Horizon Forbidden West was shown at today’s State of Play giving us a deeper look into the gameplay for the upcoming PlayStation exclusive and a sneak peek at the story.
PlayStation’s direct-to-consumer showcase fully featured Horizon Forbidden West today, not touching on other titles as we head into an E3 season that Sony (as of right now) will be sitting out of. Whether we hear more from PlayStation at someone else’s conference, or at a different event, has yet to be announced. For now, we got an excellent look at what to expect from the sequel to one of PlayStation’s biggest debut IPs.
As we return to the mechanized-dino world of Horizon, we saw some of the new combat mechanics, how stealth and tactics will play a part in the gameplay, as well as some good tidbits about the title’s plot. And of course, more new mechs to stare at lovingly.
“Horizon Forbidden West continues six months after the events of Horizon Zero Dawn. Aloy, a machine hunter, has travelled west to investigate a mysterious and deadly blight. In these uncharted lands, she will meet strange new tribes and encounter ever more deadly machines. Together with old friends and new companions, she must brave this dangerous frontier to find the answers she needs to save life on Earth.”
With all sorts of new weapons and tricks up Aloy’s sleeve, we saw the Pullcaster speed up climbing, the Shieldwing allow her to safely descend from great heights (or surprise enemies from above), and the Diving Mask, which allows for underwater exploration. Big upgrades to her Focus, which now show areas that allow free-climbing and gives her the ability to override more machines for mounts or combat.
While they showed off large portions of what we can look forward to at release, we were left wondering when the title will release. Via a blog post, they stated, “We don’t have an exact release date yet, but development is on track and we’ll have an update for you very soon.”
With E3 right around the corner, we could see a quick date reveal at some point, but with Sony again not participating in E3 specifically, it’s hard to know when or how that announcement would get out.
