The recent release of the Burning Shores DLC means that Aloy’s adventure is far from over.Horizon Forbidden Westexplored parts of several locations within the western sphere of the United States, and the expansion takes players to the ruins of Los Angeles, which presents new dangers to overcome. Thenew machines like the Waterwing and Stingspawndo well to add to the series' laundry list of enemies, but there’s still one avenue the series is yet to consider which could provoke some huge opportunities but also some obvious drawbacks.
Most of the machines inHorizon Forbidden Westand its predecessor are grounded in some kind of reality. Nearly all take cues from animals currently roaming the Earth, but enemies like the Watcher, Fire Bellowback, and Thunderjaw are more reminiscent of dinosaurs, which shows the scope of natural history the game is prepared to lean into. However, none of the enemies exhibit characteristics –both physical or behavioral– of any kind of fantasy creatures, which could be an untapped idea that could be explored in future games, to their detriment or benefit.
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Fantasy Machines Have Endless Possibilities
Exploration, story, and ogling at the gorgeous scenery take up much of the players' attention inbothHorizongames, but Aloy will spend as much time in the heat of combat as she will taking on side quests or stopping the impending world-ending threat. It’s a huge strength of the series, as it cleverly deploys a bow as a short-range weapon as well as a long one, and equipment like the rattler, ropecaster, and spike thrower make each encounter interesting. Credit is also due to the impressive enemy variety, as each machine feels different from the last, making each new trek across the expansive map fresh instead of repetitive with familiar encounters dotted along the road.
Fantasy-based enemies could add to that diversity in a major way, and give developer Guerrilla the chance to be innovative with enemy behavior to giveAloy even more of an uphill challenge. Dragons, unicorns, and the like could be rarer adversaries with a high-risk-high-reward angle, with battles being tougher, but the loot for banishing them being all the more useful or worthwhile.
Horizon Has to Stay Grounded in (Some Kind of) Reality
Thoughit wears its science fiction genre firmly on its sleeve,Horizon Forbidden Westis also a survival game that explores themes of tribal hierarchies, hunting, and being at one with nature. The machines, while visually very different from the animals they are intended to mimic, act in a similar way, so when Aloy is battling a Broadhead, it’s not unlike an encounter with an actual longhorn bull. It’s a clever way to keep the combat feeling somewhat grounded in reality, even if the story is far from an honest insight into how the world could actually be.
Bringing fantasy or mythological machines into the fold could jeopardize the fabric of the game’s presentation and overall feel. Unicorns, minotaurs, dragons, and the like are not real, and so it would be tough to program them to attack or act in a way that feels in keeping with the rest of the machines that closely parrot their real-world counterpart. There are plenty of other animals thatGuerrilla Gamescould seek inspiration from that are currently in the wild, and though fantasy creatures could be an interesting addition to the gameplay that could flex the developer’s creative talent, it is very much a double-edged sword.
Horizon Forbidden Westis available now on PS4 and PS5.
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