Horizon Forbidden West

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Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Forbidden West cover art.jpg
Developer(s)Guerrilla Games
Publisher(s)Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)Mathijs de Jonge
Writer(s)Benjamin McCaw
Composer(s)
EngineDecima
Platform(s)
Release18 February 2022
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Horizon Forbidden West is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Its release date is 18 February 2022 for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. A sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn (2017), it features an open world in a post-apocalyptic western United States.

Gameplay[]

Horizon Forbidden West is an action role-playing game played from the third-person perspective. Players control Aloy, a huntress 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, filled with secrets that lie beneath ruins from the world of the Old Ones. It has a multitude of recognizable locations including a ruined San Francisco and the Yosemite Valley with various biomes.[2][3] One of the main additions to the sequel is underwater exploration.[4][5] The sequel has enhanced melee combat, revamped climbing mechanics, and improved traversal options with 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. It has improved animation works and cinematics.[7]

Synopsis[]

Horizon Forbidden West continues the story of Aloy, a young huntress 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, and ruined cities, both above and below the water.[8]

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 game director is Mathijs de Jonge and the narrative director is Benjamin McCaw.[11] The Flight (composed of Joe Henson and Alexis Smith), Joris de Man, 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]

The PlayStation 5 version of the game takes advantage of the console's increased processing power, custom solid state drive storage, Tempest Engine, and DualSense controller for features such as advanced haptic feedback, 3D spatial audio, enhanced lighting, special water rendering, improved visual effects, and reduced loading times.[16][17][18] This version also features an optional "performance mode" at 60 frames per second with a lower base resolution.[19] The game uses an updated version of the Decima engine with support for high dynamic range.[20]

On 27 January 2022, Guerrilla Games tweeted that the game had gone gold.[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.[20] 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]

A comic book series, set after the events of the first game, was published by Titan Comics on 5 August 2020.[29] On 3 June 2021, Guerilla released an extended play (EP) titled The Isle of Spires composed of four tracks.[12]

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". FameRant. 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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, retrieved 29 May 2021
  15. ^ Wallace, Kimberley (19 January 2022). "Breaking Down The New Horizon Forbidden West Trailer With Guerrilla Games". Game Informer. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  16. ^ Riley, Sean (14 June 2020). "Horizon: Forbidden West release date, gameplay, story and more". Laptop Mag. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ Barker, Sammy (18 June 2020). "PS5 Will Ensure There's Virtually No Loading Screens in Horizon Forbidden West". PushSquare. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  19. ^ Sheridan, Connor (3 June 2021). "Horizon Forbidden West 60 FPS Performance Mode confirmed for PS5". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  20. ^ a b 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.
  21. ^ Young, Patrick (27 January 2022). "Horizon Forbidden West Has Gone Gold". Gamerant. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  22. ^ "Horizon Forbidden West - Guerrilla Talks". YouTube. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  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. ^ 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.
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