It’s official. A sequel to 2017’s PlayStation exclusive hit Horizon Zero Dawn will be making it’s way to the next generation of PlayStation console. The announcement of Horizon Forbidden West came as a bit of a surprise, even though I was kind of expecting it.
Over 3 minutes of absolutely gorgeous next-gen footage was shown of Horizon Forbidden West. In the opening minute or so fo the trailer, Aloy is riding through a sandy looking area with plants and animal life on the back of what looks like a Charger Machine.
The Forbidden West was mentioned in Horizon Zero Dawn as an uncharted and dangerous region by the Carja Tribe. [Horizon Wiki] The Forbidden West is an area west of the Daunt, another area the was mentioned only. It is possible that the Daunt could be an area we visit in Horizon Forbidden West.
The trailer also shows Aloy tending to a sick animal and holding dead or dying plantlife as she mentions a new danger which will only get worse “until it destroys us all.” Could this be a return of the Faro Plague? or a new threat? In the lore of Horizon Zero Dawn, the Faro Plague remains deactivated, so it could be that the Faro Plague gets reactivated. And this is the danger that Aloy must now stop.
Horizon Forbidden West Machines
The trailer also shows some new machines including a giant Turtle looking machine a shown above. The trailer also shows that there will be new human enemies and new tribes for Aloy to interact with.
The Horizon Forbidden West trailer also shows the return of Sylens (voiced by Lance Reddick) from the first game.
New regions to explore
The trailer reveals some of the environments and regions which will feature in Forbidden West. Environments include lush areas filled with plant life and vegetation, mountainous regions, vast desert regions and snowy areas.
Horizon Forbidden West also features underwater exploration. The trailer shows Aloy swimming deep underwater surrounded by plantlife and possibly Snapmaw machines. Whilst she heads to an ancient underwater ruin.
Although no actual gameplay was shown in the trailer the game nonetheless looks incredible. My guess is that the world of Horizon Forbidden west will be huge, far bigger than that of Horizon Zero Dawn. This is a game which will definitely benefit from the PS5 ultra-fast SSD to eliminate or severely reduce fast-travel times.
It is also safe to say that bow combat will be nothing short of awesome with the DualSesne haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. This will make pulling back that bowstring to fire an arrow into a machine a truly immersive experience.
No release date has been given for Horizon Forbidden West but I only hope that it’s not to far away.
