Horizon Zero Dawn - The Story So Far (What You Need to Know to Play Horizon Forbidden West)

Horizon Forbidden West is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The sequel to 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn, the game is set in a post-apocalyptic version of the Western United States recovering from the aftermath of an extinction event caused by a rogue robot swarm. The player can explore the open world and complete quests using ranged and melee weapons against hostile machine creatures.

Horizon Forbidden West was released on February 18, 2022, for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. It was praised for its visuals, combat, vocal performances and technical advancements, while the writing and open world design drew mixed responses. The game had sold over 8.4 million units by April 2023. An expansion, Burning Shores, was released on April 19, 2023 exclusively for the PlayStation 5 version.Gameplay
Horizon Forbidden West is an action role-playing game played from a third-person perspective. The player controls Aloy, a hunter in a world populated by dangerous, animalistic machines. In an open world, she explores the mysterious frontier known as the Forbidden West, a post-apocalyptic version of the Western United States, specifically the states of California, Nevada, and Utah.[1] The map is larger than in the previous game.[how?][2][3] Exploration is improved with new underwater discoveries,[4][5] and improvements to combat using the Valor Surge system, freeform climbing, and tools such as the Shieldwing, Focus Scanner, Diving Mask, and Pullcaster.[6] The mission structure for quests better supports variety in objectives with compelling reward systems.[7]
Synopsis
Setting
Horizon Forbidden West continues the story of Aloy (Ashly Burch), a young hunter of the Nora tribe and a clone of the Old World scientist Elisabet Sobeck, as she leads a band of companions on a quest to the frontier region known as the Forbidden West to find the source of a mysterious plague that kills all it infects. On her journey across these lands, Aloy encounters new regions ravaged by massive storms and deadly machines, and conflicts with a tribe of nomadic raiders, some of which have tamed the machines as war mounts. She discovers a vast array of environments and ecosystems, including lush valleys, dry deserts, snowy mountains, tropical beaches, ruined cities, and underwater settings.[8]
Plot
In the six months following the defeat of HADES (Anthony Ingruber) in Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy has been searching fruitlessly for a working backup of GAIA (Lesley Ewen) to restore the planet's rapidly degrading biosphere. After she discovers that her former associate Sylens (Lance Reddick) did not destroy but stole HADES, he contacts Aloy and asks her to continue her search in the region known as the Forbidden West.

Aloy and her friend Varl (John Macmillan) cross into the west to find the ruling Tenakth tribe amidst a civil war between Chief Hekarro (Geno Segers) and the rebel leader Regalla (Angela Bassett). Aloy tracks Sylens to a facility where she finds HADES badly damaged and permanently deletes it. She recovers a GAIA backup without its subsystems but is interrupted by a group of futuristic humans. The group, consisting of their leader Gerard (Dan Donohue), his lieutenant Tilda (Carrie-Anne Moss), enforcer Erik (Marc Kudisch), and accompanied by a clone of Sobeck named Beta (also voiced by Burch), possess advanced technology that renders them invulnerable. They take a second GAIA backup while Aloy barely escapes.

Zo (Erica Luttrell), a member of the nearby Utaru tribe, guides Aloy to a control center where she rejoins GAIA with her subsystem MINERVA. GAIA locates the other subsystems, AETHER, DEMETER, and POSEIDON, and advises Aloy to retrieve them before attempting to capture the more advanced HEPHAESTUS. GAIA reveals the extinction signal that triggered HADES and mutated the subsystems originated from the Sirius system; Aloy suspects that the futuristic humans sent it. She later tracks down Beta, who informs Aloy that her group are, in fact, Far Zenith, an organization of billionaire colonists who fled Earth during its global extinction, having managed to extend their natural lifespans. After their colony on Sirius collapsed, the Zeniths returned to Earth to use GAIA through Beta's genetic make-up for their own recolonization. They already acquired subsystems ELEUTHIA, ARTEMIS, and APOLLO, but Beta has stolen their GAIA backup.

Aloy recovers AETHER after helping Hekarro advance in the civil war and retrieves POSEIDON from the ruins of Las Vegas. Journeying to California, she encounters the Quen, a foreign tribe attempting to solve ecological crises in their homeland. Aloy helps tribe member Alva (Alison Jaye) acquire data while recovering DEMETER. After obtaining a high-level clearance from the private bunker-turned-tomb of a mutated Ted Faro (Lloyd Owen) in the ruins of San Francisco, Aloy helps GAIA to trap HEPHAESTUS but is attacked by the Zeniths. Erik kills Varl and recaptures Beta while Gerard steals GAIA, but Tilda double-crosses them and helps Aloy escape. Tilda explains that she was romantically involved with Elisabet Sobeck and regretted leaving her; having been inspired by Aloy, she wishes to stop Far Zenith. She further reveals that Sylens has been supporting the Tenakth rebels to use them against the Zeniths. Aloy refuses to sacrifice the Tenakth and instead defeats Regalla herself after thwarting the latter's final attack on Hekarro.

Aloy and her companions assault Far Zenith's base, while Beta releases HEPHAESTUS into the Zeniths' network and it builds a near-endless amount of machines that tie down Far Zenith's army of drones. Sylens disables the Zeniths' personal defences, allowing Aloy and Zo to kill Erik, while Tilda kills Gerard. Aloy and Beta learn that the Far Zenith colony was destroyed by Nemesis, a failed mind uploading experiment they created; the Zeniths fled from Nemesis and hoped to steal GAIA to colonize a new planet. Nemesis also sent the extinction signal to Earth and is en route to destroy the planet. Tilda tries to force Aloy to abandon Earth with her, but Aloy refuses and is forced to kill Tilda. Sylens reveals that HADES told him about Nemesis and also plans to escape Earth, but has a change of heart and decides to aid Aloy against Nemesis. Aloy's companions disperse to spread the warning of Nemesis while Aloy and Beta reactivate GAIA.

Burning Shores downloadable content
Some time after the defeat of Far Zenith, Sylens warns Aloy that one Zenith member, aerospace magnate Walter Londra, remains unaccounted for. The last known sighting of Londra places him at a location to the south called the Burning Shores, the former site of Los Angeles. Upon arriving in the Burning Shores, Aloy meets a member of the Quen tribe, Seyka. Seyka agrees to guide Aloy to Londra's hideout on Starlight Rise (Griffith Observatory), in return for helping her disable a Zenith defense tower. Seyka takes Aloy to her settlement, Fleet's End, explaining that her fleet was separated from the main Quen expedition heading to San Francisco, shipwrecked on the Burning Shores, and have been stranded since. It is revealed that Seyka stole a deceased Diviner's Focus and found a clue that some crew that had gone missing are located at Starlight Rise. Admiral Gerrit allows Aloy and Seyka to pursue this lead since one of the missing crew is Seyka's sister and the fleet's last remaining navigator.

Working together, Aloy and Sekya destroy the Tower and make their way to Starlight Rise. Upon reaching it, they discover signs that Londra has captured the missing Quen crew and has been forcing them to excavate his old headquarters. They find evidence of him retrieving data on a project called "MSP" and follow his trail north to the wreckage of a Horus war machine resting near the Hollywood Sign. They come across a Quen camp and are dismayed to see that the missing Quen crew have willingly joined Londra, worshipping him as a god who promises them "Ascension". They infiltrate Londra's Ascension Hall and discover that he is using the Horus to build a rocket to take him off the planet. However, in order to get the lift he needs, Londra salvaged experimental nuclear booster engines from the Starlight Rise but the use of them would irradiate the entire Burning Shore and its surrounding lands. After eliminating Londra's henchman Zeth, they learn he has taken a small number of his most loyal Quen, including Seyka's sister, to a nearby abandoned amusement park in preparation for their journey.

Aloy and Seyka infiltrate the park and make contact with Londra's personal AI, Nova. Nova explains that Londra intends to use his rocket to take himself and a select few Quen and genetic library collected from his Quen followers to found a new colony away from the threat of Nemesis. However, to ensure that his followers will not betray him, Londra reactivated his Mutiny Suppression Protocol research, using it to brainwash Quen into being his loyal followers. Nova then deactivates Londra's security measures in return for Aloy deleting her so she can finally be free from Londra's constant tweaking of her personality matrix. They enter Londra's inner sanctum, where they find him ready to seduce Seyka's sister Kina. Seyka then intervenes, forcing Londra to flee back to his bunker underneath the Hollywood Sign. Londra activates the Horus and uses it to attack Aloy and Seyka, who sabotage its cooling system to weaken it and open a breach in its hull. Aloy then infiltrates the Horus and kills Londra.

In the aftermath, Aloy sends all of the data from Londra's Focus to Sylens, and helps the Quen in Fleet's End make contact with Alva so they can coordinate on reuniting their fleets. Aloy also has an option of starting a romantic relationship with Seyka before temporarily parting ways. Upon returning to her base, Aloy meets with Sylens who has managed to decrypt some of Londra's data, finding a list of 21st century companies that were developing experimental weaponry that may be key to defeating Nemesis.

Development
Guerrilla Games began developing Horizon Forbidden West in 2018, a year after its predecessor Horizon Zero Dawn was released.[9] It was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.[10][11] The director is Mathijs de Jonge and the narrative director is Benjamin McCaw.[12] Joris de Man, The Flight (composed of Joe Henson and Alexis Smith), and Niels van de Leest return to compose an original score for the game alongside Oleksa Lozowchuk.[13] Ashly Burch, Lance Reddick, and John Hopkins reprise their roles as Aloy, Sylens, and Erend, respectively.[14][15] Angela Bassett plays a new character named Regalla, and Carrie-Anne Moss plays Tilda.[16] Using motion capturing, Aloy's motions were acted by Peggy Vrijens.[17]

The PlayStation 5's increased processing power, custom solid-state drive storage, Tempest Engine, and DualSense controller provides the game with advanced haptic feedback, 3D spatial audio, enhanced lighting, special water rendering, improved visual effects, and reduced loading times.[18][19][20] This version has an optional "performance mode" at 60 frames per second with a lower base resolution,[21] and an updated version of the Decima engine supporting high dynamic range.[22]

Release
Horizon Forbidden West was announced during Sony's PlayStation 5 reveal event in June 2020 with a planned release in 2021.[10][23][24] On May 27, 2021, Guerrilla Games showcased a 14-minute PlayStation 5 gameplay demo for the game in Sony's State of Play presentation.[22] In June 2021, head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst said they were on track for a late 2021 release but development was being partly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as they were having trouble getting access to performance capture and talent.[25] On August 25, 2021, it was announced that its release had been delayed to February 18, 2022.[26] The game had "gone gold" on January 27, 2022, according to Guerrilla Games, meaning that physical copies were ready to be produced, with any further development delivered through online software updates.[27]

The PlayStation 4 version can be freely upgraded to the PlayStation 5 version.[28][29] The PlayStation 4 version comes on two Blu-ray discs containing 97 GB, and the PlayStation 5 version comes on one Ultra HD Blu-ray disc containing 98 GB.[30]

A comic book series, set after the events of the first game, was published by Titan Comics on August 5, 2020.[31] On June 3, 2021, Guerilla released an extended play (EP) titled The Isle of Spires composed of four tracks.[13] On February 16, 2022, Argentine singer Nathy Peluso released "Emergencia", an electronic single inspired by the video game. In the music video, Peluso takes on the role of Aloy.[32]

A downloadable expansion titled Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores was announced at The Game Awards 2022. It was released exclusively for the PS5 on April 19, 2023.[33]Horizon Forbidden West received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[34][35] Many critics praised the game's larger setting compared to the first entry. In a review published by Wired, Swapna Krishna praised Horizon Forbidden West as a successful open world game and as a manageable alternative to the less forgiving gameplay of The Witcher 3,[50] while in a review for NPR, Krishna compared the game favorably to the first in the series, writing that it "continues the achievements of its predecessor" while "seeking to improve upon them in every way".[51] Jason Schreier, in a review for Bloomberg, echoed this sentiment, writing "The mantra for Horizon Forbidden West's development appears to be: make everything bigger, better and more beautiful."[52] Conversely, in a mixed review for The Telegraph, Dan Silver characterized the game's open world and scale as "overwhelming".[53]

Some critics noted technical issues at launch, ranging from minor graphical issues, to crashes and losses of save files.[52][54]

Sales
In the UK, Forbidden West was the best digitally selling game during the week of release. At least 49% of all sales in the UK were made digitally.[55] By the end of 2022, 530,454 copies of the game had been sold in the UK.[56] In Germany, over 200,000 copies of the game were sold during its launch month.[57] The PlayStation 4 version of Horizon Forbidden West was the third bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 48,476 physical copies being sold. The PlayStation 5 version sold 43,012 physical copies in Japan throughout the same week, making it the fourth bestselling retail game of the week in the country.[58] In May 2023, Sony announced that more than 8.4 million copies of the game had been sold as of April 16, 2023.[59]