We’re just weeks away from Sony’s next major exclusive, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart but today is all about Guerrilla Games and Horizon Forbidden West. Today’s State of Play revealed 14 minutes of gorgeous gameplay running on PlayStation 5.
The biggest showstopper wasn’t just the gameplay but the beautiful new environments the studio showcased during the stream. Gorgeous beaches, sprawling jungles, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge beckoning on the horizon, and new abilities for Aloy to stay alive.
Horizon Forbidden West is set six months after the events of Horizon Zero Dawn and sees Aloy travel west to investigate a mysterious blight. With new tribes and machines in her way, she’ll need to work with friends and new allies to survive the new frontier and save life on Earth.
The video shows Aloy and her friend Erend explore the remains of San Francisco to recover an important artifact. But he quickly runs into trouble, encountering a rebel faction of the Tenakth who have the power to override the machines and use them against others. We watch Aloy deal with this new band of raiders across a seaside village while she deals with them using new tools.
Using the Pullcaster to climb faster and get out of a sticky situation, Aloy also now has a Shieldwing, allowing her to descend from heights safely. We see her use the Diving Mask, heading underwater where an entirely new world awaits, begging to be explored. Guerilla Games also showed off her new Focus abilities, including the ability to show areas available for free-climbing and being able to override machines for mounts or in combat.
Aloy’s trusty Spear is good for close combat and enables a new set of combos. Bows use specialized ammo, helping stripe away layers of enemy armour and enemy machines, exposing their weak spots. New adhesive grenades fired from the slingshot help stall foes and can be upgraded at workbenches.
The game also features a big new selection of deadly machines: Sunwings in the sky, Clawstriders and Tremortusks on land, Snapmaws and the smaller Burrowers in the water. There is more to be revealed but no release date just yet.
