Horizon Forbidden West Reviews: Hostile World With Amazing Adventures

Horizon Forbidden West is an action game published by Sony Entertainment and developed by Guerrilla Games. This game is fantastic and shows the power of the PS5. Horizon Forbidden West is the victorious combination of character design, combat, a captivating open world, and top-tier creature.  

It can be daunting in its scope and size. As a player, you can feel it, but you need to complete several steps to see the full features of this game. When you uncover its map, you can find the giant arsenal of armor and weapons. It has a large number of passive buffs, special moves, and skills, but you need to unlock its revamped and expansive skills tree as well.

The gameplay and the story of Horizon Forbidden are based on a special character. We can say that this game originally focuses on the stories and characters and provides a certain adventure for its users. This game comes after the end of its predecessor Horizon Zero Dawn. Its DLC add-on was Frozen Wilds back in 2017.

In this in-depth review, I will explain the gameplay, story, features, character, weapons, and combat of Horizon Forbidden West. This blog also explains where you can buy this game. You can also find its strengths, drawbacks, story, character, and gameplay. This review is based on my personal experience and what I feel after playing this game.

Horizon Forbidden West Price & Available At

Horizon Forbidden West prices and availability are different. The price for PS5 is higher, while PS4 edition prices are lower. Both PlayStation 5 Launch Edition and PlayStation 4 Launch Edition can be found on Amazon. PlayStation 5 Launch Edition price is $69.21, while PlayStation 4 Launch Edition price is $56.60.

Product	Price	Available	Buy Now
Horizon Forbidden West	$69.21	Amazon	PlayStation 5 Launch Edition
Horizon Forbidden West	$56.60	Amazon	PlayStation 4 Launch Edition

Horizon Forbidden West Release Date

Horizon Forbidden is published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PS4 and PS5. They released Horizon Forbidden West game two editions and both of these editions released similar data on February 18, 2022. This game is considered the second game of the Horizon series.

Horizon series’ first game was Horizon Zero Dawn while its expansion was DLC The Frozen Wilds. This game was released in 2017. Officially, Horizon Forbidden West was Released during the official event of Sony. Check out the review about Elden Ring Game as well!

Horizon Forbidden West Features

Publisher	Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer	Guerrilla Games
Type	Full Release
Platform	PS4 & PS5
Mode Played	Hard
Hours Played	90+
Genre	Third-Person Shooter, Open world
Price	$69.21

Horizon Forbidden West Development

Horizon Forbidden West is developed by the Guerilla Game. This game is huge and deadly. It is filled with hidden threats, awe-inspiring machines, and ancient ruins. In this game, a player is surrounded by danger while the population needs places to improve their gear by doing rest. Espen Sogn is a Lead Living World Designer at Guerilla. He explains in his interview how his team developed this game.

“When you walk through the Forbidden West, everything should feel like it belongs there. The Living World team at Guerrilla works on aspects of the game that make the world feel authentic and alive: the tribes, the settlements, and the people within them. There’s an intention behind everything we place within the world.”

Another senior writer at Guerrilla, Annie Kitain, also explains the process of the development of Horizon Forbidden West. The developing team always collaborates with the narrative team to determine whether a certain development is possible. “At the start of a project, we put a lot of thought into every tribe we’re going to encounter,”

It is important for the development team to make sure each and every aspect of the game works properly, they are responsible for each combat, weapon, and character, how they fit into the story, what the actual conflict is, and how these characters interact with the world around them. 

They explained it as “Take the Tenakth, for instance. Many of their beliefs are influenced by the ancient ruins of the Forbidden West, and unlike other tribes, they’re three distinct clans. Their shared history, convictions, disputes—all of that is important to developing the characters that Aloy will meet on her journey.”

Espen explained that the main challenge that we face is how we can translate the narrative framework into visual forms. It’s hard and tough but we did it in the Horizon Forbidden West. This game comes with amazing visuals, stories, and characters. You can even find the emotional response of the character as well.

Horizon Forbidden West Story

After the end of Horizon Zero Dawn, this latest Horizon Forbidden West continues the story of Aloy. A young and energetic hunter from the Nora tribe was sent on a certain mission. The destination of this young hunter is a mysterious frontier spanning Utah to the Pacific coast. The key purpose of Aloy is to find the source of the plague that can kill all the contaminants.

During the journey, she found the unexplored lands of the Forbidden west. She happenstances from various hostile regions occupied with deadly machines, dangerous enemies, and massive storms with natural threats. 

In the previous game, Aloy explores the Forbidden West deeper and wider, but now she discovers this Forbidden West land in a new way. She discovers this in an array of diverse environmental ecosystems, such as ruined cities, tropical beaches, snowy mountains, dry deserts, and lush valleys.

In the Forbidden West, she has her old and new friends that always give weight to Aloy’s tasks. Aloy’s reaction towards their old friend looks cold, as she does not feel good with them. At some point, she gives them a slip but in the end, you can see that she sticks their old friends in one location to study. It happened during the complete game.  

Her friends appeared in certain missions, so you can talk to them like you talked to your crew. However, she treats her circle of friends paradoxically. The game tries to save her with her friends’ help, but her friend’s coldness makes it difficult for her as she thinks she is the only one who can save the world.

Actually, when we observe it closely, she is right about her point. She is one who keeps their friends safe. At the same time, she spends a lot of time, even day and night, with various varieties of mecha Godzilla to save all of them. There is no doubt Aloy’s death means that everyone in the game dies.

Horizon Forbidden West Gameplay

In the latest version of the Horizon series, players can find a deeper and wider map compared to the previous one. It allows Aloy to explore more and more in the Forbidden West. Players can also ride on the flying machines that are available in the game. In the salvaged parts, you must engage in strategic battles against equestrian human enemies and huge machines using traps, gear, and weapons.

Underwater exploration is also included in the new version of Horizon; it allows players to expose the ambiguous surface of the rivers, lakes, and seas. In Horizon Forbidden West mission structure of the quest also best supports a variety of objectives with a compelling reward system.

Further, a new weapon system is also included in this game that provides the weapons at a workbench, at the same time, outfits are also available that give access to Aloy to wear new outfit-specific skills.

Horizon Forbidden West Characters

There are 41 characters you can find in the Horizon Forbidden Gameplay. However, Aloy is the main character of this game. Following are the key characteristics of Horizon Forbidden West

All Characters of the Horizon Forbidden West
Aloy	Erend	Varl
Zo	HADES	Sylens
Tilda	Regalla	Ted Faro
Elisabet Sobeck	Nil	Rost
Kotallo	Travis Tate	Sun-King Avad
Blameless Marad	Vanasha	Uthid
Hekarro	GAIA	Morlund
Petra	Fashav	Beta
Dekka	Rivira	MINERVA
Gerard	Erik	HEPHAESTUS
Talanah	Drakka	Jetakka
Yarra	APOLLO	ARTEMIS
AETHER	DEMETER	ELEUTHIA
POSEIDON	Amadis	Zingo

Horizon Forbidden West Weapons

There are multiple weapons that you can find in the Horizon Forbidden West. Interestingly you don’t need to spend hard-earned resources, arena medals, and hunter medals to unlock these weapons. Most of the time, these weapons are awarded when you complete the Errand, Side Quest, and Main Quest or other activities you can find within the game.

However, if you open the interactive map, you may also find some free weapons. So you can use them within the game.

All Weapons in Forbidden West
Spears & Hunter Bows	Blast Slings	Tripcasters
Warrior Bows	Shredder Gauntlets	Ropecasters
Sharpshot Bows	Spike Throwers	Boltblasters

Horizon Forbidden West System Requirements

If you want to play Horizon Forbidden West, you require a good system with good specs. It is a high-end game, so you need a good PC or laptop with the following specs described in the table below.

Features	Minimum Requirements	Features	Recommended Requirements
Operating System	Windows 7 and above	Operating System	Windows 10 (64 GB)
Generation	7th and above	Generation	11th and Above
RAM	8 GB	RAM	16 GB
Storage	65 GB Available Space	Storage	65 GB Available Space
Processor	Intel Core i5-2500K	Processor	Intel Core i7-6700K 4-Core 4.0GHz
Graphic	AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB	Graphic	AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB
DirectX	Version 11	DirectX	Version 12

Horizon Forbidden West display Required

This last Horizon Forbidden West game includes two major improvements. Now this game can support VRR with 120Hz mode. These features provide high-quality graphics for this game. Its Variable Refresh Rate allows the display to sync with the PS5 and PS4 consoles to reduce stuttering and eliminate screen tearing. However, this feature was not included when this game was released.

Now Sony has incorporated this feature since April 2022 the PS5 console. So finally, you can experience a high-quality display with Horizon Forbidden West.

Horizon Forbidden West FPS Required

FPS is based on the graphic you are using and what graphics you expect from the game. If your PC graphic is AMD, it has a different FPS, and if you have an Nvidia graphic card, it means you require a different FPS for better graphic results. However, if you have a recommended processor (Intel Core i7-6700K 4-Core 4.0GHz) with AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB, you can expect 60 FPS at 1080p screen resolution for a high graphic setting.

Horizon Forbidden West GPU Required

If we compare the PC requirement of Horizon Forbidden West, this game requires a graphic card that has the ability to cover OpenGL 4.4. If you want to get the best visual graphical experience of this game, you should use at least 8GB GPU RAM. Remember, only top graphics cards allow you to play Horizon Forbidden West.

Horizon Forbidden West Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
1. Looks StunningStellar Combat & Large Enemy Variety 2. Great Cast & Colorful Character 3. A character-led story 4. Good use of animation	1. Frustrating movement 2. Only compatible with PS5 and PS4 3. The Open World is Dull

Conclusion

Horizon Forbidden West displays a fascinating and cohesive world with great use of animation. This game is a combination of character design, combat, and culture. If you are a gaming lover, this game is highly recommended for you.

It would be best if you had a PS5 or PS4 gaming console to play this game. You can find a number of characters in that game; you need to handle the main character of this game Aloy who explores the Forbidden West in a new way rather than in the previous version of the Horizon Series. The graphics of this game are also stunning.

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