Highlights

  • Horizon 3's expansion could explore diverse ecosystems and elements like wind, earth, acid, water, and electricity creatively.
  • The expansion might introduce new machines and tribes while keeping with the series' elemental and weather themes.
  • Guerrilla Games could blend elements like wind and electricity for potential flying mechanics and flight combat in a wind-themed expansion.

Horizon 3 is set to be the next game in the main Horizon series, and considering the track record for both Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, it will likely feature an expansion sometime after its launch. The expansions that Guerrilla Games has released for the Horizon franchise are a welcome addition to the series that offer new areas to explore, characters, stories, and collectibles.

These expansions have their differences, such as Horizon Zero Dawn’s Frozen Wilds being more of a side story and Horizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shores setting the stage for Horizon 3 and essentially being a half sequel to the main game. However, despite these differences, there is still one key theme they have in common that can help predict the potential setting of Horizon 3’s expansion.

horizon forbidden west: aloy with varl in the background
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One Key Element in Horizon 3’s Possible Expansion is Already Easy to Predict

The Key Themes That Horizon’s Expansion Seems to Follow are Elemental and Weather

The Horizon franchise is full of diverse ecosystems, and these ecosystems are part of a key theme that Horizon’s expansions have in common. What the expansions have in common is the theme of weather and the elements. Due to this, it is very easy to predict what ecosystem Horizon 3’s expansion could explore. It could be an ecosystem that the game has explored before, or it could be an entirely new variety.

The Frozen Wilds explored the theme of ice and snow and featured the Banuk, who have adapted to living in the Frozen Wilds. The Burning Shores explores the theme of fire and features the archipelago of the lost and partially submerged city of Los Angeles. However, this archipelago has some lava and fire spilling out of some of the islands and hills.

Possible Elemental & Weather Themes That Horizon 3’s Possible Expansion Could Explore

With the elements of ice and fire already covered, there are plenty of more elements that could be explored in the future. Ice and fire are just a small portion of the number of elements that the Horizon franchise could cover, possibly adding anything from wind and earth to acid and water in the future. There’s plenty for Guerrilla Games to explore:

  • Wind
  • Earth
  • Acid/Poison
  • Water
  • Electricity

All these elements can easily translate to the type of machines Aloy fights as well as the terrain she’d explore. There are plenty of possibilities for these elements, and they could even be combined to make unique areas and ecosystems.

How These Themes Could Work for Horizon 3’s Possible Expansion

Wind and Electricity Elements

These elements pair very well, as well as have the capability of working as a solo element for Horizon 3’s expansion. A wind theme could provide deeper flying mechanics in Horizon 3 and introduce the ability of flight combat. Considering that Sunwings and other flying machines that Aloy can override can fire projectiles, it would be a fun and exhilarating feature to include in Horizon 3 or a wind-themed expansion.

Electricity could work either by combining it with the wind element to create a stormy ecosystem rife with Stormbirds, or it could be used to create an ecosystem that heavily features Cauldrons and old ruins that still have power. Perhaps there’s a distant tribe that’s advanced enough to learn how to use electricity to power up ancient cities.

Acid and Water Elements

Acid could work very well when it comes to machine types and create a deadly ecosystem. Like Burning Shores did, Horizon 3’s expansion could introduce new machines that fit with the elemental theme, and if that theme is acid, then that’s perfect for new acid-based machines such as the Bilegut.

When combined with water, it could easily create a swamp home to deadly machines such as a Shellsnapper. A swamp would be an interesting area for Aloy to explore, and it could introduce more swamp-based machines or tribes. Water could easily work individually by introducing a potential city that is completely submerged in Horizon 3 with only a few areas that have oxygen pockets. Horizon Forbidden West has already proved that this concept works with the mission The Sea of Sands.

Earth Element

A fascinating theme that could introduce entire underground areas, and not just Cauldrons, but potentially ancient cities lost underground or expansive cave networks for Aloy to explore. It would be fascinating if Aloy discovered a lost city or even discovered a tribe that chose to live underground. However, the earth element could also be combined with water to create a muddy landscape, where Aloy would need specific gear or a mount to traverse it with ease. Whether or not Guerrilla Games will develop an expansion for Horizon 3 isn’t fully certain, but by looking at its history, it likely will. If it does, it would be interesting to see if it makes use of these elements and keeps up with Horizon's elemental theme.