Forbidden West: First Impressions

I loved Horizon: Zero Dawn so as you can probably guess, I was super excited to play its sequel when it eventually made its way to PC. It sure took its damn time, and avoiding spoilers for going on 2 years hasn’t always been easy, but I was able to go into Forbidden West largely blind. And I’m glad to say that that this port – unlike the The Last of Us – is incredibly well done. In fact, it’s probably the best PlayStation to PC port yet.

Forbidden West looks absolutely stunning and it runs super smooth. Even without frame generation enabled I’m clocking an average 150 FPS at 1440p. I can’t remember the last time I stopped to take so many damn screenshots or use the photo mode – expect at least two Gallery posts for Forbidden West, maybe more.

Visuals and port quality aside, I can’t say I didn’t go into Forbidden West a tad apprehensive. Because whilst I had avoided any big story or gameplay spoilers, I had seen a general sentiment expressed that the game was great, but maybe not quite as great as the original – with the story going in a direction it seemed some players didn’t like?

I can’t really comment on where the plot goes yet, but I’m certainly not disappointed by what I’ve seen so far. I’m about 20 hours in although I must admit, most of that time hasn’t been spent on the main quest, but on simply exploring the fantastic world. I really like the map design so far, because not only is it clearly marked into individual regions, but those regions have their own ‘natural’ borders within – rivers, cliffs, terrain types – breaking each region into more manageable chunks.

It makes it easier to focus my own exploration so I never feel overwhelmed. I can set my own limits and know exactly how far I want to press. And that’s an important and perhaps somewhat overlooked aspect of open world design – building a map that offers the player not only scale but direction. Very few open world games get it right, but from what I’ve seen so far, Forbidden West nails it. It also makes my exploration feel rewarding as I’ve always found something neat at the end of every path – obvious or not.

Gameplay wise, Forbidden West isn’t a significant departure from Zero Dawn. It plays largely the same but with just more stuff. More weapons. More ammo types. More abilities. More robots. There are new traversal and exploration tools to unlock, although I’ve only got a couple of these so far. I am a little concerned that they might have gone a little over the top with the alternative robot types though.

The game has new elemental damage types in addition to the old, and more machines come in alternative variations with different weaknesses or abilities related to specific parts. I wouldn’t say this is a bad thing, more a concern for how much there will be to keep track of as I progress. You really have to spend more time scanning a machine pack to nail down exactly what version – or versions – of that machine you’re dealing with and therefore what they’re vulnerable or resistant to and where their weak spots are.

I mean, I love that the game gives me so many options in terms of weapons and tools, but the game already feels like it’s overcomplicating some things more than it needs to and I’m already questioning how useful or necessary some of these things – like the new ammo types – really are. But I guess we’ll see how it shakes out over the entire game.

Melee combat has had a welcome overhaul although it still feels rather random and imprecise. The new skill tree system is neat and lets you unlock a lot of cool stuff that lets you customise how you want to play or the kind of weapons you want to focus on. I also like the new weapon / armour system and I appreciate being able to set a different ‘visual’ armour to that which I’m currently equipped. It means I can spend resources upgrading my preferred set, but also be able to change how Aloy looks as and when I please without worrying about the loss in stats or skills.

Oh, and did I mention how pretty the game looks? The character models are top notch and the VA is excellent. And I almost forgot – Aloy can now swim. I’m limited how long I can stay underwater at the moment, but I suspect I’ll find an item to improve that at some point in the game. It really adds a cool new layer to the experience.

Overall, I’m thoroughly enjoying my time with Forbidden West. It’s expanded. It’s refined. It might – though it’s too soon to say – have overcooked a few aspects, but I can’t pass judgement on those until I’m finished. I’m going to take my time and enjoy this one.