Time to go West, Aloy!
Available since Friday February 18th, the long awaited sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn is finally arrived. The West may be forbidden but the announcement video and the advertisement of it was all foreboding. Five years has passed since the original game that placed the player in a universe where prehistoric like creatures were actually machines.
The game places us back with Aloy searching for answers to reboot GAIA, since the terraforming seems to be reverting and the Earth is dying again. The game waste no time in placing the player in a ruined based where a space shuttle was to be launched. This introduction to Horizon Forbidden West end with a boss fight, the whole thin took me about 45 minutes to complete. Since materials are an important component of the game, I did search everywhere trying to obtain everything. Just the first part to the title showing up on the screen was enough to get me hooked.
When it was announced that the game graphics would be amazing and only cinematics were shown, I had the strange feeling of déjà vu. Too many games have promised to have great graphics, only to have those applied to the introductions reels and some cut scenes. Well all I can say is that Guerilla Games delivered on promises, the game environment is gorgeous, from the character to the details of ruins, camps and creatures.
Sounds are also an important part of the game, and too often we pay only attention as to what we see with our eyes, but games emotions and memories can also be linked to sounds. It was no surprised to me what was my reaction when I heard the theme song from the game. So many memories are tied to it and now new ones can be created with it again. Yes the game is similar, but it did age very well and takes advantage of the new generation console power perfectly. and the little addition that was made complements what was already in the first one.
I foresee easily over a hundred hours of gameplay with Horizon Forbidden West, the main campaign, the side quest, the errands and the contracts, enough to keep even the fastest adventurer busy for quite some time.
Horizon Forbidden West is almost a 5 Alarm Fire, for whatever reason this game was delayed, the wait was worth it, and the end results is a marvelous game, if you have not played the first one, please do yourself a favor a play it before this one, so you can appreciate the storyline even more and understand the interaction with certain protagonist and the whole politics of it all. I know a few fellow reviewers that did just that completed the old game before this one, so you would not be the only ones to do so.
For review purpose the copy of the game was provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment, the game was played on the PlayStation 5. The game is available only on PS 4and PS5 at the moment.