Unsurprisingly, Horizon Forbidden West has gone gold ahead of its release on February 18. The happy news was posted this morning on Guerrilla’s Twitter page, along with the epic hashtag #RiseAboveOurRuin.
In a new post on the PlayStation Blog, Guerrilla’s Studio Director and Executive Producer Angie Smets congratulates the team on the milestone before giving players the first look at what Forbidden West will look like on the PS4 Pro. The clips provided show Aloy wandering through Plainsong, the home of the Utaru tribe, which has been ravaged by the mysterious red blight familiar to those who played the first title. The jungle landscape is dotted with massive radar dishes and pieces of the Old World.
The new clips also show Clamberjaws, agile enemies who sling fire and keep Aloy on her toes. Bristlebacks, which were shown in the announcement trailer for the game, can also be spotted in dangerous herds.
Horizon Forbidden West will be making a number of quality of life updates when compared to the original game, with one major upgrade being the lack of an inventory cap. While Aloy will still only be able to carry a certain amount of items on her person, surplus items will be sent to a stash, which are accessible in all settlements or towns.
Aloy’s Focus has also been upgraded: by scanning your surroundings with R3, any climbable surfaces will be highlighted, rather than players needing to depend on finding yellow paint on useable handholds. While analyzing Machines, players can cycle through their recyclable parts using the D-pad instead of needing to hover with the right stick. Most importantly, it looks like the world of Horizon is getting a board game called Machine Strike. Who doesn’t love mini-games?
Horizon Forbidden West is scheduled to release on February 18, 2022, for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. In a notable departure from recent roleplaying titles, Horizon Forbidden West will have only one ending, with the game’s narrative director Benjamin McCaw stating that the finale will be very “strong and impactful.” The new title will be around the same length as Horizon Zero Dawn, though it will take longer to reach the 100% mark.
