Released in 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn tells the story of Aloy, a brave warrior who ventures into the world to discover more about her past and to stop the evil plans of cultists. The tasks ahead of her are not easy, because she lives in a dystopian future where monstrous machines roam the lands and threaten to kill anything that moves. Horizon Zero Dawn was a new direction for Guerrilla Games, a studio with a history of making FPS games, but the risk paid off, and Aloy's game has been a runaway hit. Fortunately, gamers will be able to enjoy more of Aloy with Horizon Forbidden West, the upcoming sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn.
Horizon Forbidden West takes everything good from its predecessor and improves upon it. Traversal has been made easier thanks to the inclusion of a grappling hook and a glider. Combat will also be more engaging due to Guerrilla Games' overhaul of the combat system. Aloy will have plenty more options available for melee combat, and new weapons and moves will help her deal with the tough foes she will encounter. While all these improvements are much appreciated, perhaps the greatest addition Guerrilla Games could add is a multiplayer mode.
Horizon Zero Dawn and Co-Op
Back when Guerrilla Games was still in the early days of developing Horizon Zero Dawn, it had plenty of ideas for what it wanted to include in the game. However, not everything could be implemented due to factors such as hardware limitations. Ultimately, this turned out for the best because it meant that the studio could focus on a few key features and polish them to near perfection. Nevertheless, it does make one wonder what the possibilities could have been if the studio had a bigger budget, more time, and better hardware to work with, especially when one learns that Horizon Zero Dawn was once envisioned as a co-op game.
Mathijs De Jong, Horizon Zero Dawn's game director, has explained that even early prototypes of that featured two-player co-op. However, "the programmers basically said that if we wanted to have co-op, we would also have 50% of the features we had been asking for and not 100%," and the studio chose to ditch co-op in favor of other features. It is not hard to imagine Horizon Zero Dawn as a co-op game. Two friends could go out hunting machines, clearing camps, and collecting resources. They could work together laying down traps, or they could combine their power and use brute force to take down bigger machines.
A Horizon Zero Dawn co-op game would have also filled a niche that PlayStation has been struggling to serve in recent years — online multiplayer. Online, friends could band together to form tribes and defend themselves from machines and other hostile players. Judging by Horizon Zero Dawn's sales, it would be hard to argue that Guerrilla Games made the wrong choice by abandoning co-op for other features, but with Horizon Forbidden West, the studio has the chance to explore multiplayer possibilities.
Horizon Forbidden West Could Learn From Ghost of Tsushima: Legends
Like Guerrilla Games, Sucker Punch also decided to ignite a new IP during the PS4's lifetime. Although Guerrilla Games looked to the future for inspiration, Sucker Punch instead looked to the past, and Ghost of Tsushima was born. The game focuses on Jin Sakai, a samurai who has been raised to fight in an honorable way. When Tsushima island is invaded by Mongols, Jin discovers that he must learn new ways of combat and shun some old traditions if he is to save his homeland.
Ghost of Tsushima was met with a very positive reception, and the game managed to win the People's Voice Award at 2020's The Game Awards. While many were still praising Ghost of Tsushima for being an impressive singleplayer game, Sucker Punch surprised the gaming world by releasing Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, a multiplayer counterpart to the singleplayer portion of the game.
In Legends, players can play as one of four classes: Ronin, Assassin, Hunter, or Samurai. Working with other gamers, players can engage in quick matches, challenges, or take on new missions. Legends has far more supernatural themes than the singleplayer game, and though Legends can be played alone, it is an experience best enjoyed with others.
Like Legends, Horizon Forbidden West could release a multiplayer component down the line which allows players to team up with gamers from around the world. A multiplayer Horizon Forbidden West could introduce a new storyline for players to work through which adds to the singleplayer plot while providing a way for gamers to enjoy the Forbidden West with friends. Taking down machines, especially the larger ones is a daunting task, but with a team, the job can be made easier and more fun. Players could also work together to clear bandit camps, or to take over the camps of other players who have formed a tribe.
Most notably, the Horizon franchise already has an interesting feature that would work perfectly for multiplayer — cauldrons. Exploring and completing cauldrons with friends would make for an amazing adventure, and Guerrilla Games could keep content fresh by updating the game with new cauldrons regularly. At the end of each cauldron, there should be some sort of reward to incentivize players to keep coming back.
Judging by the gameplay trailers released for Horizon Forbidden West, it is clear that Guerrilla Games is planning to outdo itself with its next release. Aloy will explore new lands and discover new machines and tribes, but she will also have plenty of new abilities and weapons to help her out. Although it will be fun to enjoy everything Horizon Forbidden West has to offer alone, the addition of a multiplayer component would only multiply the game's value.
Horizon Forbidden West releases on February 18, 2022, on PS4 and PS5.
