Open World fans are longing for this grandiose-looking game. But Horizon Forbidden West has to do without one of its predecessor’s greatest strengths.
For its release on 18 February 2021, Horizon Forbidden West (for PS5 only for now) continues the tradition of game names where I feel an urgent need to put a colon in the middle . Previously, its predecessor Zero Dawn had already triggered the same itch in my writing fingertips. Among many other emotions, of course.
Because the first Horizon ranked itself somewhere between “masterpiece” and “very, very good action adventure” in 2017 (and again in 2019 with the delayed launch of the PC version), and quite rightly so. While the one-time Sony exclusive was undoubtedly not perfect, I forgive anyone who adorned the game with that adjective. And I also pity anyone who did just that, because the sequel Horizon Forbidden West could trump its predecessor on all counts.
Only in one category might Forbidden West have a hard time taking on the legacy of Part 1. And my scepticism in this respect does not stem solely from the fact that we still know very little about Horizon 2’s story for fear of spoilers. Open-world fans could thus expect a paradoxical situation in February: Forbidden West has a good chance of being by far the better game, but still possibly succumbs to Horizon Zero Dawn in terms of story. What a sad development that would be!
Horizon won’t go away
Ten million copies sold. Guerilla Games was delighted with this sensational result () two years after the release of Horizon Zero Dawn. This means that the game will not make it into (the top 50 best-selling video games), but for the start of a new series this number is simply great. And Sony has taken this success as a signal to invest heavily in the brand: with Horizon 2. And with a virtual reality spin-off for PSVR2, Horizon: Call of the Mountain.
These steps show: Here comes a new mammoth project that could rival Assassin’s Creed in terms of market presence. How well it fits in that Horizon Forbidden West already resembles an Assassin’s Creed 2 in so many ways.
What do I mean by that? Well, the older ones among you will remember the first Assassin’s Creed: great ideas, fantastic graphics, a lot of hype, but the gameplay was too repetitive, players had to do the same thing over and over again between the main missions.
Assassin’s Creed 2 then built on the success of part 1 and surpassed it in all respects: The open world was more interestingly designed, the missions more exciting, the story more personal and the gameplay showed improvement in all aspects.
What we’ve seen of Horizon Forbidden West so far reminds me a lot of the jump between Assassin’s Creed 1 and 2. There are new movement options for heroine Aloy with the glider, diving and cool combat combos, plus more and crazier dino-monsters.
Everything also looks a lot smoother and more polished than in the first game; you can see where the presumably increased budget for the sequel has gone. Guerilla Games seems to have taken everything that the first game did well and improved where there was still room for improvement.
There is only one category where I wonder how the Dutch are going to do it: the background story.
Fall Trick Story
Horizon Zero Dawn’s story surprised me in a positive way. I’m talking about the one big story twist, of course. Anyone who has played the action adventure to the end already knows which one I’m talking about, of course. But just to be on the safe side, I’ll put this twist in a spoiler box, because it’s possible that the four-year-old Horizon is still moulding away on your Pile of Shame. In which case, I’d just like to say: shame on you.
Warning: the following paragraph contains spoilers
As the plot unfolds, the initially seemingly simple story turns out to be surprisingly cryptic. Horizon Zero Dawn is set not in the post-apocalypse, but the post-post-apocalypse. Humanity didn’t just barely survive the war against ravenous robots – it was completely wiped out. And Zero Dawn is the repopulation protocol that scientists activate at the last moment. By then it is long too late for them and all other humans, but subsequent generations are born centuries later into a new world – without any prior knowledge, because their forefathers destroy the intended library with the collected knowledge of mankind. It’s a twist that you don’t see coming, and for that very reason is permanently burned into the memory of every Horizon player.]
This is underpinned by many small artefacts and associated stories. In terms of environmental storytelling, Horizon Zero Dawn truly didn’t have to hide from the big boys (yes, I’m looking in your direction, Fallout, but don’t let that go to your head).
Guerilla Games’ open-world adventure simply manages to create an extremely believable world that is as fun to explore as it is to fathom its past.
But – and of course you knew there was a but coming here somewhere, because when do I ever pour out pages and pages of praise about a game in my columns without the thick end yet to come? But: I am very sceptical that Horizon 2 will be able to repeat or even surpass this stroke of storytelling genius. Because: The brilliant idea behind the scenario of the Horizon games was “used up” in the predecessor.
It is the surprising twist from the predecessor that creates a certain expectation in me for the sequel. One that may be impossible to fulfil. I don’t want to rule out that the authors at Guerilla Games will pull a similarly cool twist out of the hat again. But at least with a view to the back story of the scenario, that seems almost impossible. Horizon has already shot its powder here with Zero Dawn. What could possibly go one better?
So it will be mostly up to the present day story around Aloy to captivate players. And while I really appreciate the young woman as a protagonist, I also have to remember that the story in the predecessor had quite a hard time getting off the ground aside from the Zero Dawn revelations.
I hope that the breadcrumbs laid out at the end of Part 1 will pay off in the sequel, that the story will take an exciting direction and that the new scenario on the west coast of what was once the USA will offer room for new developments and startling insights. But at the same time, I wonder how much of this the developers have in store after the predecessor, which was very surprising in this regard.
From this perspective, it seems doubly sensible that Guerilla Games has focused so much on the apparently expanded gameplay possibilities in previous presentations of Horizon Forbidden West. Of course, the developers don’t want to give away too much of the story in advance. And of course they are keen to coin the motto “nicer, bigger, better” for the sequel to their hit, which can now no longer score points solely on the novelty of its scenario.
No question: If the action adventure plays only half as well as it already looks in the first videos, then another open-world milestone awaits us here. But perhaps one that lacks that special feeling that I had back then when uncovering the story background of Part 1. And that would be a shame.
What do you think?
Are you looking forward to Horizon Forbidden West? Are the changes to the game presented so far enough to convince you to buy it? Will you be waiting for the PC version or will you be jumping straight in on PlayStation? How did you experience the story of Zero Dawn? Do you have a completely different opinion? Let me know in the comments.
