Horizon Forbidden West Review & Gameplay Guide — Combat Tips and Everything You Need to Know

Horizon Forbidden West is the rare open-world sequel that genuinely surpasses its predecessor in almost every way. Developed by Guerrilla Games and released on February 18, 2022 for PS5 and PS4, Forbidden West expands on the world of Horizon Zero Dawn and drops Aloy into a lush, dangerous landscape stretching across the ruins of the western United States — from the flooded remains of Las Vegas and San Francisco to sun-baked canyons and dense rainforests. It’s a visual marvel packed with rich mechanical combat, dozens of machine types to master, and a narrative that deepens the lore of one of gaming’s most ambitious science-fiction universes.

🏆 Quick facts: Horizon Forbidden West — Released February 18, 2022 | PS5 & PS4 (PC 2024) | Developer: Guerrilla Games | Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment | Metacritic: 88 | 40+ machine types | Burning Shores DLC | Awarded 9/10 by Push Square

🎬 Horizon Forbidden West — Full Gameplay Video

Watch Horizon Forbidden West in action — Aloy against the Forbidden West’s machines, underwater exploration, Valor Surges, the Pullcaster grapple system, and what makes this one of PS5’s finest open-world games.

🎮 Horizon Forbidden West gameplay footage via YouTube. Developed by Guerrilla Games, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

📋 What’s in This Article

• Story — The Forbidden West
• Combat — Machines, Focus Scanning & Elemental Weaknesses
• Valor Surges — Aloy’s Ultimate Abilities
• Traversal — Pullcaster, Glider & Mounts
• Open World — Regions & Activities
• Burning Shores DLC
• Is Horizon Forbidden West Worth Playing? Our Verdict
• Essential Tips & Tricks
• FAQ

🌿 Story — The Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West picks up months after the events of Zero Dawn. Despite defeating HADES and saving the world from immediate extinction, Aloy discovers a new and more insidious threat: a mysterious blight is killing the land, the machines are behaving erratically, and a new faction calling themselves the Zenith — rogue members of Far Zenith, the group that left Earth before the apocalypse — has returned with advanced technology and dangerous intentions.

The story takes Aloy west, where she must forge alliances with the Tenakth, Utaru, and other tribes to find the tools she needs to stop the blight and confront the Zenith before it’s too late. The narrative expands significantly on Zero Dawn’s mysteries, and the revelations about GAIA, HEPHAESTUS, and the legacy of the Cradle systems are delivered with confidence and momentum.

Aloy remains one of gaming’s most compelling heroines — determined, brilliant, and increasingly aware that she can’t save the world alone. The supporting cast this time around is deeper and more developed than Zero Dawn’s, with allies like Erend, Varl, and Erland getting meaningful arcs.

🏹 Combat — Machines, Focus Scanning & Elemental Weaknesses

Forbidden West’s combat is built on a fundamental principle: preparation beats brute force. Every machine in the game has a specific set of elemental weaknesses, detachable components, and exploitable systems. Charging into a fight without scanning your target is the fastest way to die.

The Focus Scanner — Your Most Important Tool

Hold the right stick to activate Aloy’s Focus. It does three critical things before any fight:

• 🔍 Reveals elemental weaknesses — every machine has specific damage types they’re vulnerable to. Hitting the wrong element wastes your ammunition.
• 🎯 Highlights detachable components — weapons attached to machines can be torn off and turned against them, or looted for rare crafting materials.
• 🐾 Tags nearby enemies — tagged enemies remain visible through surfaces and foliage, preventing ambushes.

Elemental Damage Types

✨ Valor Surges — Aloy’s Ultimate Abilities

Valor Surges are Forbidden West’s most powerful skill abilities, unlocked by completing clusters of connected skills within each of the game’s six skill trees. You can only have one equipped at a time, but their potential to turn the tide of battle is extraordinary.

• 🛡️ Toughened (Survivor tree) — considered the most powerful Valor Surge. At max level, provides near-unlimited health for several minutes. Can carry you through most boss fights if managed correctly.
• 👻 Vanish (Infiltrator tree) — grants temporary invisibility. Essential for stealthy playthroughs or repositioning during overwhelming encounters.
• 💥 Powershot (Hunter tree) — dramatically increases ranged damage output for a short burst. Best for focused high-priority machine takedowns.
• 🐾 Mounted Archer (Rider tree) — boosts combat effectiveness while riding a machine mount. Niche but spectacular when used correctly.

🪝 Traversal — Pullcaster, Glider & Mounts

Forbidden West dramatically expands Aloy’s movement toolkit compared to Zero Dawn:

• 🪝 Pullcaster — a grapple hook that lets Aloy pull herself to ledges and zipline points. Transforms vertical exploration and makes the game feel significantly more fluid.
• 🪂 Shieldwing Glider — deploy from any height to glide safely. Opens up massive exploration possibilities from high cliffs and Tallnecks.
• 🌊 Diving Mask — unlocked during the story. Enables full underwater exploration, swimming against currents, and accessing a huge network of submerged ruins, machines, and secrets.
• 🦕 Machine Mounts — override machines to ride them. Each mount type has different speed, terrain capability, and combat use.

💡 Traversal tip: If you’re stuck in a puzzle or can’t reach an area, look up. Forbidden West consistently uses verticality — grapple points, vents, ledge sequences — that are easy to miss at eye level. The Pullcaster is your best tool; if a reticle lights up, you can reach it.

🗺️ Open World — Regions & Activities

The Forbidden West map spans several distinct biomes, each visually and environmentally distinct:

• 🏔️ Tallnecks — enormous giraffe-like machines whose heads unlock large sections of the map when overridden. Always your first priority in a new region.
• 🏺 Relic Ruins — ancient pre-Apocalypse structures with environmental puzzles. Solving them rewards unique Ornaments and crafting materials.
• 🏹 Hunting Grounds — timed combat challenges against specific machines with score requirements for each medal tier.
• ⚔️ Melee Pits — human combat training arenas where you learn advanced melee combos and practice against increasing waves of fighters. Excellent for XP farming.
• 🎮 Machine Strike — a board game that can be played against NPCs across settlements. Gwent-meets-chess with machine figurines. Worth mastering for the rewards and sheer fun.
• 🌊 Survey Drones — scan specific coordinates around the world by shooting them from the sky. Each region has several drones to find.
• 🐦 Black Boxes — recover flight recorder data from crashed aircraft scattered across the map. A touching lore-driven collectible quest.

🌋 Burning Shores DLC

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores released in April 2023 as a PS5-exclusive expansion set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, now a volcanic archipelago. It’s approximately 10–12 hours long, introduces a new companion, new machines (including massive aquatic threats), and a new villain tied to the Far Zenith storyline. The expansion is visually stunning — volcanic islands, flooded Hollywood ruins, and lava-choked canyons — and considered an excellent capstone to Forbidden West’s story.

⭐ Is Horizon Forbidden West Worth Playing? Our Verdict

Horizon Forbidden West is a superbly crafted open-world RPG that improves on Zero Dawn in every meaningful way. The expanded traversal tools make exploration genuinely joyful, the machine combat rewards intelligence and preparation over button-mashing, and the visual fidelity — particularly on PS5 — remains extraordinary even two years after release.

💡 Essential Tips for Horizon Forbidden West

• 🔍 Always scan before you fight — the Focus is your single most important tool. Every machine has weaknesses that make it significantly easier. Don’t guess.
• 🏔️ Find every Tallneck first — climbing a Tallneck reveals your entire region. Always your first move in new territory.
• 🛡️ Unlock Toughened (Survivor tree) as early as possible — it is widely regarded as the most impactful single Valor Surge in the game and will save you from countless deaths.
• 💜 Buy the Boltblaster early — 80 Medals in the Maw of the Arena. It provides extraordinary damage against most machine types and is well worth the grind.
• 🌊 Don’t ignore underwater areas — they contain some of the game’s richest resource deposits, lore entries, and some of the most visually unique environments in the entire game.
• ⚕️ Keep your medicinal berries topped up — the game resets your berry count after rest, but they only auto-refill if you have the carrying capacity. Monitor your berry counter (shown as X/14 on the HUD) and collect whenever you see them in the environment.
• 💎 Collect Greenshine crystals — this rare material is used for top-tier weapon upgrades and is easier to gather incrementally rather than in one massive late-game farming session.

❓ Horizon Forbidden West FAQ

Do I need to play Horizon Zero Dawn first?
Strongly recommended. Forbidden West references Zero Dawn’s story, characters, and world-building extensively. Playing Zero Dawn first provides full context for the twists and emotional payoffs.

How long is Horizon Forbidden West?
The main story takes approximately 20–25 hours. Full completion including all side quests, Hunting Grounds, and collectibles takes 60–80 hours.

Is Horizon Forbidden West on PC?
Yes. The game arrived on PC (Steam and Epic Games Store) in 2024 alongside the Burning Shores expansion.

What is the best early game weapon?
The Sharpshot Bow with Tearblast arrows is the most universally useful early weapon — tear off machine components to reduce their threat before finishing with regular arrows. The Forgefall Legendary Sharpshot Bow is the endgame equivalent.

Is Burning Shores DLC necessary?
Burning Shores is a strong expansion that serves as a meaningful conclusion to Forbidden West’s storyline. If you enjoyed the base game, it is well worth the investment.

Final Thoughts

Horizon Forbidden West is a testament to what dedicated, ambitious development can achieve on current-gen hardware. Guerrilla Games took everything that made Zero Dawn special and built upon it with such care and scale that the result stands among the finest open-world games ever created. Aloy’s journey westward is one you should take.

Have you played Horizon Forbidden West? Which machine was your hardest fight — and what was your best tactic for taking it down? Drop a comment below!

Horizon Forbidden West is developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Released February 18, 2022 for PS5 and PS4. PC version (Steam/Epic) released 2024. Burning Shores DLC (PS5 exclusive) released April 2023.