Five years after the first opus, Horizon Forbidden West is finally out, and Sony is making no secret of its intentions regarding its new flagship. After seeing the lands of the East and the North, Aloy will have to go to the forbidden lands of the West to try to save life on Earth. And our first impressions, after ten hours of play, leave little room for doubt: it will be a complicated journey in more ways than one.
The introduction to this sequel, a mise en abyme in which Aloy presents the context and the challenges of her journey to a childhood friend (and at the same time the gameplay mechanics to the player behind the controller), allows you to dive back into sweetness in this universe whose lore is particularly rich.
In a subtle and pleasant way, the developers also allow themselves, during the first minutes, to make a welcome implication concerning the new appearance of their characters, including that of Aloy will have reacted. This little nod to the community, from the start of the game, is all the more appreciable.
As the first images suggested, the game thinks big, but never too much, at least at first. These first hours of play allow us to glimpse the immensity of the world created by the Guerilla Games teams, and at the same time the heart they have put into their work. The details abound, the rhythm is well balanced, and the artistic direction sublime.
Horizon Forbidden West never wanted to be a revolution, and there too the beginning confirms it. Yes, the game is splendid, but classic in its approach: we quickly find our marks in terms of gameplay – and we will need many hours of practice before becoming a master hunter – but also in its progress, with scenes now usual shot-reverse shot dialogues.
You who wish to discover the forbidden western lands, know this: you will not get lost on your journey west, but you will often be dazzled, and sometimes surprised. We develop all this in a complete review that will be published in the coming days…