During Thursday’s Horizon Forbidden West State of Play, 14 minutes of gameplay was shown of the sequel to 2017’s hit video game. The footage shown was captured through the PS5 version. Horizon Forbidden West is set 1000 years in Earth’s future after a global catastrophe ends life as we knew it. No longer the dominant species, humans must coexist with the new alpha species; the machines. In Forbidden West, 6 months after the events of Zero Dawn, a mysterious and deadly blight is running rampant through the world and it’s up to Aloy, with the help of her friends, to put a stop to it. To do so, they head west and search the ruins of the old world to uncover secrets to help her in her journey.
The footage shows Aloy traversing through a number of different settings new to the sequel, including jungles, beaches, and even oceans. We get a look at the new big bad; the Tenakth Tribe and their ‘Raiders’, as well as some new machines like the Tremortusk and the Clawstriders. The footage also shows us our first look at ruined San Francisco, including the run-down Golden Gate bridge and underwater ruins.
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The 14-minute clip showcased various facets of Horizon Forbidden West, such as stealth, combat, parkour, as well as the swimming mechanic, a feature added for the first time in the franchise. The journey west will equip Aloy with new tools to help her on her travels. The Pullcaster allows Aloy to climb and traverse quicker, as well as helping her quickly escape a tight bind. The Shieldwing acts as a parachute, allowing Aloy to safely glide down from great heights. She can even use it to drop down on unaware enemies. To go along with the brand new swimming feature, Aloy is equipped with a diving mask allowing her the time to be tactical and smart while traversing the depths. The Focus mechanic has received a huge upgrade, giving the ability to identify free-climbing walls and override new machines for combat or traveling purposes.
The combat system will rely heavily on tactics and gives the players a wide array of choices on how to carry out an attack. Forbidden West gives the player a large arsenal of weapons to use at their disposal, including a spear for combat up close and personal or a bow to take a ranged approach with specialized ammo, perfect for shredding machines of their armor and exposing weak spots. Adhesive explosives can be fired from slingshots to temporarily stagger enemies opening them up to harsher attacks. These weapons and more will all be upgradable at workbenches.
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Forbidden West adds to the roster of machines from the first game with the additions of the Sunwings flying up above, the previously mentioned Clawstriders and Tremortusks on land, and the Snapmaws and Burrowers in the water. More new machines will be revealed as new looks at the game are shown in the future.
The Horizon Forbidden West State of Play footage looks absolutely beautiful running on the PS5, and the game looks like an incredible and fun addition to the franchise. There was no release date given, but we got confirmation that the game would be coming to the PS4 as well as the PS5.
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