My review does cover major plot points from the first game in this series, Horizon Zero Dawn. If you have not played this game yet, please don't read on and instead ask yourself what you have been doing with your life! My review of Zero Dawn can be found here if you need any more convincing. On with the show.

The Land Before Time

Horizon Zero Dawn is one of those stories that, once you have unpicked the threads of its narrative, you wonder why nobody thought of this before. It is brilliant and might I suggest; one of the biggest comeback stories ever told. Humanity was finished, set to be wiped off the face of the planet (quite literally) and could it have been any other catastrophe than one of our own making? And yet somehow, through the sheer determination of one woman, this ending was not to be the last chapter in the book of humanity. 

Elisabet Sobeck knew the cost and acted without hesitation. She knew that for her and the people living in her time, the gig was up. It was fascinating to see the various reactions to this dire news from those who would have to act as one. Mostly, they hovered between denial and sorrow: not for their species but for their own personal loss. With the leadership her distant progeny would inherit, Elisabet inspired the best in people and Project Zero Dawn was completed just in the nick of time. Due to the machinations of one of the core programmers who provided the pillars of Zero Dawn, the future Elisabet fought for was once again in peril. However, she had one more gift to bestow on the humans of the future, her clone daughter: Aloy. 

Wild Child

The outcast that became the saviour of the world, Aloy is one of my favourite gaming characters in recent times. She is fierce, loyal and relentless when her sights are set on something. As a rule, I like my heroes to have a few character flaws, but Aloy is a rare exception. I always thought her name was genius because, like her metallurgic namesake, she is also an amalgamation of both the natural world and the graveyard of technology buried beneath their feet. As a young girl, Aloy falls into a decrepit facility and finds an object which changes the course of her life and by extension, planet Earth.

This small augmented reality device Aloy calls her ‘sight’ helps her understand technology and perceive the world with the insight of the old ones. With this wealth of information at her fingertips, Aloy is able to glean knowledge that becomes invaluable in the fight ahead. In the first game, she ascends to the role of seeker within her tribe and travels to the distant city of Meridian to face down a growing evil. Along the way, she gains allies and even a few new enemies, many of which play a role in the final battle.

West World

With Hades seemingly destroyed, earth's biosphere still appears to be degrading with a red ‘blight’ suffocating any life it touches. Aloy has been searching for a working copy of GAIA, the governing AI in the Zero Dawn system, to restore the balance and save life on Earth. It is here we take control of the game while Aloy infiltrates a ruined old-world facility and her last lead. This opening section acts as a wonderful introduction to the game's controls and new tools Aloy now has at her disposal. After MacGyvering some broken kit together we can now use a grappling hook to great effect. This can either get Aloy to high-up places or even pull down shakey walls.  

From the very first second you take control of Aloy, you know this is going to be good. One of my most frustrating aspects of the first game was her clumsy traversal across uneven ground and now it has mostly been addressed. Aloy will hop over low objects and mantle up where able. As you pan the view around it is also instantly obvious this game is leaps ahead of Zero Dawn in the visuals department. Lush foliage swaying in the wind, splashes of bright colour from plants and swatches of the red blight contrast against the verdant green.

In the search for GAIA, she discovers that her former ally Sylens, aided the escape of Hades for his own nefarious reasons. With the solution to these two dilemmas seemingly interlinked, the table is set for Aloy's journey to the Forbidden West. This region of the world is an unforgiving place, filled with new robot creatures and clandestine dangers. To make any progress here Aloy must contact and ally with the various tribes that control this territory. This is as far as I will go in terms of major plot points for the sake of spoilers, however, overall I was very happy with the direction Guerrilla Games went in.

Sticks and Plasma Rifles

One of the reasons I enjoyed the first game was how satisfying the combat is and how well-designed your adversaries are. Like the first game, there is a whole metallic menagerie to fight or evade. Each robot has a living counterpart it is based on, ranging from deer, and crocodiles; to the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex. In this new zone, we see some variations of beasts from Zero Dawn, as well as brand-new robots to study and defeat. I think one of the reasons fighting in Zero Dawn (and now Forbidden West) feels so good is because all the adversaries have so much momentum and implied weight. Scraps with bigger foes are incredible to be a part of, leaping out of the way of a charging Brislteback and seeing it smash down the trees behind you. Top-tier physics also allows for some awesome environmental traps such as sending logs rolling down a hill or dropping machinery from a suspension cable.  

Scanning the environment with her Focus gives Aloy a wealth of information, as well as tactical points on the body of your mark. She can then target specific components for various effects such as a fuel canister for an elemental explosion or even knocking a weapon off to use against its previous owner. In fact, smashing their bodies and removing components is a tactic advanced hunters must learn in order to disable certain attacks.

In many ways, the bones of the first game are here and the changes are mainly refinements and iterative improvements. For example, Aloy can now keep a lock on a specific part after you turn off your focus, which makes tactical fights far more engaging. This comes in handy as upgrading weapons and armour is a much more involved process. In fact getting my legendary weapons to their full potential carried me well past the main story. Guerrilla clearly spent a lot of time designing the armour sets as they look amazing and have some very interesting buffs.

Like the robots, we have some classic weapons making a return such as the various bows, trip-casters etc. Of course, there are a few new weapons available, my favourite being the Shredder Gauntlet. This spinning blade of death could be inspired by Tron himself and if you managed to catch the disc on its return you can charge it for a more powerful shot. There are also plenty of other options for Aloy to try like throwing rocks as a distraction or setting one of the new trap types. There are even new elemental damage types to utilise on the hunt.

Clever Girl

The best way to make a skill tree work is to make it relevant within the game you are designing. While some of Zero Dawn's skill upgrades were just incremental improvements, most added new options to engage enemies. Such as the ability to take enemies down from above or nock more than one arrow. In a wise move, the developers have kept most of these intact, leaving plenty of space for new tricks and moves. I guess this represents Aloy growing and becoming a more adept hunter. Skills now come within six distinct sections such as hunter, infiltrator and so on. There are so many new things for Aloy to learn, even just in the Warrior tree she can pick up a tonne of new moves which makes melee combat much more enjoyable. 

As you work your way down each tree you will notice there are different types of skill now on offer. The weapon technique skills for example are powerful attacks that have a cool down after use. If this wasn't enough, once you have unlocked all the connecting skills, a Valour Surge will be available which is by far the most powerful move in the game. Some will overcharge Aloy's ranged attacks while others have more interesting effects like employing the cloaking technology of Stalkers. Even then, Valour Surges can be upgraded further adding more power and extra functions.

Beyond the Horizon

To say Forbidden West is a big game is an understatement. The map compared to Zero Dawn isn't a great deal bigger in terms of the basic footprint, but there is so much more to see and do. For a start, Aloy can now swim and not just on the surface like in the first game. Underwater exploration is one of my favourite activities to do in any open-world game and in Forbidden West it is beautifully realised. As you plunge under the surface of fast-flowing rivers and deep lakes the underwater world comes alive in front of you. Aloys undulating red mane looks incredible as she turns in different directions. Hidden caves, flooded mine shafts and long abandoned structures: there is just so much to uncover. There are also water-themed robots to keep an eye out for and if too deep to escape you can dart into the kelp. 

In addition to aquatic escapades, there is so much more verticality to consider this time around. Sprawling cliff faces, teetering skyscrapers and giant structures from the old world. In a similar fashion to Zero Dawn, you just need to follow the grab lines to stay relatively safe. I vastly prefer this more directed approach, than the way the new Assassin Creed games let you mindlessly clamber up anything. As well as the aforementioned Pull-Caster Aloy also now has other acrobatic tricks up her sleeve like wall jumping etc. She has also taken a leaf out of Link's playbook and gotten herself a glider of sorts. This not only offers her a scenic route down from heights but also helps a great deal in combat encounters. 

It is hard to fully convey with words and pictures, just how detailed this game world is. Each morsel of explorable land comes with so many intricately designed places both large and small. Often there are environmental stories to work through, past events to uncover and a bevy of text logs to peruse. I will say I think they went a little overboard with the number of crates and boxes everywhere but this is a very minor gripe.

It is common practice for main quests and characters to receive most of the attention when it comes to animation and voice acting. I have been absolutely bowled over by the quality of side quests and the NPCs that you will meet on your travels. Each one feels like a main story quest, even down to the cook in the first village you come across. This makes the whole world feel more cohesive and shows just how much work went into making this game shine. In fact, these exceptional side quests brought me to a theory that their high calibre makes the main plot stand out less. 

Another aspect of exploration that has been improved is the inventory management system. Aloy can only carry so much stuff but as soon as she hits the limit, excess resources are automatically shunted off to the main stash. This can then be accessed while in towns or at the many smaller camps in the wilds. These camps are another testament to the effort developers put into the game as each one looks different and embedded within whatever setting you find it.

Love Island

Like the first game, Guerrilla has released a substantial expansion for Forbidden West which is thankfully included. Like all good expansion content, they have kept what made the base game so good, while adding some new toys to play with. It is a testament to the quality of Guerrilla games that this DLC is still on par with the stellar character detail seen in the main game. We see numerous new folk who become involved with Aloys exploits as she wrestles with a new danger. 

One of the most impressive aspects of this expansion is the new flying mount available once the related quest is done. This mount can actually dive beneath the waves which is all kinds of awesome. It can even swoop down and pluck Aloy out of the ocean if you don't fancy swimming back to shore. In addition to this, the developers also redesigned the sky box with a huge increase in ceiling height and jaw-dropping volumetric clouds. Soaring across the sky as the setting sun catches mountain-sized cloud banks is mesmerising.

Is it PC?

Horizon Forbidden West is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful games ever made and playing it on my PS5 through an OLED was just exquisite. I remember trying the fidelity mode at 30fps and was so jarring after seeing the game run at 60fps in performance. This made me crave a good PC port all the more. It would seem that thanks to the hard work of Nixxes, we have a port that is everything we could have hoped for. All the options you could want to tinker with are present including various upscale tools like DLSS and FSR. Playing on an overclocked 3080ti system at 1440p I have been very happy with the performance, even load times on PC seem to trump the already excellent PS5 magic. Overall the major visual advantages you get on PC are better textures, superior anti-aliasing and buttery smooth gameplay.

Of course, a good PC port is not just about getting the game optimised but also the whole package. Nixxes are unrivalled in their ability to port console games onto PC. Their hard work ensures that the port takes advantage of everything the PC platform has to offer. It is also a relief that the menus snap to attention instantly and interacting with them is as slick as can be. This is one area of PC ports that very often gets neglected and can really tarnish the enjoyment of a game flow. All the other trimmings PC gamers always hope for are here, such as ultrawide support, the ability to change keybindings and so on. Everything just works as it should which bodes well for the upcoming Ghosts of Tsushima port in May.

One of my favourite things about playing Zero Dawn on PC was how combat was much more fluid due to mouse and keyboard. Now aiming my bow for precise shots on enemy components was a breeze. Coupled with this and the much higher FPS, it felt like playing a brand-new game. Now coming to Forbidden West, again I was looking forward to this improved control over Aloy and I was not disappointed. Compared to Zero Dawn there is so much more happening in the moment-to-moment gameplay. More weapons, more challenging enemies, a vastly improved skill list: all of these things are made better with mouse and keyboard. I will say, I do miss what the dual sense vibrations bring to the game, but you can't have everything.

The sound design, as you would imagine, is nothing short of spectacular in Forbidden West. Just walking around the many biomes is an audible treat as both animals and the elements paint a picture for your ears. All the weapon effects and combat sounds do an amazing job of informing the player of what is happening and where. Ashly Burch once again injects confidence and determination into each line of dialogue as Aloy. However, my favourite performance is thanks to the late Lance Reddick who steals every scene he is in as Sylens. 

Something that is so frustrating with this series is the way it has always been overshadowed by bigger games. The original had a little game called Breath of the Wild to compete with. The sequel had its thunder stolen by Elden Ring and even now with the PC release, they drop it the day before Dragons Dogma 2. It has always seemed to me, that this series has never gained the traction it deserves and this idiotic marketing has not helped.

Conclusion

I have a deep emotional connection to the Horizon Series, especially for Zero Dawn as it was the first game my son finished on his own. We spent the entire summer holidays hopping on for a few hours to adventure while fighting giant robot cats! (an apt description from my son). Looking for more tangible reasons why I love the series, it is a fascinating story that takes the time to develop its characters and makes you care about their fate.

Making a sequel to such an accomplished game was always going to be a big undertaking and Forbidden West delivers the goods in every single way. I know that many fans prefer the story in the first game but I think they are both equally excellent, it's just the overarching goals were clearer in Zero Dawn. With the amazing DLC already done, we can now assume Guerrilla Games are working on the next game. Who knows, maybe we will see a simultaneous PS5 and PC release when it arrives. I am so happy to be now able to play this game on PC with all the benefits that comes with thanks to an amazing job by Nixxes.