Horizon Forbidden West widened the scope of its story, lore, and geographical locations, taking Aloy as far as the shores of San Francisco. As with any sequel, Horizon Forbidden West upped the dangers and threats that Aloy faced, introducing new machines that threatened her and humanity. With the recent announcement of DLC called Burning Shores, Aloy will face even more dangers, including a promised massive one lurking in the shadows.
Horizon Forbidden West wasn't afraid to go bigger, better, and bolder in content than 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn. The DLC for the first game, The Frozen Wilds, brought new characters, weapons, and enemy types to the game's lore that most fans adored. Burning Shores is sure to carry on the tradition, now taking place within the ruins of Los Angeles, which has become a fiery, volcanic archipelago that is sure to contain new threats.
A Burning Los Angeles
One of the first notable elements of the DLC announcement saw Aloy on the wings of a Sunwing, flying over the ruined landscape of LA. Most notable about the geography was the splintered ground, ripe with lava and burning shores, hence the title. Famous landmarks, a hallmark of the series for players to explore, are seen as she flies overhead, notably the Griffith Observatory, the Capitol Records building, and the iconic Hollywood sign.
Guerilla Games has noted that Aloy will traverse the land through swimming and flying, indicating that on-foot traversal will likely be danger ridden. That's not to say that players will be limited to air and sea, as Aloy must face machine threats dominating the terrain. However, this location will provide much more danger geographically than she has ever met. Moreso, fights with machines will carry additional risks of landing in lava if players aren't careful.
A FAS-BOR7 Horus
Players of Horizon Zero Dawn learned that the FAS-BOR7 Horus was designed in the 21st century as part of the Chariot line of Faro Automated Solutions combat robots. These robots were used by governments and corporations around the globe for defense protocols and securing limited resources. The Chariot line was implemented to resemble particular insect swarms, with the Horus being the queen of a given swarm.
As the lore of Horizon Zero Dawn enhances, it's learned that a Horus could replicate other swarm robots in addition to itself with astronomical numbers to overwhelm enemy combatants. The Horus had the capabilities to understand its enemies' computer algorithms, slaving machines to their network, and also contain emergency biofuel consumption if normal reserves were interrupted. These giant, leviathan-looking insect machines could drill into extensive, defense-heavy fortifications with metal tentacles.
To say these machines were formidable would be an understatement. Thus far in the series, they have remained dormant since the GAIA sub-function Minerva deciphered and launched the deactivation codes to shut them down after life went extinct. The Burning Shore's trailer shows one of these giant titans wrapping its tentacles around and destroying the Hollywood sign. With Guerilla promising a significant threat Aloy will face, it's reasonable to expect that this is on the list.
Hephaestus Revisited
While new threats will emerge in Burning Shores, some old ones will also make their presence known. This is likely to be Hephaestus, the GAIA sub-function responsible for creating and building the terraforming machines through the Cauldron network that Aloy and other humans hunt for parts. Players are very familiar with Hephaestus, as the sub-function was the primary antagonist of The Frozen Wilds.
By the end of Horizon Forbidden West, Aloy and her allies managed to get Hephaestus into the Zenith network to replicate machines to take them down. However, Gerard self-destructed the machine printing matrix, which most likely released Hephaestus back into the Cauldron network, solidifying it as the last sub-function of GAIA to be free. It stands to reason that Hephaestus will provide some threat to Aloy, as he not only sees her now as one, but the mechanics of the game - hunting deadly machines - rely on him creating more.
Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores will release for the PS5 on April 19, 2023.
