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Overview
Horizon Forbidden West is Guerrilla Games' follow-up to Horizon Zero Dawn, released on February 18, 2022, for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, with a PC release arriving later via Steam and the Epic Games Store. Aloy travels west into territories that include the ruins of Utah, Nevada, and California, chasing the source of a mysterious blight that is killing plant life and destabilizing machine behavior across the region. The stakes are higher, the world is larger, and the threats are considerably more dangerous than anything in the original game.
The setting does a lot of heavy lifting here. Guerrilla built a world that feels genuinely alien despite being set on Earth, where flooded cities, overgrown deserts, and tribal societies have replaced everything recognizable from modern civilization. Every region has its own visual identity and its own dominant machine population, which keeps exploration feeling fresh across a campaign that runs well over 30 hours for players who engage with the side content.
Gameplay and mechanics
Combat is the core of the Horizon Forbidden West experience, and Guerrilla refined it significantly from Zero Dawn. Aloy has access to a wide arsenal of bows, slings, and traps, each designed to exploit specific machine vulnerabilities. Machines have distinct weak points tied to their component parts, which means fights reward observation and preparation rather than just twitch reflexes.
Key combat and traversal tools include:
- Pullcaster grapple hook for vertical traversal
- Shieldwing glider for controlled descents
- Diving gear for underwater exploration
- Valor Surge abilities tied to the skill tree
- Weapon upgrades using scavenged machine components
The skill tree expanded significantly from the first game, splitting across six distinct categories that let players lean into stealth, aggressive melee, ranged damage, or support-style abilities. Machine overriding, which lets Aloy turn enemies into mounts or allies, returns and plays a bigger role in certain encounters.
What makes the world worth exploring?
Horizon Forbidden West answers that question with density. The map is filled with Cauldrons (underground machine facilities that unlock new override abilities), Rebel camps, Relic Ruins, and Tallneck machines that reveal sections of the map when climbed. None of these feel like throwaway padding because each ties back to the game's lore or rewards Aloy with meaningful upgrades.
The underwater traversal system is a genuine addition to the formula. Large portions of the world sit beneath water, and diving into flooded ruins or fighting aquatic machines adds a dimension that the original game never had. It is not just a visual treat. It opens up entirely new categories of enemy encounters and puzzle spaces.
Visual and audio design
On PS5, Horizon Forbidden West runs at 60fps in Performance mode and pushes close to native 4K in Fidelity mode. The PS5 Pro version adds further visual enhancements. Machine designs are the clear highlight, with creatures like the Slitherfang and Tremortusk setting a new bar for scale and mechanical detail. The environments range from sun-bleached desert ruins to dense jungle canopies, and the transitions between biomes are handled without visible loading.
The score by Joris de Man and the Guerrilla Games music team builds on the atmospheric foundation of the first game, blending tribal percussion with synthetic textures in a way that fits the world's hybrid nature. Voice performances across the cast are strong, with Ashly Burch returning as Aloy alongside a large ensemble of new characters tied to the western tribes.
Content and replayability
The base game holds an enormous amount of content before any DLC is considered. The Burning Shores expansion, set in the ruins of Los Angeles, adds several hours of story content and a new region exclusive to PS5. Completion runs tracking all collectibles, side quests, and machine hunting challenges can push well past 60 hours. The game carries a 4.63 out of 5 rating from over 63,000 PlayStation Store reviews, which reflects a player base that found the package consistently satisfying rather than just impressive at launch. For anyone who wants a post-apocalyptic open-world RPG with mechanical depth and a story that actually pays off, Horizon Forbidden West makes a strong case for its place at the top of the genre.