Game review: Horizon: Forbidden West Complete Edition (PC)
Another AAA PlayStation exclusive gets ported over for lucky PC gamers. Horizon: Forbidden West is the sequel to Horizon: Zero Dawn, continuing the adventures of Aloy as she makes her way across a post-apocalyptic America. The PC version includes platform-specific visual tweaks and the Burning Shores DLC.
Whereas the first game kept players on the hook with Aloy's mysterious origin, this sequel relies on the extensive world-building that was set up in Horizon: Zero Dawn. To keep players engaged. As with the first game, Forbidden West casts players as Aloy, a Clanswoman of the Nora tribe, exiled as a child and labelled an outcast. Aloy is now heralded as the saviour of her people as she, alone, held the key to the mystery of the metal monsters that roam the ruins of the ancients.
The developers referred to Aloy's world as being post-post-apocalyptic. Our ruined cities have been fully reclaimed by nature, and what remains of humanity are now just scattered tribes with little knowledge of the ancient relics of civilisation that pepper the landscape. Technology is outlawed and curiosities of the past are used as trinkets. It's a fascinating and fully realised setting.
In this sequel, the corrupted monstrous animal-like machines still roam the land, furthermore, a red blight is spreading across the land. Only Aloy with her knowledge of the old world can save her people. But this involves activating an ancient AI and a journey to the Forbidden West. Building on Aloy's unique origin, a new group of technically advanced humans has been sighted.
Horizon: Forbidden West has big shoes to fill. The first game was a bit of a surprise hit. It was a change of pace for Guerrilla Games, the Dutch studio better known for its Killzone first-person shooter games than third-person RPGs.
The new game by-and-large sticks to the same role-playing game formula as the first. Aloy must gather materials, hunt, and craft, to replenish ammo and heath potions. The world is so detailed and well realised, that it's no chore to spend time hunting and harvesting.
As with the first game, stealth is key. Aloy can use her focus device to scan opponents to get data on their vulnerabilities. Aloy can also sometimes use the device to show their patrol route. Sneaking past powerful and/or numerous enemies is sometimes a better idea than taking them all on.
Engaging the enemy is unavoidable. The combat of Forbidden West has been tweaked, mostly for the better. I'm not sure how, but it isn't quite as easy as in the first game. At first, I found it a bit frustrating, having just come from replaying Zero Dawn. As I progressed, things fell into place, but for the sequel, encounters are most definitely more of a challenge.
Some of the locations, the ruins and dense vegetation. mainly, look traversable, but are not. This can be frustrating as you feel you should be able to go somewhere but the game won't let you. Not quite a case of an invisible wall, but it's close.
A minor niggle in a game that otherwise refines the original, adding many quality-of-life features and gameplay tweaks. These give the game more depth to make it one of the most fulfilling open-world RPGs in recent years.
Climbing is more available and logical, not just where the gameplay requires it to be. The pullcaster allows Aloy to reach ledges and pull down loose walls. Traversing is also enhanced by the shieldwing, a glider that can allow Aloy to travel great distances if launched from a high peak. The vertical gameplay is further enhanced with Aloy now able to swim underwater. All these open up the world in a way that the first game didn't.
Combat, as I mentioned, gets some tweaks. As well as new combos and abilities on the skill trees, Aloy can use resonator blasts, targeting one area on an enemy to unleash a powerful combo attack with her staff and an arrow. Valor surges are special attacks that unlock over time dealing devastating damage. In keeping with the game's vertical gameplay, traps can now be set that take out flying mechanical beasts, particularly handy for one otherwise tricky encounter.
Gatherers and fans of loot collecting will be pleased to know that excess materials are now sent to your stash as opposed to you just having to leave them. Stash chests can be found in settlements and shelters. Also, at shelters, you can change the time of day.
On PC the game looks glorious, almost too good. OK. So, I'm running it on an Intel Core i9-13600 CPU with an Nvidia RTX 4090, it should look an order of magnitude better than it does on the PS5. PC owners also get higher resolutions and refresh rates as well as more options to tweak the visuals and performance. Access to the advanced AI frame interpolation functions of Nvidia's DLSS, AMD's FSR and Intel's XeSS grants even more modest PCs with reasonable performance.
Horizon: Forbidden West is an essential purchase for PC gamers who enjoy open-world role-playing games. Aloy's world is rich and well-defined. The story is an interesting take on the post-apocalyptic genre, with some intriguing mystery, even after the revelations of the first game. This PC Complete Edition is the definitive version of the game and is likely to be one of the best-looking titles you've ever played.
Verdict: 9.5/10
