Barely a month separates us from the arrival of a new batch of robotic animals with Horizon Forbidden West. Guerrilla Games kicks off Sony’s year with a powerful exclusive that improves the essence of what was seen in the 2017 title. And it is precisely in this aspect that we have been able to learn new details.
Thanks to Game Informer, up to eight different points have been treated with specific improvements to make the experience more satisfactory compared to what was seen in Horizon Zero Dawn. These are the main tweaks:
Better cinematics
One of the most criticized aspects of the first game was the quality of the cinematics and more specifically, the poor expressiveness of the characters during them. This has changed, as Narrative Director Benjamin McCaw explains:
“Some of the big improvements we’ve made to our cinematics include full motion capture, better facial animation, and a top-notch cast. That level of quality spans the entire game, including some of our minor scenes.”
Settlements will feel more alive
Many places we could visit in Horizon Zero Dawn, with the mighty Meridian among them. From the development team they have sought the objective that feel “more inhabited”, encouraging exploration within them. Once again, McCaw clarifies what he means:
“We’ve improved our civilians and settlements since the last game with an improved crowd system, better animations, and much better audio. So everything should feel a bit more authentic and realistic.”
More options for the skill tree
The classic system for choosing which actions we want Aloy to be able to perform will be greatly expanded, since there will be up to six styles to choose from. Warrior (melee), trapper (specialized in traps), hunter (ranged weapons), survivor (specialized in obtaining resources), infiltrator (stealth) and master of machines (hacking).
They clarify from the middle that each of the branches has, approximately, between 20 and 30 skills to develop. On the other hand, we can choose to use passive and active enhancers, beyond being able to improve the outfits, allowing to increase the statistics by up to 300%.
Better machine scanning
The scanning of the machines was a fundamental process during Horizon Zero Dawn, providing us with the necessary information about each one of them, such as their weaknesses. Guerrilla will not only recover that role for Horizon Forbidden West, but we will also be able to know if a machine has a specific resource or if a piece of it is indestructible.
In fact, we will be able to know if one of the parts of the machine can be disassembled so that we can use it as a weapon. In addition, the protagonist will be able to mark some of the pieces if they are of our interest.
More reward for side missions
Surely we are going to get lost in the Forbidden West doing side missions as if there was no tomorrow and therefore the rewards we get will make it worthwhile. Mathijs de Jonge, Director of Forbidden West, indicates what we can expect:
“There’s a lot more variety in that regard, a greater sense of accomplishment that you really get something cool in exchange for doing these missions. That was another part where we felt we had room for improvement. You get a cool weapon or a cool outfit, something that is really useful for your next mission or activity. “
Much cleaner HUD
Out with all kinds of dispensable icons or that could annoy. In Horizon Forbidden West we are betting on an increasingly present trend, such as that of don’t show HUD on screen Unless we press a button This results in a much cleaner image, so that we can perfectly contemplate the landscape that is presented to us.
Greater connection with companions
From time to time, Aloy will be accompanied on her adventures, so Guerrilla wants us to feel a much stronger connection with them. They will be with us for a long time, to strengthen ties and they will not disappear directly after having fulfilled the objectives of each mission.
Locate the resource you need
A classic from the first game was to need a part, find which machine has it, mark it on the map and go for it. This process will be simplified further in Horizon Forbidden West, being able to directly choose the resource in the menu and a mission will be activated to achieve it.
All these improvements, and surely many others, await us on February 18 for both PS5 and PS4. Yesterday the study shared a video detailing the tribes that we can find in the new world.