Horizon Forbidden West Gets Narrated Trailer, Release Window

A new trailer has been released for Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Forbidden West, featuring recut footage of last week’s announcement trailer, and narrated by Game Director Mathijs de Jonge. Being set in a new frontier, as protagonist Aloy of the Nora tribe heads west, the game’s environments roughly correspond to the land between Utah and the Pacific Coast in present-day United States. Aloy has been given more traversal options to cover the game’s larger map, such as the ability to maneuver freely underwater.

Aloy will once again encounter a large variety of machines modeled after real-life animals: Shell Snappers lie in wait in the shallow waters of swamps and shores; the crocodile-like Snapmaws that are fully mobile above and below water; the airborne Sunwings that resemble large pterodactyl-like birds; and the imposing mammoth-like Tremor Tusk, already dangerous on its own, but even more deadly when covered in heavy-plated armor. Scanning and studying these creatures in order to effectively deal with them is once again a key strategy to staying alive.

The Forbidden West is home to new tribes for Aloy to encounter, including one tribe that has learned the secret of turning otherwise-peaceful machines into beasts of war to serve at their command. The tribes and wildlife there face unique dangers that Aloy will have to survive and get to the bottom of. A mysterious red blight has infected the collapsing biosphere, destroying crops and flora, and causing widespread starvation. Likewise, unnatural weather patterns harangue the population, with massive storms routinely flooding fields and causing massive destruction.

Horizon Forbidden West is in development for PlayStation 5, and the developers anticipate the game to benefit from the console’s horsepower to virtually eliminate loading screens and wait time during fast travel. The team currently has their sights set on a release window of 2021.