Is Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores the Best Looking Game Ever?

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores is out today exclusively on PS5, and, let's cut to the chase, it looks magnificent. We're currently busy playing the expansion to line up our review and other coverage, but we had to share a few (spoiler free!) snapshots with you.

[PrinceOfAnger]

Both games at the top right now.

https://twitter.com/dark1x/...

[Obscure_Observer]

Cyberpunk on PS5 still miles ahead. Tbf it´s gonna be interesting if Burning Shores turn out to be graphically superior in comparison with Forbidden West or even Demon Souls in a substantial and noticeable way.

Video comparisons will start to pop up soon enough.

[Sonic1881]

It definitely looks better than Redfall and Starfield and at least it has a 60fps option unlike Starfield and Redfall. Todd Howard confirmed that Starfield will be in 30fps on the Series X

[Starman69]

Someone's been in grandmas medicine cabinet and taken a few of her crazy pills again lol 😆

[neutralgamer1992]

Obscure_Observer

Just it go and try to be a gamer instead of always leaving comments which are definitely false only to instigate

[Bathyj]

You've got to be joking sometimes.

[BehindTheRows]

No, it isn’t. On PC, however, Cyberpunk is up there (exceeds it in lighting). Characters, Burning Shores is leagues ahead!

[mkis007]

Well digital foundry seems to think so. 2020 best gfx was cyberpunk (on a good pc) according to them. 21 was ratchet and clank , 22 was horizon forbidden west.

[JamiroquaiBocephus]

Obscure

Do your friends and family also think you have the worst opinions/thoughts they’ve ever heard? Your whole life is a downvote.

[Army_of_Darkness]

Forget about burning shores, Horizon forbidden West was already Miles Ahead of cyberpunk 2077 on consoles to begin with. right now there's just no comparison in terms of graphics and performance.

[SeTTriP]

Do you stay under phil Spencer's desk or something? Of courses it is, have you seen this game??

You can not have a ps5 this is the graphics king ATM elden 💍 is a close second as I find the art design to be pure genius (sorry gow).

[InUrFoxHole]

@Starman
I don't think you understand how medications work...

[Jin_Sakai]

@Obscure_Observer

“Cyberpunk on PS5 still miles ahead.“

Because we all know it would hurt you to admit a first party PS5 game is the best looking game ever. At least we can all say It looks miles better than anything on Series X.

[TheTony316]

It doesn't. Cyberpunk on PS5 looks really good but it doesn't come close to Burning Shores. Now Cyberpunk on PC with pathtracing? Sure it does look better but not on console.

[SullysCigar]

Yes, that clip of CP2077 looks great, but brings a brand new, top end 4090 to it's knees. It's essentially a tech demo that a MINISCULE number of gamers can experience and (while improved over the launch mess) is still extremely flawed.

Horizon Burning Shores, on the other hand, is plug and play for the masses on any PS5 - and in my opinion STILL looks better. That's an impressive feat, worthy of the praise it's getting.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Yeah it isn’t worth comparing console games to PC…. PCs always have better hardware.

Console-only is the only apples to apples comparison to make.

[DankSinatra]

I mean, cool? The question wasn’t “ is it the best looking game at affordable price” it was “is burning shores the best looking game ever?”

[Workshyskiver]

Thats not true at all though, Digital Foundry have got the CP2077 running on many 3000 series cards at frame rates that console players would deem as extremely playable;

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

a 4090 is absolutely capable of running it at insane frame rates. Heck that card does 8k60fps at least in a lot of games right now.

[IamTylerDurden1]

At any era you could take a modded pc game or demo that would out do any console game. Hard to compare exponentially superior hardware in very specific circumstances. But as far as in general, yes, Horizon is king imo.

[RaidenBlack]

It's all fun and games until Burning Shores releases on PC ...

[P_Bomb]

Best looking console game that I personally own.

[Flewid638]

So they upped the graphics just for the DLC?

[RaidenBlack]

by limiting its release just to PS5 ...
CDPR is doing the same with CP2077's upcoming expansion

[SullysCigar]

Yup - have you seen it? It's gorgeous!

[CrimsonWing69]

Yea, it's an actual PS5 game now and not a cross-gen title.

[Gardenia]

Personally I find Ratchet and Clank the best looking game. Horizon is an open world game so you have to look at it differently on a technical level.

[darkrider]

I think there isn't even a debate. A open world game with this kind of graphics!

[IMissJimRyan]

Pretty game. But a generic ow nonetheless.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Generic how? Robot dinosaurs? The best biome variety ever? New mechanics n features? Generic? Tell me about Ubitowers pls.

[darkrider]

Generic? Dude, you don't even understand what that means and it doesn't apply on this game, with the story, diferente tribes... Generic is another game that is coming in the next week's that doesn't bring nothing new but more of the same and runs and looks like crap

[TheEnigma313]

jealous and hating

[Ashunderfire86]

Rachet and Clank Rift Apart says Hi 👋

[Bathyj]

Yeah it's generic like all the other post-apocalyptic giant robot dinosaur games where you dissect your enemies, break actual anatomy off them, observe an entire ecosystem, witness stunning graphics, and it all runs flawlessly at 60 frames per second.

I'm tired of all those games. /S

[Silver_ShadoWolf]

The guy who was hating sounds like the type to nominate Zelda games for best graphics 🤦🏽‍♂️

[P_Bomb]

The textures are ace too. I dig the new destructibilty options with the purple crystals.

[-Mika-]

The game is beautiful but it has no soul.

[P_Bomb]

Define soul? This thread’s about graphics.

[Sonic1881]

He meant to day Redfall

[IamTylerDurden1]

HFW wasn't TLOU but it also wasn't soulless. Redfall does look soulless which is unfortunate bc Dishonored, Prey, Deathloop all had some soul. Interesting setting, atmosphere, characters.

[Flewid638]

You've never heard of an expression?

[Sonic1881]

*say*

[solideagle]

dark soul or bright soul?

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

How so? The villages are pretty unique and developed culturally…. Plenty of flora and fauna, too.

[lellkay]

Find Horizon having "no soul" to be such a weird critique. The game is absolutey full to the brim with "soul"

[darkrider]

They don't have anything to say bad, so they use the excuse generic or no soul.

[IamTylerDurden1]

It had enough. The different cultures, meaningful story and characters, themes about humanity. Ppl look at the grfx and assume it's merely eye candy when in fact it would solid with bad visuals.

[goldwyncq]

It's ultimately just a more polished Ubisoft open world game. When I think of games that have soul, I think of games such as Bloodborne, SotC, Nier Automata, and Metal Gear Solid. All of those games did something new and were created by passionate people who wanted to push the medium forward in a meaningful way.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Solid story and characters, compelling, original world. A pretty strong human theme in game. Humanities survival. It ain't TLOU deep but few are. Ppl act like it's as sterile as Halo Infinite or Gears. I think HFW is pretty routine in terms of soul. It has enough to function. I liked the story. Beta for example was intriguing and not soulless. Nor cheesy. Ppl equate eye candy with soulless bc it's convenient.

I love Gamepass and hate to sound console war-ish but i have to back HFW bc i believe in it. Name one major aaa exclusive from MS in the past 3 yrs with more soul. Infinite? Gears 5? Forza? Flight Sim? Look around. Does modern AC have "soul"? Very few games do. What modern Ubi game has soul? AC, Watchdogs, Ghost recon, Division, Far Cry? FC has character perhaps but the stories and charactes are never as deep as trailers claim. Don't say Immortals, it had some character bc of the narration, not soul. Does CoD have soul?

[goldwyncq]

"Solid story"

Forbidden West's story certainly jumped the shark having Jeff Bezos and his crew of flying rich people as the main villains.

[_Decadent_Descent]

TLOU isn't deep. 🤣

[IamTylerDurden1]

goldwyn

HFWs story, acting, themes, and characters were certainly solid and better than many AAA games.

It's bs to dismiss the story like it was from some 4 hr fps campaign or bc it was "woke". The story was good. I can name half a dozen superb characters. The sci fi aspect was intriguing as well. The side stories had more meaning. The themes were solid. I thought the story was very good. Better than solid, personally, i thought it was fantastic and i was glued. Especially if u read logs from HZD and understand the lore in that game.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Descent

TLOU2 is the deepest game i have ever played in terms of meaningful drama and quality. By far. Ppl who laugh at it are fools or those with agendas. The game is a masterpiece.

[darkrider]

Silly Excuse.... I think you are talking about another game, because just the trailer got more soul that some other game coming

[Rimeskeem]

Just because the story telling isn't TLOU or GoW doesn't mean it lacks it.

[SoulWarrior]

Still the most visually stunning game on PS5, and arguably of this gen so far.

[FernDiggidy]

Its between this and GOWR for me. I honestly can't choose

[IamTylerDurden1]

HFW looks better. Imo it is more visually impressive. The hero lighting, environments, even character models examined in photomode reveal far more impressive skin, eyes, and detail like peach fuzz. The eyes are the most impressive i have seen, skin as well. The water. The foliage.

[masterfox]

yes

[Tapani]

Some of the animations, materials and effects look better compared to what a high-end PC can do with multiplatform games. I think CP2077 is close, but Burning Shores world looks more atmospheric albeit less filled. This all makes me think what can a 4090 do with Burning Shores in the inevitable GOTY PC edition.

[SullysCigar]

We can look forward to finding out in a couple of years, but I expect it will have been bested by a newer PS5 game before then.

[Tapani]

Given the trajectory and what has happened in the past, I think you are right on the money. Sony's weapon is to lure people from PC to play games early, rather than the best possible way. And then they double dip with GOTY editions for PC users. The PS5 Exclusives often look incredibly good and play very seamlessly with the Dualsense, so there's always that. Not sure how Horizon works with Dualsense on PC, not too keen to use the cable to get haptic feedback like with Returnal.

[IamTylerDurden1]

The character model. Look at Aloy in great lighting on photo mode. Her eyes and skin are above anything else. The moss n small grass is uncanny. The hero lighting in game has her lit incredibly. It's more than just foliage blowing in wind and impressive robot animation. The water. Even textures are great.

[Beef5upreme83]

no

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

You’re thinking of the Demons Souls remake

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Horizon 2 looks fantastic, but I’d even put R&C above it.

Both DS and R&C look better than H2 for me. Albeit, H2 is much more open world than either of the other 2 games.

A very small-scale game, such as Wolverine, will blow all of them out of the water at some point this gen.

There’s nothing wrong with that. GTA games never had THE best graphics, either. You don’t need to, H2 is plenty pretty.

[MrNinosan]

Just by calling it H2, you lost most credit.
Also, we're talking about Burning Shores, not Forbidden West.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Why can’t I call it H2 under a H2 article?

[IamTylerDurden1]

HFW
R&C
DeS

In that order. R&C is very close though with that RT, fidelity, animation at 60.

[MrNinosan]

@Midget
Hrozion Forbidden West has never been H2. If you want to save energy, it's HFW.
The DLC which is discussed here is HFW:BS.

H2 can can mean Halo 2, Hellblade 2, Hooker 2, Hitchcock 2 etc....

This article is not a H2 article, it's a HFW:BS article.

[SimpleSlave]

From a pure raw power and 3D assets perspective and special effects? Sure. Most likely. From an artistic point? No.

One of the weirdest thing is that a lot of the time characters are talking and walking they look like they're in front of a green screen.

[Gwiz]

In terms of bang for buck this is the best I have ever seen.

[Workshyskiver]

On console, quite probably thought Ragnarock and Flight Simulator on a good internet setting can both look insane. I don't think anything is touching Cyberpunk with PT ray tracing on PC though, thats a generational leap that we won't see from these consoles.

[generic-user-name]

Does PT ray tracing make the character models look as good as Horizons?

[darkrider]

the only problem is that only 5% or less of gamers can have a pc that run cyberpunk at that level. How many ps5 can you buy just to get a gpu powerfully enough to run cyberpunk at 4k 60 frames and with rt?

[Workshyskiver]

Thats not a problem as its not whats being asked. Just because a tiny proportion of the gaming community has that luxury doesn't make it not exist.

[SullysCigar]

^ Who cares "what's being asked"? This is a discussion thread and his is a valid point.

[senorfartcushion]

Most realistic looking or best looking?

[generic-user-name]

Can you not see beauty in the real world?

[senorfartcushion]

Not a weird thing for you to say but the way you said it made my skin crawl.

My point is that pixel art games look good too. They never age in terms of fidelity. That’s a constant plus. Eastward looks lovely.

I don’t judge games by realism.

Looks better than God of War Ragnarok, worse looking than Death Stranding and The Last of Us Part 1. Hell even Mario Kart 8 still looks stunning on The Switch.

Ghost of Tsushima looks better than them all.

Ratchet and Clank Rift in Time? Probably than than even Ghost.

[Ashunderfire86]

Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart is the best looking PS5 game and open world game ever made! Until Spiderman 2.

[Aloymetal]

The only game I see taking the crown from HFW in the graphics department is Death Stranding 2 which is using the same Decima Engine. Who knows, maybe Spidey 2 can take it as well but Decimas still the most impressive engine Sony has.

[Flewid638]

Horizon is beautiful but Callisto Protocol is RIDICULOUSLY gorgeous.

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

Very few give that game its credits.

[Flewid638]

Which I get, given how the gameplay was received....but holy-hell the graphical fidelity is outta this world.

[StarkR3ality]

Game looks great as always, people mentioning Redfall though, you sad people.

Xbox games living in your head rent free, just get on with enjoying what you want to Jesus Christ.

[BlackTar187]

They were responding to Xbox fanatics who were making the most general critiques to the game just to have something negative to say. “Generic” “No soul” I think these people are living rent free in your head that or you can’t make simple connections.

[SullysCigar]

But you literally just brought up Redfall and xbox ...

[StarkR3ality]

Set of sad fan boys the lot of you :L

[Elda]

I think as of now Burning Shores looks stunning but I have to say when it comes to PS5 exclusives & how great they look...Burning Shores & R&C:RA are neck on neck.

[Tzuno]

Horizon Forbidden West sucks compared to the first one
Graphics alone is not enough to call it a good game
It was a mediocre and lame sequel, there.. i said it!

[MrSec84]

It really doesn't, the first game was awesome, Forbidden West takes everything the first game had and expands on that further with the experience the team gained.

[Flewid638]

The sequel to me is superior in literally every category.

[TheGoodestBoi]

No, Ghostwire Tokyo Series X is

[anast]

HFW is what happens when actual talent is making a game.

[MrSec84]

Yep, the game isn't just a good looking title, it actually has great gameplay, story, audio and acting by the cast, recorded in painstaking detail.
Animations in this game are phenomenal, it makes for a highly immersive experience.

This game definitely doesn't get the recognition it deserves by many gamers.
Burning Shores looks like a big visual step up from Forbidden West on PS5, but those new mechanics look like they add to everything.

I can't wait to see what Guerilla Games has done when I get the chance to get to this DLC, way too busy at the moment, but I can't wait until I get the time.

[kingnick]

What looks the best is subjective.

Burning Shores doesn't look photorealistic so does that mean it's not as good looking as a more photorealistic game?

I've personally never put much weight in photorealism because I enjoy games with stylised graphics as well, if all games started to look photorealistic that would be boring IMO.

[_Decadent_Descent]

Exactly. I put far, far more emphasis on art direction than I do graphical fidelity.

[isarai]

I think the characters and prop modeling is unrivaled, even at extreme closeups they still super impress. Even on NPCs the detail is staggering.

[z2g]

callisto protocol, while not an amazing game, is still the best looking released game on console i have ever seen. this looks great and all but CP was visually next level.

[GotGame818]

Bodycam FPS is going to blow most games away.

[InUrFoxHole]

No

[KillBill]

It's a DLC. lol

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

It's a PS5-exclusive DLC.

[KillBill]

It's a DLC.

[Stanjara]

Best looking rainbows that's for sure...

[Ryuk_2007]

The unrecord article is right next to this one and that game got people thinking it was real life lol. So no horizon is not the best looking game ever.

[babadivad]

When did this DLC release? I've been waiting on this before starting the main game.

[Einhander1971]

Oh no the PC master race are crying already, trying to justify that over priced graphics card!! The bottom line there isn't a huge gap. Even if the PC has slightly better visuals, the game still remains the same and enjoyable.