Hello everyone, my name is Buddan and I recently completed Horizon Forbidden West! As an achievement, this doesn’t amount to much, but it still accumulates a small opinion about the game. I’ll tell you now.
At a time when Sony exclusives were still exclusives, I played the much-hyped Horizon Zero Down, and after finishing it I was left with very moderate emotions. First of all, I was pleased with the interesting plot with a curious world in which the machines of the future brought the Earth to the Stone Age, and new people, on the ruins of a past civilization, are forced to start building life as it is again. Tribes, bows, hunting and gathering, but with a hint of Si-Fi themes and beastbots. This is probably one of the most interesting versions of the apocalypse!
Of course, it looked great too, and the graphics tickled the eye nicely. But while traveling through this open world, you could get a little tired. I didn’t particularly like the main character, and besides the fact that she’s a strong female character, I couldn’t get anything more out of her. There weren’t too many bright secondary characters, and from the first part I remembered the bearded man with a sledgehammer (luckily he constantly flashed before my eyes), the dark semi-antagonist with neon lighting, and the madam in metal feathers. Additional activities in the game quickly came down to repeating the same actions, and I completed side tasks for the sake of show and experience. The gameplay was quite interesting, offering various tactics for exterminating mechanical fauna, but it still managed to bore me.
Based on all of the above, I expected fresher graphics from the sequel, and some minor innovations in the game mechanics, but I was pleasantly pleased with the result.
Plot
starts immediately after the prequel ending. All the inhabitants of Meredian celebrate the victory over the evil artificial intelligence, and Aloy becomes a revered savior. But the looming threat of imminent death has just moved to the next month. So what’s the point? Now it will be a short tour of the first part, so for those who are very much in the know, move the letters, but for everyone else, let’s move on. I’ll also note that I don’t pretend to be a master lore scholar in the game universe, so I’m prescribing an approximate basis and general essence.
It all starts with the creation of advanced robots and artificial intelligence. The emphasis was on the military industry and yes, yes, yes… somewhere I’ve already heard all this. New mechanisms operate on hybrid energy sources, which allows them to absorb biomass when the main batteries are discharged, while still releasing all kinds of non-kosher into the atmosphere. After such innovations, I would have stopped and thought hard about the more pressing matters of life, but then it only became more. New miracles of technology can hack other machines and subjugate them, and the icing on the cake is repair and collection of new units. What could go wrong with these great devices?? At one point, they went crazy and began to take over the earth, exterminating all living things, colossally polluting the atmosphere in the process. It was difficult to fight them, because these gadgets subjugate all equipment in the affected area, so a prehistoric note remains in the hands of the military. If humanity tried to hide securely, in the near future there would simply be no oxygen left on Earth, because man’s new friends would quickly pollute everything with their exhausts. The great minds of our planet decided to start preparing for extinction, but at the same time clearing the Earth for future generations. This is how the Zero Down project was created, and Elisabeth Sobeck was appointed its leader.
The essence of the project was a large artificial intelligence that would control smaller intelligences with different basic functions. So it would be possible to resuscitate life, and cleanse the earth, and hack robots, but of course not at all quickly. On this they decided, but with unpleasant conflicts in the relationships between the remaining people. These details do not greatly affect the central plot, but clearly show the justice of such a fate for some individuals. In parallel with the project, scientists sent a kind of space ark to the nearest system suitable for life, but something broke there, the connection was lost, and the smart guys stated that it was undershooting. It would be good to remember this moment, because in dead space not everything is so simple.
In the future, everything turned out as planned: humanity died out, and the AI, called Gaia, began to prepare the ground for a new life. Evil machines were hacked, the atmosphere was cleared, and robotic animals began to roam the Earth, in turn performing useful functions of filtering air and restoring nature. Soon, the first people will be released into the new world. We decided not to pass on all the knowledge accumulated by humanity, for fear of repeating the sad scenario, so development begins from the basics. Everything would not have been bad, but Gaia received a mysterious signal that put her out of action, and all the AIs under her control fled from under the strict supervision. Some simply passed out, while others decided to indulge a little. So Hades, the AI responsible for the destruction of all life in an unsuccessful attempt to breed a new humanity, decided to reset the Earth and try again. And Hephaestus, who led the creation of machines friendly to humans, began to rivet predators and aggressive mechanical creatures. Looking at all this disgrace, Gaia, who does not have the ability to change anything on her own, grows a clone of her creator and releases her into the new world. Hope for the one who has already figured out how to save the Earth once is the last bright thought, but in the end it was more than justified. The clone will be called Aloy and we will play as her in the first part of Horizon. Our lady is not deprived of ingenuity and curiosity, so by the end of the game she manages to turn off Hades and save all living things. But when Hades is deactivated, he is picked up by Silence – an interesting character who helped Aloy to further his goals. Silence passionately seeks knowledge of the past civilization, and pocket AI was just a godsend for him. Hence the bell was given to continue.
Already the second part sketches nongamstopcasinosites.co.uk/ out the plot right from the start, so there will be spoilers. The functioning biosphere has stopped halfway to disrepair, and by inertia it is moving towards a bad ending. The earth is slowly growing with poisonous corruption, and soon the water and air will also be poisoned. To prevent global kaput, Aloy and her friends will have to go to the forbidden west, where the main module of Gaia is located. This repository will become our main base, where we can take a breath, communicate with party members and receive instructions from Gaia herself. By the way, she asks us to find all the modules with lost AI. With a complete set, it will be able to function normally and ultimately save lives. But interesting news comes to light… The signal that broke everything was launched from space… It was that same ark that flew to distant planets that did not die, and people live there very comfortably. As a result, the space flyers decided to send a bad signal and kill all life on Earth just in time for their appearance, and they will figure it out on their own. There is one more goal on our list of urgent things to do to save all living things. Along the way, we have to beat up aliens from outer space, who, by the way, wear impenetrable force fields, do not age at all and can fly.
It would be nice if that was all, but the wild west is far from paradise. The guys living there are very warlike, and just when Aloy appears, they begin an internecine war for power. We won’t be allowed to choose who to help, but we will have to communicate with everyone, and at the same time unite everyone to confront the common enemy with a united front. At the end of all this diversity, when it seems that the extreme point of the adventure has already been reached, we are told in plain text that not only people live in space, and there is something there from which travelers fled to Earth. We are not talking about other residents of the endless universe, although such a turn would be very cool! This again refers to something man-made and out of control, which, in principle, is already becoming a good tradition of the series. The threequel may try to send us into space, or something like that, and the ending ellipsis very actively stimulates imagination for the next part, making us wait for the continuation with obvious interest.
A huge meteorite is approaching the earth and only you…Stop! It’s not from here! Here we have a bundle of negative emotions that seeks to destroy humanity.
Indeed, the central narrative has become many times more global, and from the presence of such multi-layeredness, I received the necessary variety from what was happening. It’s very interesting to follow the plot, and the production of the videos goes into the category of an expensive science fiction film. Everything looks very good! An important role in the story is played by the team that gradually gathers at your base and is able to chat with you for hours. Each of them has an indecent amount of dialogue written, and in addition there is one personal quest. Completing these sociable tasks doesn’t seem to affect anything, and there isn’t the level of interconnection here like in Mass Effect, but they were delivered well, and I didn’t regret the time spent. The only negative was the lack of interest in available topics for conversation. The conversations didn’t seem interesting enough to me to interrogate the guys about all the options in the dialog box. Literally a couple of times I started a social marathon at my base, and then selectively, because listening about clan customs or repetitions of already known information is not at all fun. But the realism of the dialogues and the behavior of the characters in general is very striking. If in the first part I, by the end, simply skipped all the conversations, because the dummies lulled me to sleep with their static nature, then here the guys naturally came to life. The interlocutors actively gesticulate, move around the frame and simply play with life. The same can be said about Aloy, who has become more emotional, although she is still a terminator in a skirt. This liveliness in behavior unexpectedly became a very significant plus, which I somehow didn’t even think about at all. Now communication in the frame has moved to another level of perception, and even if the content is not very interesting, the visual plays to the required entry threshold.
Last but not least, thanks to this, my interest in side quests has grown, although they are not filled with new mechanics or anything deep. It all comes down to the usual: go, kill, find or bring, but thanks to the good roleplaying of the characters, even a simple drama is already perceived quite realistic, so you still get into the essence and somehow pick up the right mood. With a dosage of additional tasks, everything here is in moderation – there are quite enough of them so as not to turn away from constant beggars and provide them with your assistance.
If we somehow sum up the plot and production, then the game has definitely grown in both quantitative and qualitative terms. The plot can really attract attention, and not very deep characters, thanks to their acting, were able to make you believe in themselves.
Gameplay
the changes are no longer so obvious. Horizon definitely looks more beautiful. The already beautiful picture of the first part began to beg you to take up a virtual photo hunt for your desktop screensaver. The open world itself feels really voluminous, and the presence of different climatic conditions only adds to the advantages of this game. Deserts, forests, frosty mountains and expanses of water – everything here looks extremely picturesque. With all this, the gameplay itself in this artistic variety remains almost unchanged, but with polishing. We do archery as standard and occasionally wield a spear. We move on our own two feet or on an electronic horse, and a fresh glider is more motivating to jump from high places to soar in the right direction. Much of Zero Down has simply been overgrown with small details that generally add comfort, but if the shooting infuriated you in the prequel, then the same thing awaits you here.
Regarding movement, as I already said, a glider has appeared, but there is another new business class tool. It will open towards the end of the game, and I got the impression that it was introduced only for the sake of a pretty picture, but I hope to use it as actively as possible in a future expansion. The increased verticality and heterogeneity of the relief are also striking, and Aloy also learned to scuba dive, as a result of which entire flooded locations were formed in the game.
Special techniques based on concentration and courage scales were introduced into the usual combat system. This whole thing needs to be pumped up and the corresponding skills unlocked through experience from quests and dead enemies. The techniques themselves are based on skills tied to weapons, and from skills aimed directly at the characteristics of Aloy herself. Each type of weapon has its own three skills, thanks to which you can shoot several arrows from a regular bow, or pull tripwires with one shot. Of course, before, shooting with a pack of arrows was endless and opened up as you leveled up, but now you can surprise with a fan of shells about six times at most. This is a little unpleasant, but everything was compensated by the variety of skills, and on one bow, in addition to several arrows, there are several more maneuvers. How often have I personally used them?? No, but if desired, there is a choice and slight tactical variability. The second scale takes longer to accumulate and is used for more serious skills that allow you to apply useful effects to Aloy and increase her stats directly in battle. It is also possible to become invisible for a limited time, be covered with an energy shield, generate an electrical impulse, and so on. This is such an ultimate to choose from, which again, in my opinion, is done coolly, but of course I haven’t used it for everyone.
Taking a sip of a healing potion to increase all characteristics is also a special skill, and not what you thought.
The weapons themselves have become larger, and throwing spears have appeared in my favorites from the new arsenal. It’s a great thing, no matter how you look at it, and a special bow to whoever invented the drill-spear. But along with good new products, a glove appeared, tied to catching the disc after it hits the target, thereby increasing the damage from subsequent throws. This frisbee was not useful to me at all, but it’s probably a matter of preference and dexterity.
The hand-to-hand brawl was also enriched with new combinations and a couple of mechanics, but this did not make it any more convenient. When Aloy begins to wave her spear, a cycle of body movements unfolds on the screen, and it becomes very inconvenient to control the situation on the battlefield. My enemies themselves became somewhat variable, and often when I tried to carry out some combination of blows, I was mercilessly beaten on the ass. With the right skill, I’m sure a spear can turn into a deadly weapon, and in stealth it’s a one-shot, but in an active brawl I didn’t think about it often, and preferred a firearm. Speaking of which, there are still guns that can be knocked off cars and sent them in the opposite direction. Of course, with a bulky turret, Aloy moves like a lame turtle, but the firepower is an order of magnitude higher than anything in her inventory.
Naturally, for such an impressive arsenal they added mechanical fauna. New cars and new tactics for picking them have appeared. If earlier there were only a couple of representatives from large units, now there are noticeably more giants. Well, people, where would we be without them?. Bipeds have become more active and are now resisting their death in every possible way. In Zero Done it was possible to kill entire bases unnoticed, but here the guys seem to have a peephole in the back of their heads. Armored shield warriors and vehicle riders have appeared, causing a lot of problems, and a sudden machine gunner can quickly reduce the life bar to the extreme limit.
Since there are many tribes here and not all of them preach peace and love, enemy checkpoints occupy an important place in the activities of the open world, as is true in the first part. With them, everything comes down to a simple come, kill and search, and the camps themselves differ only in the varying degrees of inhabitants inside. Next on the list are hunting grounds, where, just like in the prequel, you need to complete assigned tasks in the designated area, humiliating mechanical opponents. The situation is standard – you just need to follow the instructions on the screen, managing to kill all the cars in one and a half minutes, or shoot the Giant’s tusks in three. Among the new activities, there are contracts for trophies, which are issued by special traders, and in essence, this is go and shoot what you need. Racing on mechanical creatures is also on the list of new entertainments. This activity seemed to me to well dilute the overall tone of the game with cool rides, and the races came out sharp and adrenaline-pumping. True, I had some bugs, and in the right moments you can just freak out at the behavior of the iron donkey under your ass. Just like in the previous part, there are wells for taming new machines. This is a kind of dungeon where you need to solve a puzzle and kill the last strong Decepticon, while gaining the opportunity to tame him and his brothers like him to your side. Here they did a nice job with the content, and now there is no feeling of repeating the same sterile dungeon with different opponents. But passing the well does not guarantee taming the cars you see. Aloy downloads the data, which is already in the shelter, if you have the necessary materials, you can open it. So it turned out that by the end I had completed all the wells, but I had learned to tame barely half of the robots. There are several more types of collectibles, and of course long-necks – movable analogues of towers, with a hard-to-reach terrain scanner. These guys have also received their share of improvements, introducing the player into interesting situations when trying to climb them.
Peaceful camps and smaller settlements are scattered throughout the map. In them you can trade, fight in fighting pits, listen to gossip and play a new board game – skirmish. The local analogue of Gwent does not involve much in the process, but the creative approach is felt, and the skirmish can easily take a couple of tens of minutes. But they won’t give you anything other than money and pieces for the game, so if you’re expecting some big reward at the end, then no. At some point, there will even be an arena that will present a challenging challenge. Some of the animals there have gone completely crazy, so you need to be on full alert. True, they let you out there with already prepared equipment and an arsenal, so you have to adapt even more to what is happening. Well, on top of all activities fall secondary tasks from NPCs, which I already wrote about above. The filling of the world turns out to be quite standard, but everything is done nicely, and I vacuumed the map with some pleasure. The only moment that seemed quite difficult to me was collecting resources for upgrading weapons and armor. To take the highest rank of your clothes or bow, you need to exterminate living creatures on an industrial scale with the hope of finding the right screw, and quivers and pouches will force you to shoot entire migrations of fish and wild boars. I no longer had enough patience for this, and downloaded everything with what I picked up and bought, without delving much into this microcircuit craft. There were no problems at all with leveling up Aloy – you can level up almost everything, and by the maximum level of fiftieth all the cravings and even more will be unlocked.
Summing up some personal results
I liked many of the changes. I have my own cockroaches about open worlds, and I treat many of them with pre-prepared skepticism, but here everything is fine. The expanses themselves are extremely picturesque, and the central story is interesting in its content and can provide good entertainment right up to the very end of the game, as was the case with me. The gameplay, approaching the end, can get a little boring, but there is something to switch to and give the bow a little rest. The guys made just an excellent sequel, and if after the first part I put off buying the sequel until there were big discounts, now I would really like to see the threequel soon. I can definitely recommend the game, and the disc will take pride of place next to the first part. Thank you for reading up to these lines, and play good games and enjoy them. Bye everyone.