After several weeks spent Alan’s side in this “prohibited west”, it’s time to put his balchon and contemplate the path traveled on this memorable journey. It is a trip as only the great science fiction narratives can and know how to propose.
By stalking the devastated world of Aloy, one thinks of the novels of Pierre Bordage or Jack Vance. This Horizon Forbidden West, which is directly following the Zero Dawn episode, always flirts with the ecological theme. Six months after the end of the previous opus, the world still drgees, gnawed by the nielle, a species of lethal pollution for all life forms.
But more than the scenario, which is gaining momentum after a dozen hours of play (for an adventure that offers three times more), this new production of the Dutch of Guerrilla Games plunges players into a rich and graphically sumptuous world. You will be able to read on the Internet all the good that the specialized press thinks of this real graphic slap, as well on PlayStation 5 as on PlayStation 4.
A fascinating SF universe
Beyond the only technical performance, the studio delivers a fascinating SF universe. The many scenes of action, still spectacular, are punctuated by long dialogues that should not zap itself on pain not to take advantage of this fantastic immersion in this post-apocalyptic world imagined with an incredible luxury of details.
Beyond the wild landscapes, the game features a reinvented humanity after a cataclysm. Guerrilla has created a large-scale fiction where we move where we seem, open world obliges. Each cornice, every precipice, is an invitation to exploration. The world of Aloy, sublime and terribly human character, is coherent and his captivating discovery.
More than fighting, sometimes ardent even in normal mode, that the very complete optimization of his character (skills, equipment, look…), Aloy’s wanderings are sufficient to themselves. We wander, we observe, we survey, we scrutinize, we go through, we contemplate while immersing itself (to the own and figurative) in a living universe and to say very perfectly credible. A real change of scenery as the great games know how to propose.
We would almost want to get out of this journey to paraphrase Joachim of Bellay. “Happy and happy who like Aloy made a nice trip.” Because this Forbidden West is certainly part of these odysses that we remember a long time.
Horizon forbidden West, Sony, exit on February 18 on PS4 and PS5.