The combat in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West is not for everyone. Anyone with an affinity toward Monster Hunter games may adore it for the intense strategies and prolonged battles that ensue as players attempt to tear machine parts away, but those who do not may have no interest. The Horizon franchise’s armaments are intriguing enough with their own ammunition and different efficiencies in a hunt, though they all sort of suffer from having the same aesthetic not altogether connected to any one part of Horizon’s world.
Bows and other armaments look rudimentarily strung together, perhaps to give them a purposeful contrast from the Old World technology that Aloy wears on her temple. But none are intrinsically rooted in Horizon’s atmosphere beyond their primitive appearances and functionalities, which may stifle their creative potential. When looking out at other games that smartly incorporate weapons as part of their worlds, there is one recent example in Splatoon 3 that perfectly demonstrates how weapons can be identifiable as well as designed to make sense in the game’s environment.
Splatoon’s Weapon Design is a Blueprint That Horizon Should Follow
Splatoon’s ink-sloshing armaments are known for their creativity. In particular, Splatoon 3’s new Splatana weapon has raised the bar in terms of immersing a weapon in the game’s world. Splatanas are essentially detached windshield wipers outfitted to fling ink, and as simple as that sounds on paper it makes for an ingenious Splatoon tool that can also be instantly recognized as a sword.
That is key, as the windshield wiper’s design would fail to land if it did not somewhat resemble a katana as it is named after. It is not a sword per se, though it is technically brandished as one based due to its design as a melee instrument.
This is similar to how the other Splatoon weapons such as Splat Rollers, Inkbrushes, or Sloshers have been integrated, but while those weapons are unchangeably the items they resemble, Splatanas are compounded as a katana and windshield wiper hybrid. For example, Splatoon could not introduce an actual sword; it needed to be designed in a way where the actual weapon is still an item that players could still identify as something that would fit into its world.
A windshield wiper is not related to ink as much as other weapons, but its cleaning properties still give it the faculty to fling ink. This keeps it in-line with its plethora of ink-related weapons while branching out in a creative way. Splatoon 3 adds its own bow weapon, sharing more similarities with the Horizon franchise, but Horizon should look to Splatoon’s weapons - and specifically the Splatana - when new weapons are introduced in a future sequel.
How Horizon Could Get Creative With its Weapons in the Future
Horizon Forbidden West’s armaments are indicative of the world’s relatively underdeveloped condition, with primitive tools servicing tribes throughout the lands. Aloy’s primary weapons are bows with elemental or otherwise enhanced arrows, and the rest of her inventory is an eclectic arrangement including Tripcasters, Shredder Gauntlets, and Boltblasters. However, while different machine parts are used in the creation of new weapons, these weapons are hardly indicative of the machines that players felled to craft them. Taking a look at Splatoon’s Splatana, the weapon is creative because it still perfectly suits the world and environment that it is in while being a fun take on a windshield wiper.
Horizon has no weapon that specifically resembles a machine’s plate scaling or appendages, for example, though there are some detachable turrets that Aloy can equip with limited ammunition. The Far Zeniths’ Specters lay destroyed, and it would be fantastic to see Aloy and her company capable of fashioning new weapons from their technologically advanced husks.
Either way, Horizon’s weapons would be inventively ingrained in the world if they resembled a detached or salvaged part. Bows and other trick weapons are not necessarily uninspired, but having them look more like the machines they are crafted from would offer more salient connective tissue. This could play well into melee combat if Horizon decides to grant Aloy more close-quarters weapons, or it could simply play into other long-ranged weapons as long as they are creatively hybridizing a machine’s part as an unconventional weapon.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.
