Horizon Forbidden West launched last year to success and praise for its open-world, story, character development, and improvements over Horizon Zero Dawn - even if it was quickly overshadowed by FromSoft's Elden Ring. While the overhaul to weapons and ammo types gave players overwhelming content to chew through, the variety of combat on offer balanced out that feeling. One year later, Horizon Forbidden West has continued to be a success for Sony and PlayStation, leading to an even larger franchise expansion.
Horizon Forbidden West continues six months after Zero Dawn as Aloy attempts to locate a backup of GAIA now that her old terraforming system has grown more unstable, threatening all life on Earth as storms and plague cripple the land. As the game unfolds, Aloy learns to rely on her friends as they grow into a family, working to save the planet and stop the invading Far Zenith threat.
Horizon Has Become a Flagship Franchise for Sony
Horizon Zero Dawn released in February 2017 as Dutch studio Guerrilla Games's first open-world adventure, then-known for the Killzone franchise. This catapulted the studio into a household name for PlayStation fans. While initially remaining a PlayStation console exclusive, Horizon Zero Dawn was ported to PC in August 2020, leading to even more access.
When Horizon Forbidden West released on February 18, 2022, just having a successful sequel boded well for the franchise. But the fact that Forbidden West was featured prominently alongside the release of the PS5 (even if it launched after the console) shows how popular the brand had become. Horizon Forbidden West even received a special PS5 bundle release.
Though also compatible with the PS4, the sequel was designed with Sony's PS5 in mind, utilizing the new graphical and systems potential to release a rewarding experience with enhanced motion capture, environmental aesthetics, and the PS5's solid-state drive for faster gameplay and load times. In short, Horizon Forbidden West was advertised as one of the premiere games to showcase the PS5's full capabilities.
Future Content with Horizon Forbidden West's Burning Shores DLC
As with any sequel, Horizon Forbidden West upped the dangers that Aloy faced, introducing new machines - with some containing much more futuristic tech. With the recent announcement of DLC called Burning Shores, Aloy will face even more trials. Just as Horizon Zero Dawn's DLC The Frozen Wilds brought new machines, characters, locations, and weapons to the franchise, Burning Shores will undoubtedly do the same.
Burning Shores is set to bring Aloy to the ruins of Los Angeles, which has been splintered to open up new volcanic regions. The Burning Shores trailer prominently shows a giant Horus-class machine - an enemy many players have wanted to fight since Zero Dawn - wrapping its tentacles around and destroying the Hollywood sign. With Guerrilla promising a significant threat that Aloy will face in Burning Shores, it's reasonable to expect even more will be coming her way.
Guerrilla Games claims Aloy will traverse the land through swimming and flying, and while this doesn't necessarily mean that land travel will be restricted, terrain traversal will be laden with geographical risks as Burning Shores' Los Angeles and its landmarks have become an archipelago filled with lava and brimstone. This will make machine combat on land much riskier, and likely provide new ways to handle travel. Fights with machines will carry additional risks of landing in lava if players aren't careful.
While Horizon Forbidden West was a flagship title for the PS5, it was designed for PS4 players to enjoy the game as well, albeit with graphical limitations and longer loading times. However, the Burning Shores DLC has been designed solely for the PS5. A PlayStation Blog post uploaded shortly after the DLC's announcement at The Game Awards 2022 confirmed Burning Shores' PS5 exclusivity, claiming that Guerrilla faced a difficult decision in restricting the content so its DLC can achieve a grander creative vision.
Guerrilla's Horizon Franchise is Expanding to New Mediums After Forbidden West
Not only has Horizon Forbidden West become a flagship title for PlayStation as a whole, its franchise continues to expand into other mediums like VR. Horizon Call of the Mountain has become the flagship release for the PSVR 2 on February 22, 2023, with several reviews already noting how the device has improved over Sony's first-generation PSVR headsets.
Furthermore, last summer news began circulating that Horizon Zero Dawn was entering the streaming wars, with Netflix working on an adaptation. News has been sparse regarding the TV show, with some reports claiming Aloy will be featured, while others claim the show will be called Horizon 2074, and focus on the end of the world that led to her post-apocalyptic adventures. Reports also indicate that Steve Blackman has been brought on as showrunner, with Michelle Lovretta as a writer.
While more news of the TV show is forthcoming, this doesn't change the fact that the overall franchise has grown in popularity one year after the release of Horizon Forbidden West, with more access potentially coming soon through continued PC ports, DLC, PSVR 2, and television. The world, story, and characters that Guerrilla Games created are rich, engaging, and relevant, so it only makes sense to see the brand thriving.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now for PS4 and PS5.
