Sony's latest State of Play showed 14 minutes of gameplay for Horizon Forbidden West. The highly anticipated action-adventure sequel to Horizon: Zero Dawn, which was announced last year, is gearing up for what could be another hit for Sony.
While anyone who has delved into the world of Horizon: Zero Dawn will recognize the (so far) polished animations and archery combat, there were a number of elements of this ambitious sequel shown in the trailer- gameplay announcement that will hopefully mix things up in Aloy's Second Adventure.
We may be a long way from the launch date of Horizon Forbidden West – something noticeably missing from the latest State of Play. However, here are five changes we know are coming to Horizon Forbidden West.
New Horizons
It might be in the title, but one of Forbidden West's most striking changes is its new location. Players will explore and fight along the sandy beaches of post-post-apocalyptic San Francisco. With tropical palm trees and stunning blue waters, it feels like a marked change from the already beautiful pastures of Zero Dawn.
Swapping out the snow-capped mountains of Colorado for the sun-bleached West Coast, Forbidden West not only changes the look of everything, but it also diversifies and increases the amount of verticality in Horizon's world.
New game features and mechanics
Overall, Horizon Forbidden West's gameplay largely resembles the first game. However, there are already a few notable additions that will help diversify the gameplay and work within the sequel's more vertically slanted design.
Aloy is seen using a new grappling hook and glider, which pull her up and down to pick up spots and ensure a soft landing from high heights. The new tools build on San Francisco's increased verticality, and we see them used both as means of traversing ruins and as tools for evasion in combat.
Melee combat has also been reworked. Zero Dawn's melee was a simple swipe of the square button, but here Aloy slides and leaps, combining her attack and even dishing out special moves with an electric blast.
We are sure that many additional gameplay features will be revealed before the release date of Forbidden West. Now we're just wondering how good archery combat is with the pressure of adaptive triggers and the rumble of haptic feedback.
And don't think we didn't notice that handy slider mechanism, either.
New enemies
Horizon Zero Dawn had it easy. Show off a few robo-dinosaurs and almost every sci-fi fan was in on it. Forbidden West has the challenge of introducing new enemy types that still give fans the same goosebumps. Turns out Velociraptors and Giant Elephants are all you need.
With chainsaw jaws and that infamous Spielberg snap of their piercing claw, robo-velociraptors, or Clawstriders, are immediately the most intimidating enemy in the Horizon universe to date, and much like some of the beasts from Zero Dawn, they also do hands-on rides.
However, it's Lord of the Rings' giant elephants, Tremortusks, who have stolen the show so far. Anyone else considering a Legolas-style elephant takedown? No? Only U.S?
Underwater areas
To add to the variety of the game's West Coast environment, Forbidden West will also allow players to dive beneath its depths. The underwater segments were some of the most visually impressive in the entire gameplay demo.
With a breathing apparatus always ready to go, Aloy can explore the underwater depths for as long as she wants, and there's plenty to see. However, the waters aren't entirely safe, with menacing Snapmaws lurking and strong currents to dodge.
While we haven't figured out how explorable these underwater segments are, with its open-world structure and coastal setting, we're hoping that the underwater segments will play a huge role in Forbidden West.
A new story
With mass extinction, cloned humans, sentient AI, and a robotic apocalypse, there was a lot going on in Zero Dawn. Uncovering the truth about the apocalypse that wiped out mankind 1 years ago was one of the many strengths of the first game. Along with larger mysteries, Forbidden West tasks Aloy with uncovering the origin of a deadly virus that plagues the country and kills everything it touches.
This mystery will take Aloy to the Forbidden West, where we imagine she'll find something to do with that pesky AI HADES homicide.
And of course, new places mean new tribes, ruined places full of lore and new struggles for Aloy, who will no doubt begin to uncover more elements of Earth's apocalyptic past.
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There's still a lot we don't know about Horizon Forbidden West, and everything listed above is from just 14 minutes into the game. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more info on the next adventure. in the open world of Guerrilla Games.
