Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores Overview (PS5)

For us, Guerrilla Video games’ Horizon sequence has been good from the very begin, but it surely’s getting higher every time we return to it. Horizon Forbidden West is a wonderful sequel that builds upon the primary recreation in virtually each approach — a bigger, extra various open world, a greater ensemble forged, extra attention-grabbing facet quests, and improved traversal, to call just a few. Burning Shores, the DLC growth, is essentially extra of the identical, however provides simply sufficient on prime to make it effectively definitely worth the go to.

Following on instantly from the occasions of the primary recreation, Sylens duties Aloy with monitoring down an vital free finish within the titular area. We cannot give any spoilers, but it surely’s protected to say this growth acts as a neat bridge from Forbidden West into Horizon 3. Guerrilla has doubled down on its bonkers sci-fi story, and it is delivered so earnestly that we will not assist however love the nonsense. Should you do too, and loved what the bottom recreation provided up, you may undoubtedly get pleasure from that facet of the narrative right here.

However let’s not get too forward of ourselves. Aloy crash lands within the Burning Shores and is instantly confronted by Seyka, a member of the Quen tribe that is presently stranded and lacking a lot of its individuals. This new character will be part of Aloy on her principal quests, and he or she proves to be simply as succesful as our heroine, which is a rarity in these titles. She’s one other welcome addition to Horizon’s wider forged, and one who challenges Aloy in new methods, serving to to humanise a protagonist who was maybe a little bit one-note in Forbidden West.

The primary set of quests is 5 sturdy, and all of them are fairly prolonged. You are taking a look at about six to eight hours relying in your tempo, and that is with out contemplating the opposite stuff to do within the growth. The story takes you to some incredible areas, lays a little bit of groundwork for the inevitable sequel, and, as has been closely hinted, a Horus does certainly get up. We’ll simply say that it is a spectacular finale; the size of this setpiece is off the charts, and is probably going a significant motive why this DLC is PS5 solely.

However the story solely takes you to sure areas throughout the Burning Shores. The map is substantial — a couple of third of the dimensions of the primary recreation — and encompasses a mix of dense forest, sandy seashores, open water, and flowing lava, with outdated world ruins to remind you this was as soon as Los Angeles. It is visually beautiful, as you’d anticipate, though there may be noticeable pop-in whilst you’re flying. Whereas it is nice enjoyable to discover the map, some elements of the Burning Shores provide little to do past some sight-seeing. Predominant quests are largely concentrated in a single portion of the map, whereas a few facet quests unfold issues out, however one or two areas are largely passed over.

That mentioned, there are new collectables to search out, a Relic Break to resolve, a Cauldron to infiltrate, and a handful of recent machines. The Waterwing will turn into your new greatest good friend — it is a flying mount that may additionally dive beneath the water, making swimming a lot sooner. There are two others to find, each of that are nice additions to the roster that’ll take a look at you in several methods.

There’s additionally a collection of new weapons and outfits to make use of, however extra impactful is a spread of recent abilities. A dozen further abilities and 6 extra Valor Surges offer you but extra fight choices. Many introduce new concepts, like firing weapons whereas gliding, making use of elemental harm along with your spear, and dropping massive shields. Others amp up present mechanics; for instance, one ability means that you can grapple to a knocked down machine and, if you happen to time a button press proper, apply Resonator vitality, which you’ll shoot for a giant burst of harm. These new abilities (and a brand new stage cap) give gamers some contemporary choices, and make the chaotic fight much more various.

Conclusion

Like Frozen Wilds did with Horizon Zero Daybreak, Burning Shores takes what was already nice about Forbidden West and offers you a sizeable new playground and a bunch of additional toys to play with. The archipelago is nice enjoyable to discover by land, sea, or air, with loads of attention-grabbing issues to see and do. Sure areas really feel a little bit underutilised, however general it is a nice growth that continues Aloy’s story and units up for issues to come back in Horizon 3.