Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn. Here’s everything you need to know.
Horizon Forbidden West has managed to cement itself as one of the most highly-anticipated exclusives for PS5 for good reason, and its February 2022 release date is getting closer by the day. Releasing on both PS5 and PS4, Horizon Forbidden West was originally slated for a 2021 launch, but was confirmed during Gamescom 2021 to be pushed back to February 18, 2022. The sequel to 2017’s critically acclaimed Horizon Zero Dawn, we know that Horizon Forbidden West will continue the story of protagonist Aloy. This time around, she finds herself in the western United States on a mission to stop a mysterious threat known only as the Red Blight. Following on from Zero Dawn, the game will feature a large open world filled with machines, gadgets, and weapons to discover. New activities include underwater exploration and a variety of new tools and weapons Aloy will acquire on her adventure. It’s safe to say what we’ve seen so far is pretty visually impressive. If you want all the details about Horizon Forbidden West so far—and we’re learning a great deal as the game’s release approaches—read on. We’ve collected together the news and rumors below, including its release date, trailers, price and more. [Update: There’s a brand new Horizon Forbidden West trailer to feast your eyes on. Keep scrolling to watch it for yourself.] Though it was originally expected to release in 2021, particularly after PlayStation boss Jim Ryan told GQ he felt « pretty good » that Horizon Forbidden West would hit that year, during Gamescom 2021 Sony confirmed that the game has been delayed until February 18 2022. While it’s later than originally expected it is at least now a solid date. This followed PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst expressing a cautious approach to the release date in June and a Bloomberg report in July which claimed that Sony has pushed back the Horizon Forbidden West release date to the first quarter of 2022. In a post on the official PlayStation Blog, game director Mathijs de Jonge cited the global pandemic as a reason for the game’s delay, saying « It’s no surprise that our teams were hugely impacted by the global pandemic; we have been adjusting to new workflows, protocols, and other challenges, while keeping our teams safe and prioritizing a healthy work/life balance. » He went on to say that « while the decision to move the game’s launch to 2022 certainly wasn’t easy, we’d like to take a moment to thank all of our fans for their unwavering support; we know how much you’ve been looking forward to reuniting with Aloy and her friends, continuing her story, and exploring a new and more dangerous world. Your passion, fan art, cosplay, virtual photography, and videos have meant the world to all of us. » Following a pre-order announcement from Sony, we finally know how much Horizon Forbidden West will cost at launch for its different versions. The Standard Edition, which comes with just the base game will be $59.99 / £59.99 / AU$109.95 on PS4 and $69.99 / £69.99 / AU$124.95 on PS5. Alternatively, you could splash out on a series of more expensive options like the Special Edition (which includes an art book with the base game), a Digital Deluxe Edition (which includes the base game and in-game digital bonuses like outfits), or the Collector’s and Regalla editions which add physical statues and other goodies into the mix. Originally, Sony made the controversial decision to not include a free PS5 upgrade for Horizon Forbidden West’s PS4 version. This has since been walked back due to fan backlash, with Jim Ryan announcing the PS5 upgrade will be free, and players will no longer need to purchase the Deluxe edition to be eligible for it. Additionally, all future cross-gen titles will feature a flat $10 / £10 fee to upgrade from the PS4 to the PS5 version, which will likely include God of War: Ragnarok and Gran Turismo 7. If you want to know more details about the various editions of Horizon Forbidden West, you can check out the full announcement on Sony’s website. Three new machines trailer In a December 2021 trailer, PlayStation has put the focus on some of the machines that will make an appearance in Horizon Forbidden West. There are some familiar machines in the trailer but it also reveals three new ones: “the armored Rollerback, the graceful Sunwing, and the acid-spitting Slitherfang”. Take a look at them roaming the rocky, sandy landscape of the Forbidden West. A trailer for Horizon Forbidden West was debuted at The Game Awards 2021, showing a mixture of environments and enemies we can expect in the long-awaited sequel. Check it out, below: During Gamescom 2021’s Opening Night Live showcase, Horizon Forbidden West game director Mathijs de Jonge revealed the official release date for the game. We got another look at Horizon Forbidden West during a May 2021 State of Play.14 minutes of gameplay were shown off, giving us a better idea of what we can expect from Aloy’s adventures out west. Watch it for yourself below: Sony and Guerrilla Games revealed the first Horizon Forbidden West trailer at the PS5 games reveal event on June 11, 2020. The trailer below provides a three-minute glimpse at the kinds of varied landscapes you’ll explore in the second game, and which machines you can expect to fight (mammoths and alligators, by the looks of it). We also get the sense that Horizon Forbidden West will be heavy on underwater gameplay, based on how much of a big deal the trailer makes of Aloy using her scuba gear at the 1:40 mark above, and the shots of underwater ruined cities. A direct sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West takes place 6 months after the end of the first game and will see Aloy travel west from her homeland to a new frontier setting. The reason for Aloy’s journey is to seek out her allies and a solution to the Red Blight, a mysterious organism that’s destroying the natural world and she’ll meet new tribes and new machines along the way. Horizon Forbidden West will take players to locations like San Francisco, Yosemite and beyond, with narrative director Ben McCaw telling GamesRadar that “the vast, vast majority of the game takes place in the Forbidden West”. Game Director Mathijs de Jonge has told IGN that Horizon Forbidden West has a larger, more dense game world than Zero Dawn. According to de Jonge: “The map is a little bit bigger, but in general, we’ve really looked at increasing the density, and adding more content, making sure there’s a lot more to do for the player across the map, and then making that content also engaging by telling little micro-stories.” Some of the additional breadth and depth in the world is coming from new underwater exploration. Narrative director Benjamin McCaw explained that “Exploration is really the theme. And it’s not enough for us to just show underwater. We wanted to make sure that it’s every bit as beautiful as what you see in the natural world above it. But it wasn’t just enough that you could swim around underwater. We wanted to do some things that are really surprising and interesting. And I think that’s where some of the story stuff comes in, and we just absolutely can’t wait for players to see what they’re going to experience.” As revealed in an official PlayStation blog post, there’s an entire team, headed up by Espen Sogn, Lead Living World Designer, that’s dedicated to making Horizon Forbidden West’s “world feel authentic and alive: the tribes, the settlements, and the people within them. » Sogn’s team has worked alongside the narrative team and Annie Kitain, Senior Writer at Guerrilla, says that “a lot of thought” has gone into every tribe that players will encounter in the game. “Take the Tenakth, for instance,” Kitain explains, “Many of their beliefs are influenced by the ancient ruins of the Forbidden West, and unlike other tribes, they’re comprised of three distinct clans. Their shared history, convictions, disputes – all of that is important to developing the characters that Aloy will meet on her journey.” The “competitive and combat-focused” Tenakth are both similar and different from other tribes in the game world and this, in turn, is communicated through the game world itself, through “the details, the animations, and the behaviors. Within their settlements, you’ll see the Tenakth working out, readying themselves for battle. They’re often younger because they need to be capable warriors.
