Horizon Zero Dawn is the first open-world action role-playing game developed by Dutch studio Guerrrilla Games after the transformation, telling the story of a human being struggling to survive in the form of primitive tribes in the form of primitive tribes after the collapse of civilization. The sequel, Horizons, Desperate in the West, takes place a few months after the finale of the previous game and tells the story of the heroine Eloy who once again travels to save the world. We qualified for the Horizon West Desperate Review in advance and brought this review with us.
Horizon The Desperate West | Horizon Forbidden West
Developer: Guerrilla Games
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PS4, PS5
Launch date: February 18, 2022
Attributes: Open World, Action Adventure, Sci-Fi
※ This article is based on the PS5 version experience for evaluation
Wondering if your home TV line works? Just look for the horizon
When the original Horizon Zero Dawn was released in early 2017, it had already won the title of PS4 graphics benchmark with excellent graphics performance, and the rich environmental types and diverse weather changes brought players an immersive adventure. The sequel "Horizon West Desperate" also has excellent graphic performance, which largely inherits the advantages of the previous game. At the same time, with the update of the gameplay, the game also brings a graphic performance that was not in the previous game. For example, diving has been added to Desperate West, which also allows players to experience underwater exploration.
Another thing I personally like is in "Desperate for the West", where I observe that not only Eroy or other major characters, but even ordinary supporting characters and passers-by, their expressions are very vivid. This invisible progress is subtle, and at first glance it does not feel any special changes, but when you look back, you can gradually understand how finely "West Desperate" is done.
Picture mode provides performance mode and picture quality mode, one is to ensure the number of frames and the other is to ensure image quality. I personally chose performance mode for most of the evaluation time, and in my personal experience, no matter how hot the battle scenes were, there was no stuttering.
Underwater exploration
However, this part also has a fly in the ointment, I still often encounter the problem of sudden loading of materials and sudden black screen in the case of the first day patch 1.03. Imagine that while exploring the world, you see a dilapidated "castle in the sky" appear in the distant clouds. You can see inexplicably but it is difficult to assert that after all, although civilization has been destroyed once in this world, there is still a "dawn of zero", a technology that can rebuild the ecology of the earth. On your way to the "castle in the sky" with questions and speculations intertwined, and with an attitude of curiosity, hey, the material is loaded, it is a broken building. The black screen problem is the same problem, several times I have encountered the black screen timing is too clever, let me a little confused whether the plot needs to have a black screen or it is a bug. See more to understand what's going on, anyway, the first day of the patch did not fix this problem, you can feel it when you play by yourself.
Finally, speaking of UI, the game provides two UI display schemes, one is the Explorer, which only displays the lowest level of UI; the other is bootstrap, which will show as much UI as possible for the player. I personally chose the former at the beginning, but I recommend the latter, otherwise it will be really troublesome to find a way in some scenes. After all, "Desperate For the West" is not only an open-world game, the graphics in a single scene are very rich, and it is difficult to determine which places can be interacted without scanning. Especially when looking for a way in the crucible, because the facility is full of high-tech light sources and cables, even if the scan is turned on and the edges are highlighted, it is a laborious task to find out with the naked eye.
Melee ability increased! Although there is still only one spear
Perhaps because the previous game was used by many players to benchmark Monster Hunter before it was released, the melee part of Eroy after the release was too thin to disappoint players who had illusions. In Desperate West, Eloy's skill tree, including melee, has been enhanced, and the melee part is concluded to be more fun than before. In the process of performing the R1 combo, you can choose to pause or press long to play different derived skills, such as a relatively simple defense breaking company can R1 R1 R1 R2 break the defense after the charge R2 to carry out a heavy blow, then long press R1 for a month and a half to cut close to the opponent and then press R2 to take off and shoot an arrow to complete an ordinary continuous segment.
With so much said above, maybe some friends will be curious about whether these false-headed things can be used in actual combat? This answer has to be looked at separately, if you are fighting a human enemy, not only can you use it, but it is also very good. Human enemies don't need to be gradually weakened by part destruction like mechanical beasts, so the attack efficiency of using ranged weapons is not too high, and there is less need to worry about being interrupted by others, even the strongest human enemies can be beaten by the above-mentioned continuous sections and cannot fight back.
But if the enemy is a mechanical beast, sticking to the melee style of play has a feeling of dancing a national dance in a UFC game. Mechanical beasts are not as easily interrupted by melee combat as humans, and it is difficult to deal any damage to them with armor on the surface, which is not a very effective way to play from the design logic of mechanical beasts (even if there are many times in the game where ordinary NPCs and some medium-sized mechanical beasts have been faced off to gain an advantage by cutting their legs). When dealing with small mechanical beasts such as fighters and diggers, you can try to use R2 to charge R1 for execution, and it is a bit of a don Quixote feeling to challenge the larger mechanical beasts. Considering that most of the enemies dealt with in the game are mechanical beasts, although melee combat is indeed strengthened, there are not many opportunities to come in handy, and the melee part is also in a more awkward situation.
This time 9 ranged weapons are given, and each weapon can be unlocked with 3 different weapon skills through the skill tree. For example, the Hunter's Bow has a skill that can not output damage but knock the opponent down, and the Nail Gun has a skill that can explode, which greatly expands the gameplay of the battle. However, weapon skills are not unlimited and require the consumption of weapon stamina. When I first saw this term, I wondered for half a day, is this also a chopping setting? Why even learn this? Later, it was discovered that it was actually a slot of energy consumed when using weapon skills.
The equipment system is still relatively simple, the weapon basically only depends on the available ammunition and rarity, and there will be no problem in choosing a good choice of clothing. While it's true that there will be a difference between values and slots, there won't be a particularly big difference in Horizon compared to games that really value the equipment system.
Finally, let's talk about the Wave of Courage, which is a state similar to awakening, and during the awakening process, it can provide various buffs for Elloy. Unlock and equip other skills in the skill tree, increase the courage slot according to Elloy's actions and some passive effects during battle, and press L1+R1 to trigger it when the courage slot is full. The principle is relatively simple, that is, to provide an awakening time output, but it does not bring more expansion to the existing playing style, which also causes me to activate the wave of courage only when I think about it.
Open world and level design
Like its predecessors, Desperate in the West is an open-world game. The large map is filled with small question marks, collecting elements, and side quests. Compared with the previous game, this time it adds the ability to explore underwater and fly, but to be honest, this open world is still a huge mission schedule, and it lacks the driving force for players to be willing to actively explore this world. Although this side quest I think is more interesting than the previous game, most of the side quests are still triggered only after going to the town to find people with green exclamation points on their heads, which lacks novelty in design logic; later, when cleaning up the question marks on the map, you will find that many question marks are actually just decryption interactive facilities such as metal flowers and flame spore, probably just to get a normal supply box.
Flying Mounts Sunwings
Although the previous paragraph said a lot about the open-world design of "Desperate Situation of the West", its efforts compared to the previous game are still worthy of recognition. For example, the giraffe's super-control task, compared with the previous game, is not to find a place to jump up and solve. Each giraffe encounters different problems in different venues, such as in the landing point giraffe super control mission, the giraffe sinks to the bottom of the water at the beginning and is motionless, and Eloy needs to find a way to activate it before trying to climb on it. There are also several relic missions, equivalent to a small scene decryption level, which is also done very carefully. However, in this work, there is still the task of cleaning up rebel camps, which should be prepared for melee performances that do not have much of a role in themselves.
Mini game Mechanical Beast Fighting Chess
Let's talk about the game's level design outside of the open world: I don't know who inspired "The Desperate Situation of the West", which is filled with a large number of elements of climbing high and low, especially in the indoor level represented by the big crucible. When you are ready to return when you have achieved your goal, one of the most conspicuous places to climb is shattered, and you have to find another place. Because the picture style is more realistic, the elements in a single picture are very complex, and if you don't do FOCUS highlighting, it is difficult to distinguish which place can be climbed and which place can be hooked. When the FOCUS is opened, the overall movement should also be slower, if underwater, there will be a burst of sonar scanning effect sound every once in a while, which is very similar to my electrocardiogram 6 times a minute; if you want to find something, you are even more desperate, obviously you have found it in the mission circle but you can't scan it from time to time. A variety of factors have dragged on the west's level experience, with a slightly awkward gap between the combat and decryption sections waiting for Elloy to finish her rock climbing acrobatics. Finally, there is the drag factor that every time he picks up something, Elloy will have a bending pause. Although the ground is full of medicinal berries and mountain trees, after all, it is necessary to repeat hundreds of actions, and the psychological pressure accumulated over time is still relatively large.
Spoiler-free plot review
Personally, I like the plot of "Desperate Situation of the West", compared to "Dawn of Zero", this work has made great progress in the shaping of the story and world view. When Dawn of Zero was first launched, we knew that this world was built on a world that had been destroyed, and that there was still evidence and legacy of cutting-edge technology in this world, and the existence of mechanical beasts proved that all this was not just a whimsical myth.
Xi'o, an ancient title passed down
But the feeling in Dawn of Zero is just a bunch of primitive tribes who don't know how to technology still live according to the primitive people's way in a world where technology has existed, which is actually very boring. If the people of this world just decorate themselves with armor as animal bones, how different is it from real primitive people? But there has been a lot of progress in the story of "Desperate Situation in the West", in which the screenwriting team examines the technology and culture that once existed from the perspective of primitive people, and gives a special explanation according to the characteristics of the tribe, although this explanation may be misread and may be limited by the overall cultural level, but it also makes the characters in the story look more vivid.
Some of the plots are also written with great humor, and one of the scenes that impressed me the most was when Eroy encountered a Quinn leader on his adventure, who also wore a FOCUS holographic glasses similar to Ellroy's. He claimed to be an eye of insight inherited from his ancestors and could be used to learn the knowledge left by his ancestors to help his people. However, there are also some lost and forbidden knowledge that cannot be obtained, and after interpreting it with his own FOCUS, Elloy found that it was actually because his FOCUS was an earlier model, and the system was not compatible with the file format created after 2050 and could not be read.
It can be seen that the branch line parts are written more carefully, and each tribe will encounter problems unique to its own tribe. For example, the patriarch of a desert tribe is worried about the problem of water rationing, the mining industry is prosperous, the chain-cutting town is because the bullies not only organize strikes but also blow up mines in order to make money. Going back after completing a task can also trigger small conversations about what happened after completing a task.
Finally, if you haven't played the previous game and started playing, you will definitely not understand the plot of "Desperate Situation in the West". It is very closely related to the plot of Dawn of Zero, and there are many characters who appear in Dawn of Zero in this game, which is very unfriendly to players like me who are forgetful and haven't played for a long time. Although in terms of completeness, "Desperate Situation of the West" has told a relatively complete story, but at the end of the plot, it can also be seen that there should be a third work in the future, whether to look forward to a sequel or to play again after the end, it depends on your own choice.
A9VG Experience Summary
Overall, Horizon West is also a relatively good open-world game, with excellent graphics performance, excellent main line and side story, unique world view and mechanical beasts, and rich collection elements. But it still doesn't get rid of the common problems of many open-world games, such as the tedious and repetitive content of later exploration. Although the game offers a fairly large amount of content for players to play, a lot of the content is actually superficial without thinking about whether it can make the game more fun. For example, the wave of courage, such as cooking, or the equipment system. Fortunately, the story of "Desperate Situation in the West" is still relatively good, if you really like the work of this genre, I personally recommend it.
A9VG scored Horizon West (8.5/10) as follows: