Horizon Forbidden West Review Squad Goals

Horizon Forbidden West picks up the story shortly after Horizon Zero Dawn ended. After beating HADES for a few months, the world is not getting better as Aloy had hoped. A deadly disease spreads across the land and kills everything it interacts with. This makes Aloy go on a mission to find a backup for GAIA so she can fix the broken biosphere. Aloy will have to fight through dangerous machines, harsh storms, and clans at war if she wants to save humanity.

Invariably I wouldn’t say I liked the story, to be honest. It takes a while for Horizon: Forbidden West to get going. A lot of what happened in Horizon Zero Dawn is repeated in the first part of the game, which makes it feel rushed and underdeveloped. At the beginning of the game, Aloy spends a lot of time with her friend and fellow Nora, Varl. This is mainly because the tutorial mission is given to Aloy through Varl.

Horizon: Forbidden West’s gameplay is mostly the same as before. You fight, sneak around, and set traps. Everything has been tightened up and polished, removing many annoying things in Horizon: Zero Dawn. Horizon: Forbidden West still has Warrior Bows, Sharpshot Bows, Hunter Bows, Ropecasters, Tripcasters, Blast Slings, and your Champion Spear. They work pretty much the same as before. Even so, there are a lot of new weapons to play with this time.

Horizon: Forbidden West makes exploring much more fun in general. The map is vast and has a lot of places to go, many of which have very different environments and climates. Horizon: Forbidden West has excellent graphics, which are a big part of why the world feels so rich and authentic. I couldn’t stop being blown away by how beautiful it is. Like most AAA games these days, Horizon: Forbidden West has a Photo Mode, and for the most part, it’s pretty good.

You can change the time of day, the angle of the camera, the aperture, and the exposure. You can also put Aloy in a variety of fun poses. It’s not nearly as interesting as Ghost of Tsushima’s Photo Mode, but nothing is. Still, it’s a lot of fun, especially when you see a beautiful view or look at how beautiful the different tribes are.

Even with these problems in mind, there is still a lot to love about Horizon: Forbidden West. It looks fantastic, the controls are tight and easy to use, and the new weapons are a lot of fun to play with. The Pullcaster and the ability to explore underwater were massive changes that made the game much more fun. It’s easy to get lost in this rich world. Even though I’ve finished the main story, I still want to go back and find any hidden secrets. If you didn’t like Horizon Zero Dawn, you probably wouldn’t like this either. But if you like Horizon Zero Dawn as much as I do, you will love Horizon Forbidden West.