Horizon Forbidden West is the upcoming sequel to Guerilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn, a PlayStation exclusive that came out in 2017. The first Horizon game was a tremendous surprise for many, and that’s saying it in a good way. The game had incredible world-building, it had a fantastic and engaging story, and the gameplay isn’t too shabby either.
The sequel for Horizon Zero Dawn was officially announced during a PlayStation showcase. It is slated to come out in the latter part of 2021. Although it doesn’t have an official release date yet, it is already one of the most highly anticipated releases of 2021.
10 The PS4/PS5 Release
Fans have been rabidly awaiting any news of an official release date for the sequel. What is known is that it will either come out on the third or the fourth quarter of 2021. As the world is still in a bit of a tumult due to the global pandemic, timelines may yet change.
Despite the mystery, Horizon Forbidden West, like its predecessor, is a PlayStation exclusive title. Not only will it come out on the newly released PlayStation 5, but it will also be released on the PlayStation 4.
9 Uncharted Territory
Based on the trailer of Horizon Forbidden West alone, it is vastly clear that Aloy will move out of her region located in Colorado and Utah in the real world. She’ll be adventuring out into newer, uncharted territories.
Aloy will cross the vast seas and go further out west to real-world locations like San Francisco and the Yosemite Valley. This new setting — a new frontier — is aptly called the “Forbidden West” in the game. It stretches from Utah all the way to the Pacific Ocean to the west. It somewhat makes one wonder what a conversation between Aloy and Arthur Morgan might look like.
8 It Will Feature Underwater Exploration
Horizon Zero Dawn had very immersive gameplay coupled with a massive open-world for players to explore to their heart’s content. Horizon Forbidden West will take the exploration aspect of this franchise even further by adding the element of underwater capers.
Players will apparently be able to uncover more mysteries about the background of this game’s world beneath the surfaces of seas, lakes, and rivers. This was also shown to be the case during the game’s trailer. Dragon Age fans would be ecstatic if Bioware took a similar approach to their next game.
7 The Map Will Be Bigger
This official statement will surely make fans of Horizon Zero Dawn and of open-world games, in general, excited. The map for Horizon Forbidden West is reported to be even bigger than the one in Horizon Zero Dawn which was already fairly considerable, to begin with.
This means more exploration, more things to see, and more unique people to meet (probably). With the game taking Aloy to newer territories previously unexplored in this world, it is highly exciting to think about what Guerilla Games has in store for her journey.
6 The Faro Plague And Environmental Takeover
In Horizon Zero Dawn, the world environment was absolutely breathtaking. Massive cities with towering skyscrapers have been swallowed by the ocean and completely covered in plant life. Almost every scenery you can find in the game is picturesque and it seems that the sequel will follow through, if not expand upon it.
Various Faro machines are also constantly seen in the Forbidden West trailer. Whether or not they’ll play another role in this sequel is unknown, but their presence surely points towards their significance in the story as a whole.
5 New Machines
One of the most exciting things about Horizon Zero Dawn (something that extends to the game’s sequel) is the form that the enemies take shape of. The original game featured tons of machines that take the shape of various animals — both current and extinct. This ranges from machines that look like horses and crabs to many types of dinosaurs.
In Horizon Forbidden West, there will be more machines for the players to battle and overcome. New flying types called Sunwings, turtle-like machines called Shellsnappers, a mammoth-like creature called Tremortusks, and more. According to the game director, there will be dozens of new machines in addition to the ones we’ve already seen.
4 No Loading Screens
Thanks to the power of the PlayStation 5, Horizon Forbidden West will feature few to no loading screens. This adds a bit more immersion to the game’s already engaging gameplay. Fast travel will apparently be instantaneous and so will the respawn mechanic at checkpoints.
The power of the new console will not be only limited to fast travel and boot time either. This will also mean less tedious gameplay that simply hides loading screens, faster texture rendering, and more NPCs on screen at once.
3 New Tribes
The machines hint at a world that’s much more technologically advanced than what is presented in the game. But another aspect of Horizon Zero Dawn that really makes this world unique is the various tribes that are scattered all around the world.
In Horizon Forbidden West, the game will feature newer tribes — both friendly and hostile towards Aloy. To make matters more difficult for her, the hostile tribe has apparently learned how to control the machines to do their bidding with an ability similar to Aloy’s.
2 Sylens’ Role And Return
Aside from Aloy, another returning character in Horizon Forbidden West is Sylens, the elusive and enigmatic man who acted as Aloy’s confidante and informant. Though he is initially believed to be an ally, his later actions and motivations seem to indicate a much darker purpose.
In Horizon Forbidden West’s trailer, it is implied that Sylens is the one who taught a tribe how to override machines to do their bidding. It seems Sylens will take on a much more antagonistic role in this game than he did in the previous one.
1 The Red Blight
Aside from new machines for Aloy to fight, the world of Horizon Forbidden West will also feature a new type of danger. It is one that affects the world of the game on a much bigger scale and this new danger is known in the game as the Red Blight.
The Red Blight is collapsing the biosphere of the world, affecting the various plant and wildlife. It is even starving the organic animals and the numerous tribes. This has also affected the weather by causing supercell storms that rain down upon the world relentlessly, causing floods and other damages. Aloy will have to go to great lengths in order to save the world…..again.
NEXT: 10 Action RPGs To Play If You Like Horizon Zero Dawn
- Lists
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Horizon Zero Dawn 2
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Horizon 2: Forbidden West
Rhett Roxl is a freelance content writer and an avid video gamer. When he’s not writing, or playing video games, or writing about video games, he makes and plays music at local bars.
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