combat Revealed". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  12. McAllister, Gillen (3 June 2021). "The music of Horizon Forbidden West: meet the composers". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  13. Sarkar, Samit (11 June 2020). "Horizon Forbidden West announced for PS5". Polygon. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  14. Horizon Forbidden West - State of Play Gameplay Reveal | PS5. PlayStation. 27 May 2021. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022 – via YouTube.
  15. Wallace, Kimberley (19 January 2022). "Breaking Down The New Horizon Forbidden West Trailer With Guerrilla Games". Game Informer. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  16. Schmid, Timo (22 February 2022). "Peggy Vrijens hoofdpersoon in wereldberoemde game". 1Limburg (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  17. Riley, Sean (14 June 2020). "Horizon: Forbidden West release date, gameplay, story and more". Laptop Mag. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  18. Wood, Chandler (20 August 2020). "Developers Detail Unique Ways They Are Using the PS5 DualSense Controller's Adaptive Triggers and Haptic Feedback". Playstation Lifestyle. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  19. Barker, Sammy (18 June 2020). "PS5 Will Ensure There's Virtually No Loading Screens in Horizon Forbidden West". PushSquare. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  20. Sheridan, Connor (3 June 2021). "Horizon Forbidden West 60 FPS Performance Mode confirmed for PS5". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  21. Kat, Alex (27 May 2021). "Horizon Forbidden West State of Play: Lots of New Gameplay, But No Release Date Yet". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  22. Horizon Forbidden West - Guerrilla Talks | PS5. PlayStation. 17 June 2020. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022 – via YouTube.
  23. Statt, Nick (9 November 2020). "Sony clarifies when to expect some of the PS5's biggest 2021 games". The Verge. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  24. Shuman, Sid (2 June 2021). "Hermen Hulst Q&A: What's Next for PlayStation Studios". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  25. Sarkar, Samit (25 August 2021). "Horizon Forbidden West launching in February 2022". Polygon. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  26. Smets, Angie (27 January 2022). "Guerrilla celebrates the game going gold with a first look at gameplay on the PS4 Pro console". PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  27. "UPDATE: Pre-order Horizon Forbidden West now: Collector's and Digital Deluxe Editions detailed". PlayStation.Blog. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  28. Reed, Chris (2 September 2021). "Horizon Forbidden West: Here's What Comes in Each Edition". IGN. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  29. Bains, Callum (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West is so large it needs two discs on PS4". TechRadar. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  30. Robinson, Andy (21 May 2020). "Horizon Zero Dawn's sequel comic will now release in August". Video Games Chronicle. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  31. "Nathy Peluso lanza "Emergencia", en asociación con PlayStation". CNN (in Spanish). 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  32. "Horizon Forbidden West for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  33. "Horizon Forbidden West for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  34. Carter, Chris (14 February 2022). "Review: Horizon Forbidden West". Destructoid. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  35. Jones, Brandon (14 February 2022). "Review: Horizon Forbidden West". Easy Allies. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  36. Harmon, Josh (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West review". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  37. Wallace, Kimberly (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West Review – Leaping To Greater Heights". Game Informer. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  38. Faulkner, Jason (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West Review: 'An Early Contender for Game of the Year'". GameRevolution. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  39. Hornshaw, Phil (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West Review - Squad Goals". GameSpot. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  40. Loveridge, Same (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West Review: "Nothing Short Of Phenomenal"". GamesRadar. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  41. Dunsmore, Kevin (14 February 2022). "Review: Horizon Forbidden West". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  42. Cardy, Simon (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West Review". IGN. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  43. Tailby, Stephen (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West Review (PS5)". Push Square. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  44. Lavoy, Bill (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West review: Big machine". Shacknews. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  45. MacDonald, Keza (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West review – an eccentric adventure with robot dinosaurs". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  46. Peppiatt, Dom (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West review: Another beautiful string to Aloy's bow, despite some open world drawbacks". VG247. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  47. Wise, Josh (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  48. Krishna, Swapna (23 February 2022). "'Horizon Forbidden West' Does Open Worlds Right". Wired. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  49. Silver, Dan (14 February 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West review: machine-busting action RPG ramps up the scale for sprawling sequel". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  50. Krishna, Swapna (16 February 2022). "Review: 'Horizon Forbidden West' brings a personal saga to a primal post-apocalypse". NPR. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  51. Schreier, Jason (14 February 2022). "Sony's Horizon Forbidden West Is a Worthy PlayStation Sequel". Bloomberg. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  52. Frisch, Benjamin (14 February 2022). "This New Game Is So Good, It's Worth Buying a Whole System Just to Play It". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  53. "Almost Half of Horizon: Forbidden West Sales in UK Were Digital". 25 February 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  54. "Aus der Zwischenwelt in den Verbotenen Westen: Die game Sales Awards im Februar" (in German). 17 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  55. Romano, Sal (24 February 2022). "Famitsu Sales: 2/14/22 – 2/20/22 [Update]". Gematsu. Retrieved 7 April 2022.

Official website

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.