Horizon: Forbidden Westis shaping up to be one of the best-looking games to come out on the PS4, and especially on the PS5. With more power and a new direction, Guerrilla has made some changes to Aloy’s design inHorizon: Forbidden West, some of which may not be immediately noticeable.
On PS4,Horizon: Zero Dawnwas one of the best examples of what then-next-generation hardware could do. Massive luscious environments, highly detailed character models, and perhaps most impressively, intricately detailed and destructable robot creatures,Horizon: Zero Dawnwas a refreshing and ambitious leap from Guerrilla’s prior series,Killzone. Aloy herself was a welcome protagonist in the PlayStation lineup, as well, undergoing an incredible journey of self-discovery as she learns the secrets of her world and where she belongs within it. Promotional material has shown thatHorizon: Forbidden Westlooks to up the antein nearly every possible way, but especially graphically.
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New screenshots ofHorizon: Forbidden Westhelp give players a better look at Aloy in the upcoming game. For starters, it appears Aloy packs the powerful (and some would say game-breaking) Shield-Weaver Armor for her westward journey, that generally looks the same as it did inHorizon: Zero Dawnexcept for some key differences. Interestingly, the triangle units spread across the armor that help generate the shielding are not lit up in theHorizon: Forbidden Westscreenshot, as they are inHorizon: Zero Dawn. If the armor behaves as it did inHorizon: Zero Dawn, perhaps one of Aloy’s side quests inHorizon: Forbidden Westis to find more Power Cells to replace the suits depleted ones.
The other major distinguishing detail is thatAloy isn’t wearing the modified Nora head pieceshe can be seen in from the first game. In most of the marketing material presented for the game that features Aloy, she has lacked any sort of headgear, and in this side-by-side comparison, the difference it makes is extraordinary. While the headgear doesn’t entirely obscure Aloy’s face inHorizon: Zero Dawn, it leaves the majority of emotive potential to her eyes, mouth, and cheeks, which might be a bit distracting in cutscenes. While it’s still unclear if headgear is returning inHorizon: Forbidden West, players can choose to hide it in the settings ofHorizon Zero Dawnso this may be a similar situation.
Some other tiny details between the two images show some of the increased texture work on the newer hardware, like in theblue cloth around Aloy’s neck and her face. Likewise, Aloy’s hair looks much more natural and defined inHorizon: Forbidden Westthan the chunky, tube-like effect Guerrilla employed inHorizon: Zero Dawn. What will be really interesting is when the inter-console comparisons start appearing, assessing Aloy’s appearance inHorizon: Forbidden Weston PS4 verus PS5. Fans won’t have to wait much longer for that opportunity to arrive.
Horizon: Forbidden Westlaunches Februrary 18 on PS4 and PS5.
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