Horizon Forbidden West details have been stagnant since the PlayStation State of Play in May. Today, on the PlayStation Blog, Guerilla Games, the makers of the Horizon series, expanded on Aloy’s new abilities, gadgets, and weapons. With the holidays already upon us, it’s only a matter of time before we get Horizon Forbidden West, and any juicy details surrounding its environment, weapons, abilities, and enemies are all welcomed.
Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to the beloved epic adventure Horizon Zero Dawn. If you haven’t played the first one, you play as Aloy in a futuristic America where technology has taken over the earth in the form of giant, roaming dinosaurs, and humankind has been pushed back into tribal colonies, forced to live off of the land’s resources. In Horizon Forbidden West, these resources are expanded upon to include even more gadgets and weapons for Aloy to tactfully take down her opponents.
New Gadgets
Based on the post from Guerilla Games, players who had hoped Aloy would be more flexible and mobile in traversing through the world have a lot to look forward to. “Aloy can climb freely on and across huge sections of rocky terrain; even more machine types can be used as mounts; grapple points can be found throughout the environment which allows agile vertical traversal; swimming underwater has opened up a whole new aspect of exploration; and gliding with the Shieldwing provides the ultimate view of the beautiful world of Horizon Forbidden West – not to mention a quick way down from great heights!” says David McMullen, Lead Systems Designer at Guerrilla.
The Shieldwing glider and Pullcaster grappling gun are just some of the many exciting new gadgets at Aloy’s disposal this time around. Granting players the gift of glide and grapple is surely going to make for some diverse gameplay opportunities. The main focus, McMullen says, is to have “mechanics, new and old, synergistically interact with each other” to present to players the ability to use the new weapons and gadgets in “clever and unpredictable ways.”
Since Horizon Forbidden West will be available on PlayStation 5, expect to experience the feeling of stealthily creeping through grass and the scrape of the ground from pushing a box. And, of course, the adaptive triggers will let you feel each arrow pull and even let you know when you’re out of ammo.
New Weapons
Aloy will also have a bigger arsenal when it comes to taking down enemies. With player choice as the driving force for Horizon Forbidden West, Lead Combat Designer, Dennis Zopfi, introduces the workbench. “[Here] you can upgrade and strengthen weapons and outfits. This unlocks new perks, mod slots, skills, and offers a bigger degree of customization, resistances, and new abilities for players!” says Zopfi.
And it’s not only a workbench that has been added. Aloy, being both a melee and ranged fighter, needed a little love in the melee department. In Horizon Forbidden West, there is the introduction of Valor Surges; 12 in total! Valor Surges are huge attacks that do a ton of damage. Once players have filled up a purple bar by doing lighter melee and ranged attacks, they can execute their Valor Surge.
Another mechanic receiving a revamp in Horizon Forbidden West is the skill tree. As synergy and player customization work their way towards the forefront of this new game, the skill tree will see an overhaul to include just that. While the main concept transfers from Horizon Zero Dawn, in Horizon Forbidden West, players will have even more options and tracks to pick from in the skill tree.
Whether you’re excited to traverse the beautiful landscape of San Fransisco or bash on some new mechanical dinos, Horizon Forbidden West has a lot of tantalizing tricks up its sleeves that players are sure to enjoy.
Horizon Forbidden West will be available on February 18, 2022, on PlayStation 4 and 5.
