IGN: Horizon Forbidden West Preview

https://www.ign.com/articles/horizon-forbidden-west-hands-on-preview-ps5

Forbidden West’s gameplay will feel immediately recognizable to players of Zero Dawn, but refined in nearly every way. (And new players shouldn’t have too much trouble catching up - Horizon’s mechanic ideas are revealed over time, but with enough new twists to not play out as rote, elongated tutorials.) The first big question I had when jumping in, after having seen past gameplay showcases for Forbidden West, was how much freer exploration actually would be. Zero Dawn did many things right, but its climbing navigation was one of its most frustrating limitations, and I’m sure I’m not the only player who spent time jumping haphazardly over geometry to try to get Aloy to climb up a rockface she wasn’t necessarily supposed to.

In playing Forbidden West, it was immediately apparent (and appreciable) just how much more of the world is scalable. Rather than just brief, sporadic sections with convenient handholds placed by the tribes, so much more of the rocky terrain is built to be climbed and explored in a volume much more akin to nsomething like the Assassin's Creed series. Not every single inch of every bit of terrain is meant to be climbed, but there's certainly a lot more at your disposal, and that is a HUGE relief. It makes exploration, whether to get to a destination or just to check out an area of intrigue, such a more natural, fulfilling experience.

Looks like they improved the world to be more accessible. Climbing and exploring in Zero Dawn was a bit tedious and repetitive due to the lack of variety in the explorable environments.

I played this particular battle in Forbidden West’s framerate mode, though I switched between the favoring resolution and performance options throughout, and found both worthy of my time. Forbidden West is, visually, not dissimilar from its predecessor, already quite a beautiful game. Playing on PS5, Forbidden West’s world is a sight to behold, though, from stunning vistas with lengthy views to the enhanced level and amount of detail in a settlement like Chainscape, to smoother animations both in and out of combat, Forbidden West is frequently dazzling.

Looks like it's going to look and perform well on PS5. I wonder hows PS4/Pro will fair?

Nearly every misgiving I had about Zero Dawn seems to have been thought through, and then some, while everything I loved has only been improved upon. Aloy’s new journey seems more robust and rewarding than I expected, while retaining the wonder and awe that its predecessor delivered on. I still don’t know quite what the Forbidden West itself will hold, but after my hands-on, I’ve never been more excited to find out.

Looks like he's enjoying it. 9/10 incoming?

87-89 Meta.

Lol IGN and I'll wait for the superior PC version. :P

Anyway, enjoy, hopefully worth the wait. ;)

Ign has very little credibility here at GS,always a "fall back on review score" if GS scores it lower.

Cartoon farcry west needs to step up for the cows,it has a halo and FH5 9 out of 10 to beat if the "Sony has the best first party" sharade is to be kept up

But, but, we spent $70 billion and we got COD!!

rent free

How is that even remotely relevant to this?

I’ll wait for the PC version. Sounds like it’s same ol Horizon and not much changed expect copying Zelda more.

Got 'em 😎

sure sure, if only your trolling abilities were that good

Horizon ZD was released before Zelda was it not?

In the same way a dog got me the other day when I stood in a dog dirt.

@Zero_epyon: I’m talking about it’s coping Zelda by trying to make everything climbable.

97/100 easy.

Imagine a content rich, microtransaction store free singleplayer game in 2022.

Obviously not made by EA/Activision/Ubisoft

@mesome713: You said copying Zelda more, which means it already copied Zelda.

And the first person to derail the topic with rent free housing, Sony fanny. 😂 It never fails.

Sony continues to deliver high quality single player experiences. Meanwhile, MS continues to buy washed out companies in hopes of reviving their IPs 🤣

I'd love to see Infinity Ward or Treyarch make something else for once, give them a Halo game or what would also be cool: a Metal Arms Glitch in the system sequel.

A conker shooter would also be preferable to yet another COD.

^^^^^^

lol :P

Why do you think that's unique to Zelda?

@Zero_epyon: cause it’s first game to do so.

Sounds great, but the climbing mechanics aka Assassin's Creed made me a bit worried. I loved how in the first game we could jump to every slight surface and explore places we were not supposed to. It gave me the same sense of exploration i usually feel and love in The Elder Scrolls games.

I know IGN saw it as an improvement, but i really hope they don't limit exploration to those yellow blinking parts you are supposed to interact with.

absolutely not.

It looks really good. Can't wait to get my hands on it

I don't think this will surpass the first one in terms of story and impact, but the game play will prob be improved.

Classic case of 'We made a sequel because the first was so popular'

Or maybe I'm wrong. I'd love to know if they had plans for a sequel while making the first one. Like.... what could possibly be more epic than the story in the first game? And it was kinda wrapped up in a neat little package. They're gonna have to introduce a new big bad and then you beat it, vs the first game where the plot literally builds up over a millennia.

Idk we'll see.. I'm def gonna check it out.

It actually looks pretty good to me.

I'll never play due to the stylistic choices, but it's a huge improvement over the first, at least in terms of world interaction.

Plus I legit don't really care about videogame stories for the most part.

@Zero_epyon:I'm sure it will be AAA. PS fans should be excited.

This game is rustling jimmies and it ain’t even out yet.🤣

@ermacness:

I sincerely don't think it's that.

The first game had the unfortunate experience of launching next to a worldbeater of a game. Neither game was perfect but one clearly just impressed more, as far as the industry and public goes.

If Horizon was stylized like the initial drafts they've shown in the time since. I'd play that game happily, as long as the improvements from the first one remained.

I get that some people are able to enjoy a game on its own merits but the reality is that gaming isn't done in a vacuum so when many people taste/experience titles that do things better, many will naturally wish to see that same better, in other titles.

That's the real crutch of the criticism I think.

This is a medium that is largely informed by each other.

Without Zelda you probably don't get Shadow of the Colossus or Demon Souls.

Without Sotc you probably don't get Botw or Elden Ring.

People are looking for lineal lines between successes.

I expect perfect scores across the board as industry cheerleaders react in repulsion to news of the MS acquisition and to bolster Sony fanboy fervor. Reviews don't exist in a vacuum.

It will score good for wokeness.

It looks great,hopefully it scores good and sure it will. Great time to be a gamer. Bravo Sony.

So excited! It's a shame that's my anniversary week.

Hopefully it's fun to play this go around.

It looks soo good. I feel really sorry for Halo Inf,because of the backlash it got when it came to graphics . But after watching this video, I now understand why 100 of million people thought halo Inf looks an xbox360 game.

Sounds great - the improved climbing is huge for me. The game had many strengths but the very primitive traversal wasn't one of them

I'll pick this up used. I'm not supporting 70 dollar games anymore.

@JustPlainLucas: if you get PS4 version for $60 the upgrade is free, Sony had their nipples twisted into it because they promised this a while back and gamers held their feet to the flame on it

For real? So, what is the point of getting the PS5 version if the upgrade is free?

Got this and Kirby preordered. Going to be a nice spring.

Naw, I'd rather not give Sony any money right now. I don't need the game day one anyhow. I'm content buying a used copy.

Welp, guess I'm buying the crappy (PS4) version from the looks of it and the fact it was developed with the PS4 in mind, I'm less worried...sort of.

@davillain: I don't know if you have a PS5 but if you do or plan on getting one the upgrade is free on this one (last free PS5 upgrade).

you get a white lines on your box and yes people do pay extra for that, as seen by all other games that had ps4 and ps5 releases and ps5 box cost more because reasons, people really are that dumb

The prequel was overshadowed by a superior game BOTW. Will the history repeat it self and the sequel will be overshadowed by Elden Ring? Time will tell.

Pretty sure being able to climb any surface since the NES days with wall jumps and such. Hell, Metroid 2 allowed Samus to scale any surface with spider ball.

For 3d there have been pretty much any spiderman game.

@Maroxad: ? Spider-Man. Lol

Forbidden West as long as original according to this

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/01/horizon-forbidden-west-is-reportedly-about-as-long-as-horizon-zero-dawn

The first one had a decent length so this is good news to me.