Horizon Forbidden West New Gameplay Shows Us New Gear, Feathered Dinosaurs and An Epic Bossfight

Guerrila Games showed off 14 minutes of new gameplay for Horizon Forbidden West, the follow up to Horizon Zero Dawn. The demo showed a sequence from the game, including new equipment as well as enemies.

New Toys

One of the first things they show you is a crucial plot element to the game- a rival tribe of raiders has acquired the power to override and mount machines. They’ve attacked a settlement, with the gameplay demo throwing Aloy into the thick of it as she squares off against 3 giant raptor-like machines.

Likewise, they then proceed to show you one of Aloy’s new tools- a smoke bomb you can throw on the ground, temporarily resetting enemy’s alertness so she can get away. The gameplay sequence shown was heavily scripted, but the bomb works wonders in getting you away from the new enemiies.

The next tool they show Aloy using is a diving mask. This mask allows her to stay underwater indefinitely, as well as swim through stong currents. It looks like underwater exploration will be a big part of Forbidden West, as you’ll also need to avoid the attention of big machines that live in the water.

It looks like these underwater sections will have their own puzzles, with hiding spots, big enemies and lots of interesting directions to explore all without having to worry about coming back up for air.

There’s also a free climbing system, as Aloy can highlight grabbable points as she climbs up pillars. She can pair this with two more open world staples- a grappling hook, as well as a glider to navigate more vertical maps with ease.

Another new feature they added was the ability for Aloy herself to mount machines. She can use them to cross large swathes of terrain much faster, and we’re not sure just how many of the new machines can be ridden. These mounts can take damage and die though, so you’ll want to be careful if you’re particularly fond of yours.

Again the sequence shown was heavily scripted, so there’s no way to know just how open the mounting will be in the full game- obviously don’t expect to mount giant boss enemies, and it’s safe to assume that you’ll need to be incognito before you can overrride a machine.

Oh The Enemies You’ll Face In Horizon Forbidden West

There were three main enemies shown off during the Horizon Forbidden West Gameplay demo, the first of which was the raiders. Just like with the machines the raiders look like they’ll have their own armor for you to shoot off to open them up, with the parts being highlighted as you aim with your bow. You also naturally have the ability to use stealth takedowns on them, skipping fights altogether.

The next enemies were the giant Utaraptor-esque machines. While moderately big, they also seem to operate in packs, being able to circle around Aloy. They’re also the only rideable enemies shown in the gameplay demo, though we don’t know if that will change. One cool feature was during the first segment, where the machines actually use pack tactics to keep Aloy locked in a certain direction. I doubt this will be used as anything more than a way to signpost fights, but it’s cool to watch them circle Aloy, blocking any path out.

The gameplay demo ends with a bossfight against the Tremortusk, an elephant-esque machine, where Aloy can use her variety of new weapons such as explosive spears to break weakpoints on its body and deal with the raiders who’ve built weapons platforms on the machine. Destroying some of these hardpoints can even get Aloy new weapons on the fight, as she’s shown picking one of these up to deal with the machine.

All in all it looks like they’ve really upped the gameplay options open to the player in Horizon Forbidden West. The combat still looks incredibly polished, and the new machine designs look cool and distinct, as well. Interestingly the game will also be coming to PS4, although the version they showed was the PS5 build of the game.

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