Horizon Forbidden West Review

Continuing through the great games released in February, I’ve finally finished Horizon Forbidden West. And what a journey it’s been! So much of this experience for me comes down to the narrative discoveries, so I’ll avoid any spoilers beyond early marketing materials.

If you're not familiar with the Horizon franchise...

The first game, Horizon Zero Dawn, followed the story of Aloy, a young tribal girl who grew up on a post-apocalyptic Earth inhabited by dangerous machines and a number of unique human tribes. The central mystery of the first game dealt with how exactly Earth reached this point, and ultimately how to stop it from happening again. I want to avoid dipping into story spoilers because the journey of discovering the layers of events was personally very special. Suffice it to say, the narrative left a strong impression on me, and I’ve been eager to see what the team at Guerrilla Games planned for a sequel narrative.

Horizon Forbidden West picks up shortly after where the first game left off, furthering some of those mysteries from Zero Dawn, unearthing new ones, and exploring how the threat from the first game might have been resolved, but it was only a symptom of a much more complex threat. Early on, Aloy ventures into the titular Forbidden West, encountering a variety of new tribes, machines, and mysteries along the way.

The Open World

Let’s get it out of the way: this game is absolutely massive. Even after I’d rolled credits and earned the platinum at 62 hours, there were still dozens of minor quests to complete, ancient ruins to explore, and apex machines to defeat. Not to mention a few areas of the map which still remain undiscovered. Honestly, the size and scope of the game felt pretty overwhelming. If it hadn't released around so many other games I wanted to play, I'd have rather taken my time with Forbidden West, savored it over a longer period of time. My advice: this isn’t a game to rush, but to immerse yourself in.

The open world design isn't revolutionary by any stretch, modeled after the familiar Assassin's Creed type design. You have a map littered with numerous icons indicating different discoveries to make, locations to visit, and challenges to complete. If you pick a direction and run for a few hundred yards, you'll come across half-a-dozen points of interest along the way. Stopping to do everything could quickly lead to burnout, so I'd recommend just seeking out the mysteries that call to you. Don't worry about doing everything you come across—you can always circle back later.

Graphics

Back in 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn blew me away with the beauty of the world. Now, in 2022, Forbidden West managed to improve across the board with remarkable visual fidelity, lighting, and animation. The biggest improvement over the previous game must be in the facial animations. During dialogue scenes in Zero Dawn, everyone felt stiff and somewhat robotic, but Forbidden West made every conversation feel natural and cinematic. I can’t emphasize enough how detailed some of the faces were in this game. I’ve included a few pictures to showcase the level of detail, and even these I feel don’t quite do it justice when it’s in motion.

Narrative Sequel

For many, Zero Dawn and now Forbidden west were all about the polished open world experience. But that part of the game isn’t the big seller for me. it’s not why I’ve been eager to play. I’m interested in the continued dual narrative established in Zero Dawn, with the story split between the tribal politics of the current humans with the bold sci-fi backstory that continues to inform on the world. Forbidden West furthers both styles of story, and in my opinion, it does a better job with the tribal side of the narrative and with how it intertwines the two different ‘worlds.’ I found myself much more invested in the tribal politics and characters you encounter throughout the game. The surprise reveals and twists from the first game definitely impacted me more, but I can’t deny that the execution of the story feels much more polished in Forbidden West.

Aloy as a Character

Aloy has always been fairly...straightforward. She does some amazing things and uncovers incredible secrets, but her personality itself isn't particularly nuanced. At her core, she is a good person—she does good for the sake of doing good. Throw in a disregard for tradition and a side of sass, and that's who she is. This doesn't offer a ton of dynamic character moments. Among the more complicated Playstation mascots like Kratos from God of War, Joel & Ellie from The Last of Us, and Jin from Ghost of Tsushima, Aloy comes up a little short. Having said that, I do appreciate her for being such a heroic figure in this world. Her story is one of triumphing despite the obstacles in her path, and that lived experience has molded her into who she is. She does have some satisfying character growth in this game, and I do think they did a good job exploring the nature of how she views herself in relation to others, but I would have loved to see them push those idea a little further.

Companions

The cast of characters in this game also impressed me. Forbidden West showcases some returning characters, offering more depth than in previous titles, while also bringing in new, fully fleshed out characters to round out Aloy’s inner circle. The game doesn’t go as far as integrating them into every mission like, say, Mass Effect or Dragon Age, but this game definitely took some strong inspiration from the RPG genre. Your companions do join you on some story-relevant quests. Otherwise, they can be found in your base of operations (once it’s unlocked). You’re able to return frequently, chat with them, get to know them better, and overhear bits of banter in between adventures in the wider world. I was surprised at how invested I became in their personalities and stories—much more than in the first game—and there were several stand-out emotional moments with them. They never reached the heights of characters like Garrus or Liara from Mass Effect, but they were a stark improvement over the first game’s use of Aloy’s allies.

The Machines

I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without mentioning the machines. The first game sported an impressive variety of beautifully creative machines, with many of their designs inspired by dinosaurs like the t-rex and pterodactyl. Forbidden West continues this tradition, but also integrates even more machines modeled after a wide variety of creatures, amounting to about 43 wholly unique machine designs, each with their own behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses in combat. The combat itself is immensely satisfying, centered around shooting off machine parts for salvage or to reveal more vulnerable spots beneath bits of armor. But, for me, the combat sort of wears thin about 3/4 the way through the game, much as it did in Zero Dawn. Throughout the game, the combat steadily becomes more and more challenging, requiring a stronger understanding of your own equipment and how best to take down each unique machine. I don’t think there’s an issue with the combat itself—there's nothing else quite like it, to be honest—but I inevitably lowered the difficulty around the 3/4 mark in both games so encounters didn’t last quite so long. This likely would have been alleviated if I was slow-rolling my playthrough, but since I was more invested in the narrative than the moment-to-moment combat, I had no qualm lowering the difficulty to reach the next story beat more quickly.

The Future of the Franchise

I can’t wait for what comes next. Ever since I finished the first game, I’d been so eager to see where the story might lead in subsequent games. Now that I’ve rolled credits on Forbidden West, I again can’t wait to see where the next game leads. The developer hasn’t been shy about their plans to make this series into a trilogy, and Forbidden West does a competent job setting up the 3rd and presumably final game in the trilogy. While I think they could continue in this setting for quite a long time, I feel pretty confident that the next game will broadly bring the franchise to a close by resolving the remaining sci-fi narrative arcs in play. Sure, there’s plenty more to explore on the tribal side, but the genius of this franchise is how the writers manage to mesh the primal and sci-fi elements. I’m so excited to see them continue this story in the next game and bring the overarching narrative to a satisfying conclusion. It’s a tall order, especially with how complex the first two games have been, but based on Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, I feel confident that they will managed to create another masterpiece.

And hey, even if they can't quite stick the landing in Horizon 3, I'm grateful for the grand adventure they've already provided.