Horizon Forbidden West: Trailer, Release date, Platforms, Multiplayer, Story - top most popular games in 2021

Photo: Sony Interactive Entertainment

What Is Horizon Forbidden West?

An April 2020 report published by VGC claimed that Guerrilla Games was planning a Horizon trilogy, with the sequel aiming to launch exclusively on the next-gen PlayStation 5, Gfinityesports reported.

"Horizon Zero Dawn 2 is said to be 'gigantic' in scope," according to VGC's sources, "with a larger game world and more freedom to explore it than in its predecessor. People with knowledge of the game also indicated the inclusion of a co-op feature, although it's not clear if this is delivered via the main story or a separate mode."

On June 11, Sony revealed Horizon Forbidden West, "a gorgeous new adventure set in a distant land ravaged by massive storms," according to an official PlayStation blog post.

Release Date

The Horizon Forbidden West release date is scheduled for 2021, and that's all we know for now. Guerilla revealed the broad release window in a follow-up dev diary, but we don't have a day or even a month to plan for just yet.

Horizon Zero Dawn was released on 28 February 2017, three years and change after the PlayStation 4, but it's unlikely we'll see the same gap for the sequel. As one of PlayStation's flagship exclusives, we can't imagine it will lag too far behind the PS5's Holiday 2020 launch.

Interestingly, Sony and Guerrilla have now confirmed that Horizon Forbidden West will arrive on PS4 and PS5 when it eventually launches in 2021.

Multiplayer

While the first game was single-player only, with players stepping into the boots of Aloy, the sequel is intended to be playable in co-op.

Previously leaked concept art showed multiple players battling the original game's large beasts, so could we be teaming up with friends on PS5?

Photo: Sony Interactive Entertainment

VGC reports that "it’s understood PlayStation was equally keen to see online functionality implemented in the sequel," so that could be the case.

Price

While we hope there will be no price increase in next-gen titles, we simply can't say yet – and online multiplayer could open the franchise up to some microtransactions as players look to customize their characters.

Platforms

Horizon Forbidden West is a PlayStation exclusive, which means it's coming to both PS4 and PS5. So far, the footage shown has universally been from the PS5 version of the game, which means the PS4 version may not reach the same level of visual flourish. At the same time, Horizon Zero Dawn was among the more stunning games for PS4, so Guerrilla may be able to push the hardware to the limit and make it an impressive showpiece there too, according to Gamespot.

Trailer

Video by IndianExpress

The first trailer, which debuted during Sony's PS5 reveal event, had Aloy narrating about a mysterious new threat that appears to be killing wildlife and vegetation alike. What followed were glimpses of new environments and creatures, as well as the return of Sylens.

Though not a new trailer for Horizon Forbidden West, Guerrilla Games also produced a short behind-the-scenes video that shared more details on the scope, setting, creatures, and tribes we'll see in this sequel.

Story

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Guerrilla shared a teasingly vague synopsis for Horizon Forbidden West, said Gamesradar.

"Horizon Forbidden West continues Aloy’s story as she moves west to a far-future America to brave a majestic, but dangerous frontier where she’ll face awe-inspiring machines and mysterious new threats."

But the trailer tells us a little more. The landmarks clearly show a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, with a Golden Gate Bridge that's been overtaken by greenery, and the Palace of Fine Arts ruined and underwater. We can also see that Sylens still has a role to play, and Aloy will meet other tribes as she explores this new world.

Photo: Sony Interactive Entertainment

In a separate video, game director Mathijs de Jonge confirmed that the Forbidden West itself stretches from Utah to the Pacific coast, making for an in-game map that's "a bit bigger" than the ranges of Horizon Zero Dawn.

Aloy heads to the Forbidden West to uncover the cause of a strange crimson blight that is killing off plants, animals, and tribes, not to mention turning the local weather into a non-stop superstorm. She'll meet new tribes - including a hostile tribe capable of overriding machines - and face "dozens" of new machines as she searches for a way to cure the blight.

Gameplay

We may only have one Horizon Forbidden West trailer to go on, but there's a lot we can unpack. Firstly, we can see that Aloy still has her Focus - her little Bluetooth earpiece - to help her scan the world around her. We also see her riding a Charger, so she's either managed to make a new spear to let her override them, or learned some new techniques to achieve the same end.

There was a heavy focus on underwater exploration in the trailer too, which means one thing... robot sharks. Other new machines include Shellsnappers, Sunwings, and Tremortusks, respectively based on tortoises, pterodactyls, and mammoths.

Soundtrack

Guerilla and Sony have released the first track from Horizon Forbidden West soundtrack on various streaming services - the one featured in the first trailer for the game. Prominent Dutch video game composer Joris de Man wrote the score, titled Promise of the West, and it's a dynamic mix of sounds that swells into a thumping, epic conclusion.

DLC Details

So far, no DLC or microtransactions have been announced for Horizon Forbidden West. Its predecessor did get a large DLC expansion, called Horizon The Frozen Wilds, which opened up a new snowy region to explore and introduced new factions. Forbidden West is similar in that it appears to be named after a new area for Aloy to uncover. Guerrilla could plan to release a similar expansion for Forbidden West, but if so, we may not know for some time after release.

Preorder

Horizon Forbidden West is not available to preorder. When it does go up for preorder, the PS5 version may be a $70 title like the PS5 exclusive Demon's Souls.

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