Reviewed on base model PlayStation 4
"Assassin's Creed 2," "Uncharted 2," "Red Dead Redemption 2." These three games all have one thing in common: they were insanely massive upgrades from the first game in their respective franchises. And I do believe that "Horizon Forbidden West" deserves to be mentioned with the same reverence.
Aloy and Varl
I went into "Forbidden West" as an already big fan of the franchise for its deep, rich lore, beautiful open world, and compelling characters-something that "Horizon Zero Dawn" had in spades. But by the universe: "Forbidden West" improves on almost everything "Zero Dawn" brought to the table and so much more.
A True Next-Gen Game On Last-Gen Hardware
The PS4 generation is seeing its sunset. That's already a given. Ever since it was introduced way back in 2013, Sony's eighth-generation console has seen its share of amazing games, but it has been noticeably slowing down with the PS5 already out. Some games don't look as impressive as they used to anymore, but this statement absolutely DOES NOT apply to "Horizon Forbidden West."
Guerilla Games ensured that their new open-world opus would not leave PS4 owners behind in terms of visuals and performance. As a result of their efforts, "Forbidden West" is a decidedly next-gen looking game on last-gen hardware: a feat I never even imagined possible. I fail to remember any other game ever released on PS4 that looks as beautiful as this one. "Ghost Of Tsushima" might be, but "Forbidden West" seems to be in a league of its own.
You know Aloy HATES that statue
Despite running on hardware that's already almost a decade old, "Forbidden West" ran well enough on the base PS4 at a steady 30 FPS with checkerboard 1080p resolution, which, while not as sharp as what the PS5 can do, is still high-def enough that it doesn't look too blurred. But while the game was stable overall, there were a few quirks. The texture and pop-in issues, for example, can be egregious at times--a problem that not even the PS5 can escape from. There was an instance where a cutscene showed Aloy climbing up nothing, then the entire rock face rendered around one second later.
Problems aside, the base PS4 version of the game is something that I'd definitely call a "next-gen looking game on last-gen hardware." It is just THAT beautiful, and barely any game released during the past few years can hold a candle to the visual masterpiece that Guerilla Games made. Multiple times I just stopped to look at the incredible vistas and vast landscapes filled with intimidating, deadly machines-a stark contrast to the alluring beauty of this post-apocalyptic paradise.
One of the many awe-inspiring vistas
Narrative Quirks
Without going into too many spoilers, here's what I think of the story of "Forbidden West" as a massive fan of "Zero Dawn": it's underwhelming, and I feel like I didn't accomplish enough in my 50 or so hours of playtime.
I felt like the way the story went, specifically how they went to that ending, was a bit out of the trodden path. Most of the time, that's okay, but I do think that they might have gone overboard with the sci-fi explanations that give light to what really happened during the first game's story. It seemed to be that "Forbidden West's" narrative stands on its own, but at the same time deviates from the norms that "Zero Dawn" set all those years ago.
Nevertheless, there are still many pros to the narrative. I am particularly fond of Aloy's character progression from "Zero Dawn," for instance. She is now more mature and in command of herself, with confidence born of the abilities she acquired and the experience she's earned during the course of the first game. She's still the same young woman who keeps getting underestimated and proving her doubters wrong, no matter the circumstances. I am an absolute sucker for great portrayals of strong, independent women in video games.
horizon forbidden west screen
Read also: 'Dragon Age 4' Is Already In 'The Middle Of Production,' Says BioWare
As for the rest of the game's characters, they mostly served as background fodder with no real weight on anything-even the returning ones from "Zero Dawn." While I loved seeing Erend, Varl, Talanah, and the others again, they didn't have much of an impact throughout the course of Aloy's story in "Forbidden West." The ones that did get my attention are the newcomers, specifically that one character whose treatment from Aloy made me say an audible "awwwww" as it absolutely tugged at my heartstrings.
Other newcomers, however, sometimes made me just roll my eyes--but maybe that's just the quirks of their totally alien society that I have no idea about. One of the newly introduced tribes has a culture that involves believing that in times of famine, the best they can do is just lay down and die without fighting back and finding a solution. Ugh.
Same, gurl. Same.
It's a good-enough sci-fi story, all things considered. It's just not as groundbreaking as I expected it to be. To me, it looks like Guerilla's main focus was improving on the gameplay and the world's extra content, which made them skimp just a little bit on making a truly compelling narrative.
Play However You Want-Period
If there is one thing that "Horizon Forbidden West" definitely improved on from "Zero Dawn," it's the gameplay. Plain and simple. The first installment's gameplay was no slouch, but credit to Guerilla for taking what worked in "Zero Dawn" and bringing it up several notches higher.
Perhaps the one thing that absolutely stood out to me was the gameplay customization. I have never seen any other AAA game (let alone open-world RPG) that offered as many gameplay tweaks in the main menu beyond the basic difficulty options. You can truly tailor-fit how the game runs to suit your own playstyle, which makes it a super-accessible title even for beginners, gameplay-wise.
A look at the Control tweaks screen
For instance, here's something that might be music to the ears of those who suck at stick aiming: you can use gyro aiming to improve your accuracy further. I was surprised when I found out that I can turn on gyro for better aiming, though I believe it's not as polished and can take some time getting used to. I had to turn gyro aiming off and relied merely on the basic Aim Assist function, which saw me through to the end with barely any problems.
By now, you should know about the massive changes Guerilla made for the combat: a total of six skill trees instead of the original four from "Zero Dawn," which allows players to craft their own playstyle without any compromises. Do you want to be Artemis incarnate and be a beast of an archer? You can do that. Would you like to be sneaky and skilled at laying down traps for unaware enemies? You can do that too. Or maybe you'd like to be an unkillable, unstoppable melee specialist. You can do that as well-no exceptions.
Six skill trees
Among the biggest additions here is the Valor Surge abilities--basically "Forbidden West's" version of an "Overwatch" or "Valorant" ultimate. While you can only equip one Valor Surge at a time, using them can quickly turn the tide of battle, especially when you're facing hordes of human or machine enemies. That is unless you have the right sub-skills and weapons to complement it.
For all the great things "Forbidden West" has done with the gameplay, though, it is not without its quirks. The biggest problem I have that's weirdly still not fixed? The mounted controls. They are absolutely GODAWFUL, more so if you're riding on the ground. I never liked the mounted controls in "Zero Dawn" either, but the way this game handled it actually made me miss how I rode around during the first game. It is that bad.
A 'New' Land That Still Feels Awfully Familiar
As an open-world game, "Forbidden West" is not immune to the problems that have plagued other open-world games for years now. The side content is a massive improvement, true, with many side quests being story-driven and offering new narratives that make you understand just how this post-apocalyptic world works behind the scenes.
The basic side content from "Zero Dawn" returns machine hunts, hunting grounds, bandit camps to clear, and cauldrons for overriding machines. All of these are just generic open-world tripe that one can't avoid running into at this point, and it's just a part of life if you're a modern open-world gamer. Truth be told, the story-driven side quests are the only ones worth their salt, unless you understand that the importance of other activities relies on their ability to reward you with resources to craft ammo, as well as weapon and armor upgrades.
Armor selection screen
'Horizon Forbidden West' Review Verdict
Guerilla Games' new open-world romp deserves its place among the best video game sequels of all time, as it does improve on a massive amount of stuff that "Zero Dawn" brought to the table. The presence of generic map filler content and an underwhelming story notwithstanding, "Horizon Forbidden West" is still a gem of a game that is worth your time.
SCORE: 8.5/10
Related: 5 Horror Games That Are Inspired From True-to-Life Locations
Story posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
