Hey he’s back! The more badass Nora is back on February 18th, exclusively on PS4 and PS5. After he had the opportunity to test Horizon Forbidden West A few weeks before the release, I give you my opinion on this new adventure, tested by me on PS5 and guaranteed without suite of course
Always in the hands of the studio Gang war games, the Horizon Forbidden West adventure picks up where Horizon Zero Dawn left off, 6 months later to be exact! If your memories of Aloy’s first adventure linger in your mind, don’t worry, a short intro scene will give you a quick glimpse. In Zero Dawn, we were able to discover and travel to the Wild East. As the title tells us here, we will travel to the forbidden west around many new plots and characters…
In terms of scenario, without revealing too much, you will continue to dig into the lore of the universe discovered in Zero Dawn with Gaia, the work of Elisabet Sobeck or even Zero Dawn. But that’s obviously not all, because the Forbidden West will clearly be at the center of the title with its tribes, conflicts and other riches that will give you hours of discovery.
This is perhaps the first “limitation” this second opus imposes on us: having to make the first title at the risk of not understanding much about this entire universe and plots. But if on the other hand this is the case, then it is a real treat. And where I sometimes found the first opus not being pushed enough in certain aspects of the screenplay, I was introduced in Forbidden West!
Optional (out of date) side quests too, expect a quest fest between side quests, services, long necks, ruins, etc. You can lose yourself for hours on the gigantic map that Forbidden West has to offer in search of its completion.
In terms of gameplay and game mechanics, we quickly resume the good habits of Episode I, obviously leaving “bare” for the game’s logic (it would be too easy). Loot, weapons, collectible items, reels or clothes to unlock, you will find everything that made Zero Dawn so rich.
Novelties will mainly be found on the side of the skill tree with new moves and special techniques to unlock. By activating Special via L1 + R1, it will give different temporary effect bonuses (depending on the selected item), starting with a rather cool short scene.
On the machine side a lot of work has gone into it, both in terms of detail and graphic presentation. We take our eyes full and each battle quickly becomes epic. It would take a lot here to use scans to identify weaknesses and use the right weapons for the right machines. So overall a somewhat more advanced and demanding combat system. In addition, the machines will not be the only opponent and the hostile tribes will also gain more importance in terms of combat.
Visually, the PS5 will offer you the Performance or Quality mode. A word of advice: don’t do things like me who tried Performance mode for the first few hours… Quality mode will be the best on PS5 for optimizing games, both indoor and outdoor scenes with more rich environments. In addition to these graphic modes, a special mention goes to Guerrilla for the action and animation of the machines as well as the main characters with absolutely stunning realism.
In terms of age, as mentioned earlier, Forbidden West hits hard and you really will have a lot to do all over the place and all the time! I’m still far from 100% at the time of this writing but it will take at least 50-60 hours at a glance to get over the map and its multiple missions and POIs to achieve (I hope to confirm this soon :p).
| I liked | I at least like |
|
|
Guerrilla hits hard with the new installment in the Horizon saga. Where Zero Dawn nailed a very charismatic world and heroine, Forbiddden West pushes with an intense scenario, engaging plots and a rich open world. The PS5 introduces a new title that absolutely must have in its library, and one that certainly won’t be for licensing beginners. So for the latter, go to Episode One (Zero Dawn) to enjoy and then to Horizon Forbidden West!