Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition PC Review
Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition on PC features fun combat, jaw-dropping visuals and plenty of content to keep you busy for hours, my full review.
In 2022, Guerrilla Games unleashed Horizon Forbidden West, a sci-fi epic, on the PlayStation 4 and PS5. The game's production quality, especially on the PS5, is a testament to the studio's prowess, often surpassing that of Hollywood blockbusters. Now, Forbidden West has made its way to the PC, offering a plethora of content and customization options that seamlessly blend with the platform. The game immerses you in a sprawling open world adorned with intricately detailed environments, challenging combat, and unique gameplay elements. I had the opportunity to experience Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition on the ROG Ally and ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage laptop. Let’s explore the diverse offerings of Forbidden West and delve into the enhancements that the PC version brings to the forefront.
Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition PC Details
Platform(s): PlayStation 5, PS4 and PC Developer(s): Guerrilla Games and Nixxes Software Publisher(s): Sony Interactive Entertainment Genre: Action role-playing game ESRB Rating: T for Teen
An Unforgettable Journey West
The latest chapter in Aloy's story has her on a quest to find a cure for a mysterious plague that is destroying the Earth. She is also tough as nails and capable of taking on just about any challenge on her dangerous journey.
"The future of life on Earth depends on Aloy's success, the stakes have never been higher, thankfully you have new gadgets and supporting cast to aid you on your journey."
The story picks up after the events of The Frozen Wilds DLC. Now, Aloy is tasked with saving all lifeforms on the planet. This takes her to an unknown frontier known as the "Forbidden West," a post-apocalyptic equivalent of the American western states of California, Nevada, and Utah. The journey is fraught with challenges, from hostile machines to new raiders who can use the machines as mounts.
The future of life on Earth depends on Aloy's success; the stakes have never been higher; thankfully, you have new gadgets and a supporting cast to aid you on your journey. Without delving into too many spoilers, The Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition enhances the original story with the Burning Shores expansion. This extends Aloy’s story beyond the main game, adding at least 7 hours to the already lengthy base game. This edition broadens the game’s expansive world with new areas to explore with additional quests and challenges.
Side quests and open exploration
The world is teeming with side quests, so you can easily spend dozens of hours working through them. Aloy and her allies push through city ruins, harsh deserts, dense valleys and frigid mountain paths. The biggest biome addition is underwater sections that appear across all environments. This creates a whole new level of verticality in Aloy's experience. She can swim to great depths to traverse to the tops of mountains.
"Part of the fun is peeling back the layers of stunning detail developer Guerrilla has built into this living, breathing world."
You can fast-travel, but Horizon still encourages extended periods of exploration due to a heads-up display showing how many maps you've uncovered. It will appear on your map whenever you discover a new landmark or mount a Tallneck. There's a lot to explore, and having locations plotted out is extremely helpful in finding all the collectibles and hidden tech scattered across the land. Part of the fun is peeling back the layers of stunning detail developer Guerrilla has built into this living, breathing world.
A World Brimming with Lore
Horizon features excellent layered storytelling that occurs through regular conversation with supporting characters, NPCs, written text on objects and audio logs from key figures from before the futuristic apocalypse struck. These narrative moments are deeply satisfying as they do an amazing job of building out the past and present society's backstories.
"The story campaign took me roughly forty hours and features plenty of surprises that make exploring every nook and cranny worth it."
In most titles, I often skip over a lot of the text to get on with my adventure. In Horizon Forbidden West, I made a point not to skip over any of it because there are fascinating tidbits everywhere. The story campaign took me roughly forty hours and features plenty of surprises that make exploring every nook and cranny worth it. As soon as I was done the game, I wanted to go back and explore as much of the world as I could, there is just so much to see and do.
A More Refined Gameplay Experience
There have been many overall gameplay improvements from combat to traversal. The biggest changes come in the form of new technology like the Pullcaster. You can clamp onto certain areas, pull down walls and swing to previously inaccessible areas.
I love the core gameplay loop of upgrading my gear and taking on more powerful foes. It's all about hunting machines (or being hunted), levelling up your character by completing quests, and earning new gear and abilities through the use of items you discover or craft.
"I am completely enamoured by the core gameplay loop of upgrading my gear and taking on more powerful foes."
The game doesn't pull any punches, if you wander into an area ill-equipped, you are in for a world of hurt, you must adapt to the situation or meet a quick end. This encourages a lot of strategy and not just hack-n-slashing your way to victory. It does get repetitive fighting the same machines at times, but it's so rewarding when you decimate them with powerful attacks.
I spent dozens of hours hunting beasts for their parts to craft better equipment to take on even bigger enemies without feeling like I was continuously grinding out meaningless tasks to level up. There's a wide variety of enemy behaviours involving different machine classes, including aerial units, gunners and chargers. You can mount most machines if you sneak up on them, which gives an extra wrinkle of strategy when fighting certain mechs.
Forbidden West on PC offers a sublime audio-visual experience
Forbidden West's visuals are simply incredible, and if you have a PC rig that can run the game on its highest settings, you are in for a treat. It's a testament to the skill and creativity of the Guerilla Games teams. The environments feature epic vistas that open up before you, dilapidated cityscapes ravaged by time, and lush forest areas that look straight off a postcard. There are moments when you just need to pause, turn around 360 degrees and take in the jaw-dropping splendour.
"There are moments where you just need to pause, turn around 360 degrees and take in the jaw-dropping visual splendour."
Forbidden West runs great on the ROG Ally
The game is optimized extremely well, and I got it running on my ROG Ally with a few minor tweaks to the graphical settings. I got a steady 30FPS by lowering the display resolution to 900p, changing VRAM to Auto, and combining all of that with FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution). These adjustments offered a smooth frame rate and stunning detail throughout my time with the game. I was shocked at how incredible the game looked on a handheld device. Full credit to Nixxes Software for a solid port, the amount of settings options really helped me get the most out of my hardware.
PC Gaming Laptop Performance
I also tested the game on the TUF Gaming A16 Advantage laptop, and it ran extremely well. The AMD Ryzen 9 and Radeon RX 7600S tandem handled the lush landscapes and intense action without breaking much of a sweat. I didn't have to do much to the settings to get an optimal balance of frame rate and environmental detail. Bringing settings like the shadow detail and reflections down to "medium" helped enhance the frame rate performance, but overall, everything looked absolutely stunning. I have always appreciated how Guerrilla tells its tale through environmental storytelling, and Forbidden West continues that trend by using little nuances throughout the environment to flesh out its world.
"I have always appreciated how Guerrilla tells its tale through environmental storytelling, and Forbidden West continues that trend by using little nuances throughout the environment to flesh out its world."
Final thoughts on Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition PC
Having experienced the Complete Edition on the ROG Ally and the A16 Advantage laptop, I can attest to the seamless integration of the game’s expansive content and suite PC's customization options. The PC version offers more settings, ensuring that every player can tailor the graphics and performance to their liking. If you have the high-end hardware that can support the game's max settings, you're in for a real treat. In addition, including the Burning Shores expansion further builds on Aloy’s narrative, offering new territories to explore and additional layers to the already captivating story. Between the graphics and performance options, excellent port from the PS5 and additional content, this is the best way to experience Horizon Forbidden West if you have a PC with enough horsepower.
Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition PC Pros
+ The game boasts impressive visuals
+ Runs smoothly on various PC setups from low to ultra-high-end hardware
+ Offers a suite of customizable settings for PC users
Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition PC Cons
-Overall little innovation in the series
-Story pacing has the odd lull
Overall Game Score
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Replayability: 9/10
Overall Rating:
36/40 (90%)
A copy of the game was provided by PlayStation for the purpose of this review.
About the Author - Matthew "Dapper Tux" Rondina
Matthew has been involved in all things gaming since the 8-bit era. He is a tech and video game industry veteran who has been passionate about technology and gaming for over 20 years. In addition to being the Managing Editor of dappertux.com, he has bylines with Best Buy, Cineplex Entertainment, Mobile Syrup and Walmart. Follow Matthew’s gaming + tech adventures on multiple social platforms with the handle @dapper_tux via "X", Instagram, Threads, TikTok and join in on the fun!
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