Thoughts on Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West
Are the Horizon Games Worth Playing?
I had gotten to the Frozen Wilds DLC of Zero Dawn a couple years ago and then put it down and never picked it back up. During this past holiday season, when I had some extra time and no other pressing gaming obligations, I finally got back to it and finished Zero Dawn.
It was enjoyable enough that I went right into Forbidden West. The sequel definitely looks a lot better, but that’s to be expected given the five-year gap between the two games.
In case you don’t want to read all my ranting, here is basically my verdict: both games felt extraordinarily safe. Not mediocre or bad, just safe.
If you tasked a AAA developer with creating a cookie-cutter third-person open-world game with writing and quest design focus-group tested to appeal to the broadest range of gamers, you’d get the Horizon games.
That’s kind of a critique–but not a big one. I put almost double the time into Forbidden West because there was more busy work to do, and the combat and exploration was rewarding enough to keep me motivated and interested.
About the Actual Game
Both Horizon games have generic third-person melee combat with decent stealth mechanics and fantastic ranged combat. Nothing groundbreaking but very solid.
The skill tree in Zero Dawn was great, offering valuable skills that enhanced gameplay without adding excessive complexity. I can’t say the same about Forbidden West’s skill tree, which was way too convoluted.
I stuck with one special skill the whole game—there was no need to add 20 special skills or however many it was in total across the eight or so trees. Most of the skills weren’t actually useful unless you played in a highly specific way. I virtually never used traps, melee combos, or special ranged weapon firing modes.
Overall, the way in which Guerilla Games injected complexity into Forbidden West was a mistake. None of it made the game unenjoyable, since it was all essentially optional, but I think simplicity is better if you’re trying to appeal to the broadest cross section of gamers.
You can complete Zero Dawn and Forbidden West without getting all the collectibles, doing all the side quests, or upgrading your gear. I almost reached level 70 but the hardest parts of the Burning Shores DLC probably could’ve been beaten at level 40 or 50. The base game can probably be finished in the 30s.
Open World Panic
I am extraordinarily tolerant of bloated open world games, and truly do believe there’s still a strong market for these games, at least when they’re done correctly. That being said, even I thought Forbidden West was a bit much. Guerrilla Games could’ve stuck with the side quest, collectibles, and data points and called it a day.
The way the equipment upgrading system was implemented means there is already a built-in, time-consuming farming and grinding side activity—they didn’t need to add the arena, racing, and a robot tactical RPG minigame.
My issue with the backlash against open-world games is the completionist fallacy. I don’t feel like I missed out by not doing the racing, arena, tactics minigame, or hunting challenge side activities. Even if I did feel post-completion regret at missing out on some content, that wouldn’t mean these games shouldn’t be made.
The added activities in open world games are inherently optional. In both Horizon games, you could probably just grind the main story and be done in like 30 or 40 hours. No one is making you do all this extra content.
We all have choice and free will. Players are allowed to enjoy games the way they want–and it’s great that there are games where you can either stick to the story or explore and pursue achievements. It’s weird to lobby against other gamers having the option to play differently.
Making a Horizon Movie Is a Mistake
I am not looking forward to the movie. Movie adaptations of games are almost always bad and end up hurting the franchise’s reputation. I’m trying to think of a single one that actually enhanced a franchise and I’m drawing a blank. Amazon’s Fallout represents the best counter argument, but an eight-hour series is far different from a two hour film. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and the project will stall out.
Just imagine how fucking tedious the debate over Aloy’s casting is going to be. The very online argument over her perceived attractiveness prior to the release of both games was bad enough.
Since I brought up the appearance controversy, I may as well throw in my two cents. They definitely made Aloy slightly more attractive in Forbidden West—which was fine. I can’t really bring myself to care that much, other than being mildly curious as to why.
Was it because people claimed she was too plain in the first game? Was it an attempt to head-off a culture war fight, because a certain segment of gamers demand maximally attractive female characters and assume a character who doesn’t measure up to their beauty standards is some kind of a social justice statement? Was it just a matter of enhanced graphics? Or was it an actual nod to continuity—little Aloy is growing into a woman, and her feminine features are becoming more apparent?
At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. I have no critiques of Aloy’s appearance in either game—only her personality.
Writing and Voice Acting
I did find the voice acting in Forbidden West to be particularly off-putting at first because everyone talks in a breathy, super low register. Every line is delivered like a eulogy, giving every conversation a depressing tone.
Aloy has an obnoxious personality, particularly in Forbidden West. It’s a combination of condescension, arrogance, and obsessive do-goodery. In the writers’ defense, these character flaws are acknowledged in her relationship with her clone/sister. (To avoid spoilers, and to save time, I’m not going to go into the backstory of all that).
Aloy is an obsessive overachiever with limitless patience for the weak and incompetent people she meets in the world, but no patience for her sister because her expectations for herself are so high.
You’re not beaten over the head with this contradiction and character flaw, but it was an obvious point of tension.
Overall, Forbidden West’s writing was fine—not the best writing ever, but not bad.
Then the Burning Shores DLC does a complete 180. The Aloy voice actor essentially stopped doing the breathy super-sad line reads and the character transformed into a cunt-struck teenager who is afraid that her love will be unrequited.
I’m still not exactly sure what Aloy’s sexuality is because I think the developers left it kind of up to the players to minimize backlash. Actually, I take that back. She’s clearly written as a lesbian or, at the very least, bisexual, but I assume someone above the writers demanded there be ambiguity.
The Burning Shores DLC is essentially an action romance. Based on Aloy’s post-mission monologues about her feelings and the dialogue between Aloy and her new companion, Seyka, her feelings are glaringly obvious. It’s weird that players are even given the option at the end of the DLC to tell the object of Aloy’s desire that you just want to be friends. If you’re going to put in that much work broadcasting Aloy’s affection, then at least own it and don’t give players the option to friend-zone her crush.
Verdict on the Horizon Games
They’re good. If you like third-person open world games and think big angry robot animals are fun, I wholeheartedly encourage you to play them both.