Horizon: 5 years since Zero Dawn; We had jammed the Frozen Wild DLC together, but we were missing the huge world that Aloy was stuck between the future and the past, and we were missing the huge world that Aloy put into this jam, so with the release of PlayStation 5, we have been waiting for the arrival of the new game for the last 2 years with great excitement. Horizon: Zero Dawn, which managed to become one of the best games of Sony as it was released, attracted so much attention that it received full marks from authorities and gamers. Horizon: Zero Dawn, set in an open-ended world where you find yourself in a post-apocalyptic world, is finally with us with its new episode. Welcome to Forbidden West!
5 years later for us, and only 6 months for the Horizon universe… Hades was defeated, but there is still an ongoing oddity. The first signs begin with a red bush seen in the surrounding area. As everything that comes in contact with it is damaged, you suddenly find yourself on the brink of a decades-long war between the Eastern Sun Kingdom and the Western tribe. The lands of the Sun Kingdom and the Western tribe called Tenakth are separated from each other and you are completely forbidden to cross into that area. But Aloy, of course, gets in there, and so does Forbitten West.
We said you need to play the first game, but in the first hours of Forbitten West, a long-term connection is drawn between the first game and Forbitten West. We meet old friends and enter forbidden lands after the bloody war that followed. But what a world it is! Forbitten West is as colorful as the first game, of course, but with the power of PS5, you enter a beautifully rendered visual feast. A very beautiful world was presented to us in the first game, but the developer team Guerilla Games stepped up in the new game. If you have time, that is, if you do not squeeze this game in between, you will find yourself watching the environment from time to time. If you don’t have time, don’t play this game on the net, you can’t adapt to its atmosphere, you can’t get to know its world; it will be just a game where you complete the missions for you. Because it’s not just a visual feast, it’s a huge map and there are tons of things to do, lots of stories to listen to and characters with backgrounds to recognize. So for this game you will need 60 hours.
As the story of the game deepens in Forbitten West, Aloy’s story also gets deeper. For this reason, investigating every detail and interacting with the environment definitely increases the enjoyment you will get from the game. In this sense, Forbitten West was a full production.
Guerilla Games has decorated Forbitten West with fine details. As in the first game, there are side missions and more side missions besides the main missions, and many of them have their own stories, which are important details that keep the player in the game. Of course, there are things you need to collect if you are playing a trophy, but they are not boring at all when you sprinkle them while processing the story of the game. Besides, you already want to travel this colorful world as much as possible, you want to look at every question mark on the map.
Aloy is more confident than the first game. Well cooked and ripe. Of course, behind his self-confidence, his abilities also have a significant effect. In Forbitten West, Aloy’s talent tree is extremely diverse. The skill tree, which has 6 different branches such as Warrior, Trapper, Hunter, Survivor, Spy and Machine Master, branches down and the war dynamics in the game become more fun with each skill you acquire. Our advice would be to distribute the skill points you have acquired evenly, as you will benefit from each of these 6 arms significantly as the game progresses. On the other hand, it is possible for you to find yourself unskilled for scenario missions. Therefore, developing your character is of great importance for Forbitten West, as in every game.
By the way, it is a pleasing detail that the game’s combat system has been corrected. Among the new innovations, scanning the enemies you encounter is now of vital importance to Aloy. It was in the first game as well, but this system was developed in Forbitten West. You can see the parts on each robot one by one, and you can choose which one you should focus on. Thus, before you go into battle, you get to know the robot in front of you better and learn how to defeat it.
Another innovation is Aloy’s hook. Especially in this game where Aloy has mastered vertical platforms, it is very useful for you. You use your new shield to go down from the points you exited, and you can glide down to the ground.
Arrow and bow, of course, is your biggest assistant in the game. However, diversifying your fighting style according to the situation by using the gun circle, which is also present in the first game, makes the game more fun, and in the meantime, of course, you have to set traps and capture the robots in the environment. Their inclusion is both tactical richness and an important element of entertainment. Of course, you don’t always have to go headlong into the enemies, the stealth element is also important in the game, and you have the appropriate skills and weapons. You can either rush directly on the enemy, use the stealth method, or reason. In this sense, we really liked the dynamics that the game offers at this point. Especially if you like to do stealth-themed attacks, the game gives you what you want. You can hide yourself under the bushes and launch silent attacks on your enemies.
Loot and Craft system of course continues. Therefore, it is important that you do not use fast travel very often in the game, because it is not only robots that you hunt in the environment. You can also hunt animals such as rabbits, pigs, turkeys and foxes and collect various plants. Both are important for both making items and using them in trade.
The trading system is also in place. You can sell the materials you acquire to merchants and use them to obtain different materials.
The most important shortcoming we can say about Horizon Forbidden West is that it integrates seamlessly with the first game. Yes, this is a good thing, but the idea of continuing the first game from where you left off, especially for the first 10 hours, frankly undermines your excitement at one point. Yes, the great visuals, the new details added, the deepening of the story are all positive details. But at some point, it is very possible for you to feel the weight of the first game in the storyline of the battles you enter. Just to be clear, this is a purely subjective matter. On the other hand, although the dialogues have been deepened, the characters still remain lifeless in the first game. Unfortunately, no progress has been made in this regard, and there has not been much success in transferring the feeling to the player.
Conclusion
To sum up, Horizon Forbidden West is an important milestone compared to the first game in terms of technique and atmosphere. If you have played the first game and want to continue the adventure, it will drag you along for hours. With the power of PlayStation 5, a better visualization is achieved, 3D sound support and DualSense’s Haptic Feedback and Adaptive Trigger features increase the enjoyment. It is a production that should definitely be given a chance by those looking for a long-term action / adventure.
Rating: 88
IMAGINERY
- Genre: Action, Adventure, RPG
- Platform: PS4, PS5
- Distributor : Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Guerrilla Games
To Purchase: Playstation.com
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