A new gameplay preview from IGN showcases a better look at Horizon Forbidden West's combat, settlements, and exploration. Sony and developer Guerrilla Games have spent the last several weeks regularly unveiling new details about Forbidden West's enemies and story. A recent trailer even teased a few series newcomers, including a tribe leader named Regalla - portrayed by Angela Bassett - and a mystery character brought to life by The Matrix's Carrie-Anne Moss.
Set after the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, Forbidden West follows Aloy on her travels to the western part of the United States, where a new threat looms large in the form of wild storms and a potentially disastrous blight. Something else brews out west as well, with Regalla and her forces proving to be quite the threat in their own right. Regalla's troops most notably have access to machines of war, presumably provided by Zero Dawn antagonist Sylens. Fortunately, new gameplay footage indicates Aloy will approach these challenges and others with more than a fair few tricks up her sleeve.
IGN's hands-on preview for Horizon Forbidden West features 12 minutes of gameplay footage, covering combat, settlements, exploration, and more. As seen in past trailers, Guerrilla significantly overhauled Horizon's melee combat, adding complexities that should make close-quarters combat far more viable this time around. In terms of how Aloy now navigates the open-world environments, a new piece of equipment known as the Pullcaster acts as a grappling hook that gives the character a wider array of movement options. The previously shown glider will open things up in the traversal department, as well. Meanwhile, the crew at Guerrilla also put extra effort into ensuring Forbidden West's settlements and towns look and feel livelier. Developers who spoke to IGN claim this much will be evident in the ambient noise, routines, and behaviors of settlement-based NPCs.
Since the sequel's release is only weeks away, some may feel hesitant to watch new footage. Still, even skimming through the above gameplay makes one thing abundantly clear - Horizon Forbidden West looks as though it'll offer an experience leaps and bounds ahead of Zero Dawn, which itself proved rather impressive upon launch in 2017.
In addition to new gameplay mechanics and a fresh setting, Forbidden West will come packed with a host of previously unseen machine enemies. The Slitherfang, for instance, assumes the form of a snake-like beast, while the mammoth-style Tremortusk seems as if it could give a Thunderjaw a run for its money. Suffice it to say, Horizon faithful are in for a treat come mid-February.
Horizon Forbidden West comes to PS4 and PS5 next month on February 18.
Source: IGN