Horizon Forbidden West is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn (2017), the game is set in a post-apocalyptic version of the Western United States, recovering from the aftermath of an extinction event caused by a rogue robot swarm. The player, assuming control of Aloy, must venture into the Forbidden West to find the source of a mysterious plague that kills all it infects. The player can explore the open world and complete quests using ranged and melee weapons against machine creatures and hostile rebels. Forbidden West introduced new gameplay mechanics to the franchise, such as new traversal tools, underwater exploration, and expanded melee combat. Guerrilla Games began developing Forbidden West in 2018. The development peaked at over 300 full-time employees and cost around US$212 million, making the game one of the most expensive ever to develop. One of the team's goals was to retain the core qualities of the original game, and the team made efforts to expand exploration and combat to support various playstyles. Guerrilla also invested more resources into creating the game's cinematics and spent more time creating character-driven side quests for the game. Ashly Burch and Lance Reddick returned to provide the voice for Aloy and Sylens, respectively, and they were joined by Angela Bassett and Carrie-Anne Moss. As with Zero Dawn, the game was powered by Guerrilla's in-house Decima engine. Announced in June 2020, the game was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on 18 February 2022. The game received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the visuals, combat, quest design and the cast's performance, but criticized its story and Aloy's characterization. Most reviewers agreed that Forbidden West was bigger and more refined than Zero Dawn, though it was more of an evolutionary experience than a revolutionary one. It sold over 8.4 million units by April 2023. It was nominated for several end-of-year accolades, including Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2022 and the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. An expansion, Burning Shores, was released for the PlayStation 5 in April 2023. The game and the Burning Shores expansion were collected together, re-released as Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition for PlayStation 5 in October 2023, and ported to Windows by Nixxes Software in March 2024. A sequel is in development.
Gameplay
Horizon Forbidden West is an action role-playing video game played from a third-person perspective, set in a world populated by dangerous, animalistic machines. The player controls Aloy, a hunter who ventures into an uncharted frontier known as the Forbidden West, a post-apocalyptic version of the Western United States, to investigate a mysterious plague. Aloy's primary weapons of choice are bows and arrows. New weapons introduced in Forbidden West include the Shredder Gauntlet, which launches serrated discs useful for tearing armor and components. She can also lay down traps and tripwires, and tether enemies to the ground to immobilize them. Certain weapons in the game have different ammo types which offer specialised utility. For instance, acid ammo may melt an opponent's armor, while shock ammo can stun enemies. Status effects will accumulate and result in the machine being temporarily crippled by them. The player can use Aloy's Focus, a wearable augmented reality device she collected during the events of the first game that gives her special perceptive abilities, to tag an enemy and scan them to identify their weaknesses. Aloy may also detach parts of the machines through her attacks, crippling a large amount of their health, removing their attack capabilities, and occasionally allowing her to use their own detached weapons against them. Aloy can also attack enemies in close proximity with her spear and chain together her melee attacks. Aloy can hide in tall grass, distract unsuspecting enemies, and silently strike enemies without drawing attention. As the player progresses in the game and completes various quests, they earn more experience points (XP). With sufficient XP, Aloy's health will increase, and skill points may be unlocked. The game's skills are divided into six different categories, allowing players to upgrade Aloy's abilities in melee combat, using traps, ranged combat, scavenging resources, stealth, and overriding machines. By playing the game skillfully (such as performing headshots against human enemies or tearing components off a machine), the player is granted additional combat points, ultimately enabling them to unleash a powerful special attack that inflicts a large amount of damage on enemies.
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