Horizon Forbidden West is an action RPG developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PS4 and PS5. It’s the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, continuing the story of Aloy (voiced by Ashly Burch) on her quest to save human life while exploring the western side of the former United States. It’s an extremely large, open-world game with an extensive amount of things to discover, quests to complete, and trophies to earn. There is one DLC available, Burning Shores, and a third game is in development. This review will break down the story, gameplay, and quality of the game. This is NOT a spoiler-free review. 

Aloy, a clone of Elisabet Sobek who was the creator of GAIA (voiced by Lesley Ewen), is seeking to reverse the damage done by HADES (voiced by Anthony Ingruber) and rebuild GAIA as the planet is slowly posining itself and the robots are becoming more aggressive. Sylens (voiced by Lance Reddick), someone who once helped her navigate her discoveries, has seemingly turned against her as he works towards his own secret goals, using her only when needed. While the goals of the mission are clear, a new enemy comes from space that creates an extremely difficult challenge with their advanced technology and machines. Despite Aloy’s nature to travel and fight alone, as the game goes on she develops strong friendships and a group of different types of individuals who want to help her save their homes. She also gains a sister after meeting another clone of Elisabet, named Beta (also voiced by Ashly Burch), who was an unwilling servant of those from Far Zenith until she was able to escape. 

New gameplay mechanics were introduced, including new traversal tools, underwater exploration, and expanded melee combat, to expand the exploration possibilities within the world. The goal was to always have something for Aloy to do or discover, which is why the map is covered in question marks, enemy camps, or other points of inquiry. Using machines, it is manageable to explore the landscape at a reasonable pace, but it would take over 100 hours to find and complete everything on the map alongside the main story. This type of in-depth gaming adds to the immersion of the story and builds out the world in extensive detail.

The story concludes with the difficult defeat of the Far Zeniths, losing Varl (voiced by John Macmillan) along the way. Aloy defeated the final Zeniths but discovered a new threat coming, known as Nemesis, which is a deranged creation the Zeniths were actually fleeing from. While the buildup to this was extensive, the ending felt more like a setup for a third game instead of a conclusion to the journey. Many games leave things open-ended, but this ending was fully written for a third, not to stand on its own, which took away from the immersion for this end. There seems to be hope for the future as they prepare for this new threat, but it does require the third game to exceed all expectations with how this ending was handled. 

This game was one of the largest developed at the time, with a team of over 300 people working full-time to expand the game with story-driven quests and vast opportunities to explore. It received generally positive praise with light criticism of the story and some of Aloy’s actions. It was nominated for Game of the Year in 2022 and re-released for the PS5 in October of 2023. 

The DLC that was released did bring some controversy of Aloy’s romantic choices, as a new character was introduced and a relationship option was available, though it felt forced. Despite her new bonds with her friends, Aloy’s character is that of an independent person who does not have the space for a romantic relationship. Additionally, if she were to pursue one, the only character who seems viable for this (in my opinion) is Kotallo (voiced by Noshir Dalal) due to their similar natures and strong bond formed from respect. 

Overall, this was a great game to play with its story depth and vast exploration opportunities. Though it requires a lot of time and dedication, it has a fairly solid story and strong character development for Aloy. I strongly advise playing the first one or watching a detailed review of it, as this game is heavily reliant on your experience from the first! 

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