Horizon Forbidden West is a 2022 action role-playing game created by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is the follow-up to Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) and takes place in a post-apocalyptic version of the Western United States, which is recovering from the effects of a major disaster caused by a group of out-of-control robots. In the game, players control Aloy, who travels to the Forbidden West to discover the cause of a mysterious illness that kills everything it touches. Players can explore the open world, complete missions, and fight machine creatures and enemy rebels using ranged and melee weapons. Forbidden West added new features to the series, such as tools for moving through the environment, underwater exploration, and more detailed melee combat.
Guerrilla Games started working on Forbidden West in 2018. At its peak, the team had over 300 full-time employees, and the game cost about $212 million to make, making it one of the most expensive games ever developed. The team aimed to keep the main elements of the original game while improving exploration and combat to support different ways of playing. More resources were used to create the game’s cinematic scenes, and more time was spent designing side quests focused on characters. Voice actors Ashly Burch and Lance Reddick returned to portray Aloy and Sylens, and they were joined by Angela Bassett and Carrie-Anne Moss. Like Horizon Zero Dawn, the game used Guerrilla’s Decima engine, which was developed by the company. The game was announced in June 2020 and released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on February 18, 2022.
Critics generally gave the game positive reviews, praising its visuals, combat, quest design, and the performances of the voice actors. However, some reviewers pointed out issues with the story and Aloy’s character development. Most agreed that Forbidden West was larger and more refined than its predecessor, though it was seen as an improvement rather than a completely new experience. By April 2023, the game had sold over 8.4 million copies. It was nominated for several awards, including Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2022 and the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. An expansion called Burning Shores was released for PlayStation 5 in April 2023. The game and expansion were later combined and re-released as Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition for PlayStation 5 in October 2023. A version for Windows was released in March 2024 by Nixxes Software. A sequel to the game is currently being developed.
Gameplay
Horizon Forbidden West is an action and role-playing video game played from a third-person view. It takes place in a world filled with dangerous, animal-like machines. The player controls Aloy, a hunter who travels to a mysterious area called the Forbidden West, which is a post-apocalyptic version of the Western United States. Aloy investigates a strange illness affecting the land. Her main weapons are bows and arrows. New weapons in the game include the Shredder Gauntlet, which throws sharp discs to damage armor. Aloy can also set traps, use tripwires, and tie enemies to the ground to stop them from moving. Some weapons use different types of ammo, such as acid ammo to melt armor or shock ammo to stun enemies. These effects can weaken machines temporarily. Aloy uses her Focus, a special device that helps her see hidden details, to identify enemy weaknesses. She can also remove parts from machines, reducing their health and sometimes letting her use their weapons against them.
Aloy can fight enemies up close with her spear and combine her attacks. She can hide in tall grass, trick enemies, and attack silently. As the player completes quests, they earn experience points (XP). More XP increases Aloy’s health and unlocks skill points. Skills are grouped into six categories: melee combat, traps, ranged attacks, scavenging, stealth, and controlling machines. Performing skilled actions, like hitting enemies in the head or removing machine parts, gives combat points that let Aloy use a powerful special attack.
Players can explore the game world freely. Two exploration modes are available: Guided mode shows important items and locations, while Explorer mode uses a simple interface and a compass to help players find places. Campfires allow instant travel to other spots, and shelters let players change the time of day. Players meet non-playable characters (NPCs) and complete side quests. During conversations, players can choose from three dialogue options that reflect Aloy’s tone, though these choices do not change the story. Players can find locations by controlling a Tallneck (a giraffe-like machine) or explore underground dungeons with challenges and tough fights. Side activities include finding old civilization ruins, clearing rebel camps, completing tasks, racing on machines, and playing a board game called Machine Strike at major settlements.
Aloy’s Focus helps her spot climbable surfaces. As the game progresses, players unlock tools to pull down obstacles, grapple to high places, and dive underwater with a mask. A glider lets Aloy fly short distances. Some machines can be tamed as mounts, and their behavior can be adjusted. Players collect resources like medicinal berries to heal Aloy or materials to upgrade weapons and outfits. Weapons and outfits have different rarity levels, with rarer items offering better benefits. Ingredients can be given to a village chef to make meals that temporarily boost Aloy’s combat skills. Aloy can only carry a limited number of items, but extra items are stored in caches at major outposts or settlements, where they can be retrieved later.
Synopsis
The game continues the story of Aloy, a young hunter from the Nora tribe and a clone of the Old World scientist Elisabet Sobeck. In the six months after defeating HADES, Aloy has searched without success for a working backup of GAIA to fix Earth’s dying environment. After learning that her former associate Sylens did not destroy HADES but stole it, Sylens contacts Aloy and asks her to continue her search in the area called the Forbidden West.
Aloy and her friend Varl travel to the West to find the Tenakth tribe, which is fighting a civil war between Chief Hekarro and rebel leader Regalla. Aloy tracks Sylens to a facility where she finds HADES damaged and permanently deletes it. She recovers a GAIA backup without its parts but is interrupted by a group of futuristic humans. This group, led by Gerard Bieri, includes his lieutenant Tilda van der Meer, enforcer Erik Visser, and a clone of Sobeck named Beta. They have advanced technology that makes them hard to harm. They take a second GAIA backup, and Aloy barely escapes before passing out when Varl finds her.
Aloy awakens days later in the village of Plainsong, home to the Utaru tribe. Zo, a member of the Utaru, leads Aloy to a control center where she reconnects GAIA with its subsystem, MINERVA. GAIA locates other subsystems—AETHER, DEMETER, and POSEIDON—and tells Aloy to retrieve them before trying to capture HEPHAESTUS. GAIA explains that the signal that caused HADES and changed the subsystems came from the Sirius system. Aloy suspects the futuristic humans sent it. Later, Aloy finds Beta, who reveals the group is Far Zenith, an organization of wealthy colonists who fled Earth during its extinction. They extended their lifespans and returned to Earth to use GAIA through Beta’s DNA to recolonize. Far Zenith already has subsystems ELEUTHIA, ARTEMIS, and APOLLO, but Beta stole their GAIA backup.
Aloy recovers AETHER after helping Hekarro in the civil war, retrieves POSEIDON from Las Vegas ruins, and finds DEMETER in San Francisco with help from Alva, a member of the Quen, a seafaring tribe. Aloy and her friends plan to trap HEPHAESTUS. Aloy, Varl, and Beta capture HEPHAESTUS in an inactive Cauldron, but the Zeniths attack. Erik kills Varl and recaptures Beta, while Gerard steals GAIA. Tilda betrays the Zeniths and helps Aloy escape. Tilda explains she was once close to Elisabet Sobeck and regrets leaving her. Inspired by Aloy, she wants to stop Far Zenith. She also reveals Sylens supports the Tenakth rebels to fight the Zeniths. Aloy refuses to harm the Tenakth and defeats Regalla after stopping her final attack on Hekarro, forcing Sylens to help her make a new plan.
Aloy and her group attack Far Zenith’s base while Beta releases HEPHAESTUS into their network. HEPHAESTUS creates endless machines that overwhelm the Zeniths’ drones. Aloy and her companions defeat and kill the Zeniths, including Erik and Gerard, but learn their colony was destroyed by Nemesis, a failed mind-uploading experiment. Nemesis sent the extinction signal to Earth to stop the Zeniths from using GAIA to colonize a new planet. Nemesis is now heading to Earth to destroy it. Tilda tries to convince Aloy to leave Earth with her, but Aloy refuses and kills Tilda. Aloy’s friends spread the warning about Nemesis while Aloy and Beta reactivate GAIA.
Development
Guerrilla Games started making Horizon Forbidden West in 2018, one year after Horizon Zero Dawn was released. The game was made for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 by Sony Interactive Entertainment. According to Sony’s records, the game took five years to develop and had more than 300 full-time workers. It cost about US$212 million, making it one of the most expensive games ever created. The studio was divided into three teams: the Core Design team, which worked on combat, player systems, and the user interface; the Quest Design team, which created the main and side quests, as well as tutorials; and the World Design team, which built the game’s world and filled it with activities.
Guerrilla’s goal for the sequel was to keep the best parts of the original game. The team focused on three main ideas: creating strong and memorable characters, encouraging exploration of nature and ancient ruins, and designing strategic combat. They wanted players to always find mysteries for Aloy to solve and new places to explore. Underwater and aerial exploration were added, even though these features were difficult to create. Quest designer Samantha Schoonen said underwater exploration was a way to explore forgotten places. The team avoided making underwater areas feel scary and instead focused on quick movement and stealth. The game allowed players to make choices, such as using new tools to solve puzzles, fighting enemies in different ways, and customizing skills. Underground areas called Cauldrons had more varied designs to surprise players. Some Cauldrons were connected to bigger events in the game.
The gameplay team described Aloy as smart, fast, agile, precise, and resourceful. They made sure these traits were reflected in the game. Melee and ranged combat were more connected, with special abilities letting players switch between them quickly. Human enemies had more variety, like armored ones, and their AI was more aggressive. In Zero Dawn, humans and machines were separate, but in Forbidden West, Aloy fights humans who control machines. New machines were added, including the Sunwing (inspired by flying reptiles and birds) and the Tremortusk (inspired by mammoths and elephants). Machines in Zero Dawn were caretakers of the world, and each type was programmed to act like it would in an ecosystem. More textures and sounds were added to help players identify machine weaknesses and understand their actions. Machine hunting became more important in Forbidden West because it was tied to crafting.
The world in Forbidden West is slightly bigger than in Zero Dawn, but the team focused on making it more filled with content. NPCs from side quests might appear again later, and completing them gives better rewards and story details. After listening to player feedback, the team made settlements more lively with better animations and NPC behavior. A new crowd system added more varied sounds so each area in a settlement sounds unique. As Aloy travels west, she meets different tribes. The Oseram are social and historically patriarchal, the Utaru are agrarian and relaxed, and the Tenakth are militant and focused on combat. Each tribe has unique animations, outfits, and ways of life, helping players recognize them from a distance.
Aloy returns as the main character in Forbidden West. She deals with another major disaster, lives up to the legacy of Elizebeth Sobeck (a scientist she was cloned from in Zero Dawn), and proves herself in a new land. Writer Benjamin McCaw said Aloy’s pressure and challenges were key to her story. Ashly Burch voiced and acted as Aloy, with Lance Reddick as Sylens, John Hopkins as Erend, and John Macmillan as Varl. New actors include Alison Jaye as Alva, Noshir Dalal as Kotallo, Carrie-Anne Moss as Tilda, and Angela Bassett as Regalla. Guerrilla used better motion capture tools to create more detailed scenes, even though the pandemic forced them to hire local talent in Amsterdam for some roles.
McCaw said writing Aloy’s relationships was hard because her background made her push away friends, believing she had to do everything alone. Over time, she learned to accept help and realized saving people, not the world, was important. The team created more side quests to deepen Aloy’s bonds with others. Varl was killed in the game, as his death was a key emotional moment. Writing Aloy’s relationship with Beta, another clone of Elizebeth Sobeck, was the most difficult part. Beta was changed from an optimistic character to a sullen teenager to fit the story. Beta represented Aloy’s inner conflicts about wanting to connect with others but feeling alone.
Far Zeniths were important enemies in the game, first planned during Zero Dawn’s development. They were chosen as the main antagonists because the story needed a different direction than Zero Dawn. Far Zeniths were selfish and cared little for others. Tilda, a Far Zenith survivor, was designed as a Dutch art expert who worked with the Rijksmuseum to include 10 real art pieces in her mansion. Ted Faro, the villain from Zero Dawn, also returned. McCaw described him as a "human cancer," a symbol of destruction.
Release
Forbidden West was officially announced by Sony in June 2020. The game was originally planned to release in 2021, but delays occurred because the COVID-19 pandemic affected production schedules. The team wanted to avoid making employees work too hard to meet deadlines. Before the game launched, Sony faced criticism for not offering a free upgrade path for PlayStation 4 owners. After player feedback, Sony later provided a free upgrade path but was still criticized for charging more for the PlayStation 5 version while allowing PlayStation 4 players to upgrade for free. The full game was released on 18 February 2022. As part of Sony's Play and Plant initiative, Sony will plant one tree in three different forests for every player who earns the "Reached the Daunt" trophy, in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation.
A comic book series, set after the events of the first game, was published by Titan Comics on 5 August 2020. Sony partnered with Dark Horse Comics to release a 200-page art book about the game on 18 October 2022. Steamforged Games worked with Sony again to create a board game called Seeds of Rebellion, based on Forbidden West. A Kickstarter campaign for the project began in November 2023. A cookery book titled Tastes of the Seven Tribes, written by Rick Barba and Victoria Rosenthal, was released on 25 June 2024. To promote the game, Sony released a variety of merchandise, including a LEGO set called Horizon Tallneck with the LEGO Group, and toys and figures of Aloy with Nendoroid, Spin Master, and Dark Horse Comics. A pop-up cafe was set up in Paris to promote the game from 9 to 11 February 2023. In October 2025, Magic: The Gathering released six cards based on the game as part of their Secret Lair Drops series.
In June 2022, Sony released a free update for the game, adding features like New Game Plus, a new difficulty level, and the ability to redistribute skill points. At The Game Awards 2022, an expansion called Burning Shores was announced. It was released on 19 April 2023 and was only available for PlayStation 5. The expansion was about one-third the size of the original game. Unlike The Frozen Wilds expansion for Zero Dawn, Burning Shores continues the story after the main game and requires completing the main game to access its content. It also introduces a potential love interest for Aloy named Seyka, as the team believed this was a natural step for her character after her growth in Forbidden West. Seyka was voiced by Kylie Liya Page, and the antagonist, Londra, was voiced by Sam Witwer. The team also added a thalassophobia mode for players who fear large bodies of water and an in-game memorial for Reddick after his passing in March 2023. Sony bundled the main game with Burning Shores and re-released it for PlayStation 5 on 6 October 2023 as Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition. Nixxes Software later ported the Complete Edition to Windows on 21 March 2024.
Reception
Horizon Forbidden West received mostly positive reviews when it was released, according to Metacritic, a website that collects reviews. Reviewers said the game was bigger and better than its earlier version.
Sam Loveridge from GamesRadar noted that the game improved by focusing more on developing its characters. He praised the game’s diverse characters and said each one had a unique personality and background. He also liked the improved animations, which made characters look more realistic and helped players connect with them. While many critics liked Aloy, the main character, and found her struggles interesting, some reviewers, like Hornshaw, said she often seemed too serious and not as engaging as other characters. Matt Minotti from VentureBeat said Aloy’s refusal to accept help at the start of the game was sometimes too extreme. Melindy Hetfield from Eurogamer called Aloy’s character disappointing and described her as "obnoxious" and "unbearable." Some critics said Aloy gave too many hints about solving puzzles, which made players feel they had no freedom to explore on their own.
Simon Cardy from IGN praised the use of cinematics, or movie-like scenes, to tell important parts of the story. He said the story improved over time and was strongest when it focused on the characters’ personal stories and the conflicts between tribes. He compared the side quests to those in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, saying they offered satisfying, self-contained stories. Some reviewers said newcomers to the series might not fully enjoy the story because it often refers back to events from the first game. Dom Peppiatt from VG247 compared the game’s structure to Mass Effect and said the story ideas showed the series has a bright future. The game’s cast and motion capture technology were praised for improving the storytelling. However, some reviewers criticized the story for becoming too strange and unconvincing, especially the ending and the villains. Ben Rayner from Digital Spy said the game’s shift to "hard sci-fi" was confusing and missed the point of the series.
Reviewers praised the game’s world. Kimberly Wallace from Game Informer liked the visual design of the game’s locations and said the world made players feel like they were constantly discovering something new. The underwater area in Las Vegas was highlighted as one of the game’s best locations. Simon Cardy from IGN said the settlements were lively and each tribe had its own unique traits. Phil Hornshaw from GameSpot said the open-world activities were varied and worth trying. Some critics said the game lacked ambition. James Tucker from NME said the game would have been just average without its story. Matthew Gault from Vice said the game did not offer anything new and repeated ideas already seen in other open-world games. Reviewers had mixed opinions about the climbing mechanics, which were sometimes inconsistent. The game’s visuals were highly praised, with Wallace calling it a "technical marvel" and Lavoy describing the graphics as "breathtaking."
Reviewers generally liked the gameplay. Wallace said combat was exciting and appreciated the game’s expanded destructibility and detailed scenes. While she liked the new quality-of-life features, she found the progression system boring. Bill Lavoy from Shacknews said gameplay was the game’s greatest strength, praising new additions and the variety of skill options. Loveridge said fighting large machines was challenging but rewarding and liked the varied designs of side activities like Tallnecks and Cauldrons. Cardy praised the variety of enemies and said challenging combat made players use Aloy’s skills fully. Reviewers said the game gave players more choices in combat and exploration compared to Zero Dawn, though some said the new features were overwhelming and hard to learn.
In the United Kingdom, Horizon Forbidden West was the best-selling game during its release week and the second-largest launch for a PlayStation 5 game at the time, behind Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020). By the end of 2022, the game sold over 530,000 copies in the UK and became the fourth best-selling physical game in the country. In the US, it was the second-best-selling game in February 2022, behind Elden Ring. It became the ninth-best-selling game of 2022 in the US.
In Japan, the PlayStation 4 version was the third best-selling retail game during its first week, with over 48,000 physical copies sold. The PlayStation 5 version sold about 43,000 physical copies in the same week, making it the fourth best-selling retail game in the country. By March 26, 2023, the game sold over 155,000 copies in Japan. In Germany, the game sold over 200,000 copies during its launch month.
In May 2023, Sony announced the game had sold over 8.4 million copies by April 16, 2023. After the game was released on Windows, it became the publisher’s sixth biggest launch on Steam, though it did not reach the same number of players online at the same time as Zero Dawn.
Sequel
In April 2023, game developer Guerrilla Games said they would make more games set in the Horizon world, including a new story about Aloy. The company suggested that a new game in the same series might be being created.