Sony and Guerrilla Games showcased a brand new gameplay trailer for Horizon Forbidden West at the 2021 Game Awards, and even though it was only about a minute long, it was filled to the brim with intense action. The trailer revealed a few more machines, including a giant mechanical cobra, and it showed Aloy’s new skills in action with fast-paced action. The visuals look incredible, and anyone concerned that Horizon Forbidden West won’t look next-gen should rest easy.
Previously, the only real gameplay trailer fans had seen from Horizon Forbidden West was the 14-minute preview revealed six months ago. That gameplay demo was and is amazing, and it did a wonderful job of revealing Aloy’s new traversal and combat tools through a Tremortusk boss fight. It also gave fans a glimpse of what will be possible for exploration, revealing new climbing mechanics, a glider, and a grappling hook. As amazing as that footage was, though, players have been eager to see more - and the Game Awards finally delivered.
Horizon Forbidden West is Cross-Gen
Despite how beautiful the reveal trailer and the gameplay footage look, there has been a little bit of controversy over the visuals for Horizon Forbidden West. Most reactions are overwhelmingly positive, but some aren’t completely satisfied. There’s a good reason to be concerned because Forbidden West is releasing on both the PlayStation 4 and 5.
Horizon Zero Dawn on the PlayStation 4 was beautiful and became known for its incredible environments and art direction. In the sequel, fans expect that improvements in technology, developer experience, and budget will result in a game that looks even better. Add that the PlayStation 5 came out over a year ago, and expectations rise even higher. Fans naturally want to see Guerrilla take advantage of the next-gen hardware.
It’s worth noting that with the massive semiconductor chip shortage, PS5 consoles have been very difficult to obtain and are still scarce a year after launch. So with that in mind, it’s a good thing that Horizon Forbidden West is releasing on PS4 as well. It means that players who haven’t been able to snag an elusive next-gen console won’t have to miss out on the experience, and Sony retracted its decision to include a paid upgrade path for Horizon Forbidden West after backlash from fans. So, players who get the game on PS4 can easily transition PS5 when they’re able to find one.
However, other fans feel that making the game for PS4 and PS5 holds it back and prevents it from fully taking advantage of the powerful PlayStation 5 console. Only a few of PlayStation’s exclusives in the past year have shown off what the PS5 can do, and making one of the biggest exclusive launch titles cross-gen confused a lot of players, especially considering that Sony’s stance used to emphasize generations. It still seems like a strange decision, and it is possible that the PlayStation 4’s outdated hardware held Horizon Forbidden West back a little bit. However, it sure doesn’t look like it.
Horizon Forbidden West Looks and Feels Next-Gen
To be fair, the footage that fans have seen so far has been captured on the PS5, so the version of Horizon Forbidden West that players are seeing now is the best version. While gamers will never know what Forbidden West would have looked like as a PS5 exclusive, the game is absolutely stunning and looks better than just about anything out there - PlayStation 5 exclusives included. That’s a great precedent to set, especially when other highly anticipated exclusives like God of War: Ragnarok are cross-gen as well.
There have only been a handful of PlayStation 5 exclusives so far. These include Demon’s Souls, which launched with the console, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Returnal, and Deathloop. All four games have incredible visuals and use the PS5’s power in unique ways, but in comparing footage from Horizon Forbidden West to thse PS5 exclusives, there’s no distinguishable difference. Forbidden West is right up there, visually speaking, with the games that did launch as next-gen only titles, and some would even argue that it looks better.
Horizon Forbidden West is ambitious with its design, giving players an open world with diverse environments and machines, many of which are massive and require a lot of processing power. The map has expanded vertically too, with Aloy now being able to climb higher and dive deeper with underwater exploration. If the PS4 held Horizon Forbidden West back from being everything it could be, it’s definitely not showing. Everything shown looks just as next-gen as anything else that’s been released or revealed so far.
The Differences Between PS4 and PS5 Performance
Even though it doesn’t look like the PS4 held Forbidden West back from a graphical standpoint, there is a big difference between the two consoles so Guerrilla had to make adjustments somewhere. The performance differences between PS4 and PS5 will be more clear when the game is released and people can experience it on different consoles, but game director Mathijs de Jonge has promised that the game will still be a great experience on PS4 and a lot of playtesting has been done on the console.
Mathjis de Jonge did shed some light on a few of the differences players can expect, however. One of the biggest differences is the lighting; Aloy has a subtle spotlight on her that makes her stand out from the scenery at all times on the PS5, but on the PS4 this spotlight is only used in cutscenes. The wave system on the PS5 is also better, so PS5 users will have more realistic water than PS4 players. One of the biggest differences is the DualSense controller; PS4 players won’t get the same experience with haptic feedback, which fans expect to be used for things like tension on Aloy’s bow.
In general, de Jonge clarified that the PS5 does allow a lot more detail and graphical rendering, so the visuals probably won’t be as impressive as what’s been seen in the PS5 footage. Still, that doesn’t mean that the PS4 version won’t be a gorgeous game that honors and improves upon the beauty of the original. Fans have a lot to look forward to with Horizon Forbidden West regardless of what console they play on, and the new gameplay trailer really drove home just how amazing and truly next-gen it’s going to look.
Horizon Forbidden West launches on February 18, 2022, on PS4 and PS5.
