Horizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shores DLC is less than a month away, and anticipation for Guerrilla Games' continuing story for Aloy persists. Unlike The Frozen Wilds DLC forZero Dawn, Burning Shores will occur after the conclusion of the main quest inHorizon Forbidden West. While no story trailer has yet to be revealed, and details surrounding the plot remain thin, there are some things players can expect from the new region.
Horizon Forbidden Westtook players through different biomes in the future landscapes of Utah, Nevada, and California. Throughout the game, Aloy and her friends work to restore Earth’s biosphere by obtaining GAIA and her subordinate functions in the Forbidden West, home of the peaceful Utaru and deadly Tenakth clans. While facing off against Far Zenith, Aloy learns about a rogue, sentientAI called Nemesis, whose actions kick-started the series and now is on its way to destroy Earth.
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A Volcanic Los Angeles Archipelago
Burning Shores will occur south of the Tenakth lands, encompassing the city of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas. Explorable by both underwater and aerial traversal, Los Angeles has become a fractured and overgrown city that is said to be south of the Spinebreak, past the ruins of the Hoover Dam. Several glyphs inHorizon Forbidden Westfrompast characters such as Brin and Gildunhave indicated the location as such, along with their intent to travel there themselves.
This location makes sense for continuing adventures and places within theHorizonfranchise. Players can expect the typical day, night, and weather cycle throughout both base games. However, where The Frozen Wilds DLC forZero Dawnutilized freezing and snow for its story within the Banuk territory of The Cut, Burning Shores appears to be welcoming a new type of biome and natural occurrence not done before in the series: volcanic.
As a fractured archipelago, Los Angeles is clearly shown throughout the Burning Shores trailers as a location riddled with volcanic activity, full of pools and flowing lava that will undoubtedly make on-foot traversal and combat hazardous. Perhaps this is why so much emphasis has been placed onBurning Shores utilizing the Sunwingfor flying and the diving mask for swimming. These traversal options may be safer and allow new exploration for players and the franchise.
New Characters, Machines, and Threats Harnessing the Power of the PS5
The marketing and previews for the Burning Shores DLC have already indicated that players will meet new characters, obtain new weapons, and face new machines and threats - with one presumably a FAS-BOR7 Horus. The information regarding these new additions has been tight-lipped; however, Aloy is seen wearing Quen armor in trailers, which means that more details regardingthe Quen tribemay be on the table.
This makes sense ifZero Dawnis any indicator. Within the first game, the Banuk tribe was possibly covered the least compared to the Nora, Oseram, and Carja - until their tribe was expanded upon in The Frozen Wilds. InForbidden West,this is similarly applied to the Quen, who appears later in the game, featuring a small colony at Legacy’s Landfall in the ruins of San Francisco. With theQuen hailing from unexplored lands across the oceanand being the most technologically advanced tribe to date with access to older Focuses, it would make sense to expand upon their culture, especially with the threat of Nemesis looming.
A recent blog post from PlayStation features an interview withHorizonGame Director Mathijs de Jonge, who highlights the processing power of the PS5. He states its power for visuals can strongly lean into those graphics, explaining how highly detailed Los Angeles and its surrounding areas - especially a settlement in and around the ruins - will be. Draw distance, lighting, and assets will be further enhanced, as de Jonge further explains that the new machines and one particular fight are only possible because of thehardware power of the PS5.
Horizon Forbidden Westis available on PS4 and PS5, and the Burning ShoresDLC is scheduled to release on April 19 on PS5.
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