Horizon Forbidden West: outsmart your enemies

What threats await Aloy, and how can you prepare yourself in the best way possible? Guerrilla talks all things combat.

[Magog]

Calling it now. This is going to be the game of the generation.

[_SilverHawk_]

This game looks amazing and I can't wait to play it.

[Eonjay]

Check out these other new scenes:

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

Instead of recreating the wheel, they just made what was already there so much better. And its not like they just added stuff on, they actually put a let of effort into overhauling it. They also increased her mobility quite dramaticlly.

[SyntheticForm]

Agreed.

This looks incredible and Guerrilla have raised the bar yet again by the looks of it. The animation work of the raptor-like machines is a sight to behold and all the effects look great.

Wow.

[medman]

I think you said this in another post, and I'll say to you what I said then....if the game of this generation is a cross-gen title that is designed to be playable on the base ps4, as gamers we all lose. As much as I am looking forward to playing cross gen titles like Horizon, GT7, and God of War, I hope this generation offers much more, and so should you.

[Magog]

That's the dumbest thing I've ever read. Former GOTY contenders like Hades and The Witcher 3 ran on Switch which is about the same power as a PS3. PC games scale from a 3080 to a 780 with no problems. The only compromises made are to resolution and detail.

[dbcoops]

And I'll say to you that's a complete cop out, the game will be fundamentally the same game and phenomenal no matter what the frames and resolution is. People shouldn't feel like the graphic settings is the deciding factor in things like games of a generation and you shouldn't either.

[Eonjay]

@medman:

I think what you are saying is that you want that only take advantage of the PS5. And they are coming of course but its more than just a face lift you are seeking. as @Magog points out PC games are scalable from powerful hardware to lat gen hardware. And I'm sure you realize this already. What I believe you are asking for are the games that can't run on systems that can handle the types of graphics piplines that the PS5 are capable of. This is a bigger conversation but consider the following:

Cerny stated that you can take advantage of the true power by updating your pipeline but he also stated that the PS5 would be more than happy to run traditional pipelines as well and as you are seeing it runs them very well. The reason he phrased the situation as such is because he knows what happened when Sony tried to force bespoke architectures on devs in the past. It didn't go well. So back to your point: when will we see the PS5 only games? Well, these new systems have to be studied and built first. In the meantime, They aren't trapped to next gen pipelines only so they can still produce content as they work.

If you want a more direct answer I will say 2023 is when we should see the biggest shits. But as you know, they always come. In the mean time, can I intrest you in some awesome Forbidden West game play lol

[medman]

Some of you folks (like magog) are truly confused if you think a game designed to run on the ps4's only limitation will be resolution and detail. The ps4 is why Forbidden West probably won't have flying mounts...the ps4 doesn't have the ability to load the data quickly enough. The ps4 is also the reason why the walking patterns of the robot machines will be just as predictable and confined to small areas just as they were in the first game. Wake up.

[MajorLazer]

Generation's just started 🤦🏼‍♂️

[Orchard]

I'd say it's a bit early in the generation to call a game 'game of the generation', and to be honest, if the best game we're getting this generation is a cross-gen game from this early on in the generation when devs haven't truly mastered the hardware, the industry has issues and we've got a lamer than expected next 8-9 years with these consoles.

I love HZD, and I'll have great fun with HFW, but I expect later in the gen games to blow away anything this early, as has happened every other generation.

That being said, with this game coming out so early in the generation, GG will have another game out this gen for sure and maybe that'll be GOTG. I'm hoping they make a return to KZ after this, even if it's just for one title before returning to the Horizon universe.

[ColtPSSX]

I think there was rumors that Killzone might be returning. I wouldn’t mind and along with a new resistance.

[Orchard]

Agreed. I kinda expect them to be doing a KZ game next. I don't see them going onto a 3rd iteration of Horizon immediately, and I don't see them going off to make a new IP again that soon.

So I expect (and am hopeful for) a KZ 'reboot'.

[Magog]

The quality of a game has nothing to do with "mastering the hardware" it has to do with the programming, skill, and development talent making it. We are so past that stage of the medium. That's like saying a movie from 2027 has to be better than a movie from 2022 because the special effects are better. Ridiculous. For a lot of people Bloodborne is the GOTG for the PS4 era and it came out early in its lifespan.

[Orchard]

@Magog "The quality of a game has nothing to do with "mastering the hardware" it has to do with the programming, skill, and development talent making it."

But those go hand in hand... mastering the hardware IS programming, IS skill and is tied to the talent making it.

It's clear that HFW will be a great game, but it's also 100% clear that we will have bigger, better, more ambitious games than a cross-gen title from this close to launch. Even GG's next game will be better than HFW - I'd hope :)

Also, we've yet to see what ND can do with this hardware...

[nitus10]

You can actually do something like this in the original game although what we have just seen in the clip from the latest release is so much more impressive.

There is a technique in the original game that can be called "luring", in that you set up traps (usually explosive or fire) and either by whistle (good for one machine or human), weak arrow (from a distance) or rock (can alert multiple machines so be careful) lure the machine(s) to your traps.

It must be noted that the whistle is IMHO one of the best ways to lure weaker machines (includes some humans) to you so you can destroy them by your spear. Of course you can use whistle to lure any machine to you so you can override them. Once you get comfortable with using a lure technique it is not that difficult to play on the hardest difficulty.

Hint: Never try to lure a machine who's light is orange since that will cause it's light to change to red and it will charge you. Of course if you have set up the appropriate traps that may be what you want.

[PhillyDillyDee]

You are a marketers wet-dream… maybe make that call once you have played it instead of conducting the hype-train.

But this is Magog we’re talking about…

[dbcoops]

Now that's how you do open world, holy shnit!

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Crazy how great it looks considering it's being held back by the PS4

[dbcoops]

I have it on good authority from the experts right here at N4G that games aren't held back by being cross gen, so not to worry.

[UnSelf]

And to think this isn’t really taking FULL advantage of the ps5

[Magog]

Yes it is. It will be fully optimized for both ps4 and PS5's capabilities.

[CS7]

Not possible to take full advantage of a 1 year old console while still supporting an 8 year old one.

Mark Cerny said so.

Full advantage of the PS5 cannot run on PS4. It would be a fundamentally different game.

[medman]

You are one confused critter.

[Bigman4k]

Not true

[Muigi]

I’m ready!

[Atticus_finch]

I can't believe how soon we will be playing this game. I have my preorder ready.

[Double_O_Revan]

As much as I want Elden Ring, I think I want this more and will play it first.

[Atticus_finch]

Same for me. I know I will love elden right, I hope.
But Horizon is just another level. Potentially Guerilla games best work incoming.

[nitus10]

I am still trying to get a PS5 and I have no intention of paying a scalper.

[Darkborn]

Got that pre-order ready. I can't wait to jump in and check it out.

[GhostofHorizon]

I was already sold but I can't get enough of hearing about this game. I remember the days where that one clip where the does a flip stealth kill and then proceeds to bounce between enemies, grapple, plant a bomb and then zip down a line used to all be in cutscenes.

Now we get to play it out.
Games have come such a long way.

[ECHOINFINITY]

Playstation Studios create the most cinematic gameplay, it's just ridiculous. Literally feels like a movie with how insane the animations are. Can't wait for this.

[Sireen]

As much as I tried I could never get into Horizon. This entry doesn't seem different.

[Eonjay]

I really didn't get into it until I played. From the beginning it has top quality but there was one specific machine that sold me on everythng. Once I got to that part, I was hooked. Its probably the same part for a lot of people. This is giving more of that but the combat is vastly imporved upon and the addition of underwater gameplay is amazing. I totally get where you are coming from though and I had to play it myself to get into it. Watching a game like this is not the same as playing it.

[dbcoops]

That's your loss, its a fantastic game and this one looks like it will be even better.

[sammarshall102]

I'd say you should still give this one a try it looks like a dramatic improvement over the 1st game

[Atticus_finch]

My first few hours playing Hzd were similar. I was really exhausted with open world games at the time. But I turned up the difficulty and once i started fighting the big Dinos the game became incredible. But it still had a lot of room for improvement so HFW will be everything the 1st did well plus more.

[MADGameR]

Absolutely mind blowing..

[Bigman4k]

i can't wait

[ColtPSSX]

Wow this is probably one of the coolest games I’ve seen far for this new gen. I feel like this game is going to be way better then the first.

[Orchard]

Looking forward to this - only a few months now!

In some ways the delay ended up being good because Q1 is typically pretty dry, while Q3/4 are packed.

[Ethereal]

Whoa... all that footage is absolutely insane looking.