Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores Review
“Livin’ Life in LA-loy” Written by: Ethan (@ChaoticAether)
I loved Forbidden West when it first released last February. Bar a rough couple of hours at the start, I really gelled with the world they created and the multiple new ways to tear through a whole new batch of mechanical creatures. However as the year went by, I found myself remembering less and less of the game; with a still positive, but muted opinion by the time we reached the end of 2022.
Fourteen months later and the inevitable expansion is finally here, and I was honestly sceptical of hopping back into the world of Horizon. Though after jumping in, I am happy to say that Burning Shores has reminded me of why I loved the original game in the first place. Its stunning visuals and fun encounters kept me engaged for its 8 hour run time. But after so long, I can’t help but feel it’s too little too late. Is the new story and content worth getting back into the saddle for a trip around LA with Aloy? Let’s find out.
Image Credit: Guerrilla Games, Sony
Burning Shores takes place directly after the events of the original game, so spoilers ahead! After defeating Tilda and the rest of Far Zenith, Aloy and Sylens now have a new threat in focus: Nemesis. A rogue AI with a collision course set to Earth. While researching potential ways to survive against all odds, Sylens discovers that a thirteenth member of Zenith, Walter Londra, is still alive and has separated from the party to return to his company’s ruins in the burning shores, Horizons desolated take on Los Angeles. With a member of Far Zenith still alive, and unanswered questions regarding the future of the world, Aloy heads to the Burning Shores in an attempt to stop whatever Londra's planning, and potentially find a clue to defeating Nemesis.
It’s here she finds a Zenith tower, a tribe of lost Quen, and a new ally in the form of Seyka. She teams up with Aloy to discover what has happened to her tribe members and what exactly Londra is planning. The plot certainly feels like a filler arc for Aloy, which is a shame really as with the DLC going out of its way to take place after the base game finishes, I expected a more substantial story than we’ve been given. Not to say that what’s here is bad, in fact it’s quite the opposite.
Aloy is a joy in both writing and performance as always, Seyka is an interesting new character who bounces off Aloy rather well, and Londra’s LA charm and lack of regard for human life make him an interesting villain to bounce off of. The expansion's overall premise is where it starts to fall flat. Another member of Far Zenith existing feels tacked on, and bar from the relationship and dynamic between Aloy and Seyka created throughout the expansion, it all ends up feeling mostly throwaway. That isn’t always a bad thing when it comes to these kinds of updates though. I assume like The City that Never Sleeps in Spider-Man, they don’t want to assume everyone came back to play the expansion when the sequel comes around. The fact it's a smaller scale story doesn’t take away from the entire experience, it just makes it a harder sell for those who haven’t hopped back into the game in over a year.
Image Credit: Guerrilla Games, Sony
What always sells me on horizon however is its gameplay, and at the forefront are the epic battles with huge mechanical monsters. The Burning Shores adds four additional beasts for you to conquer: The Waterwing, The Bilegut, The Stingstorm and The Horus. The Waterwing is an aquatic counterpart to the Sunwings from Forbidden West, allowing for fun arial encounters that continue to be quite a challenge. They also allow you to seamlessly switch between traversing the air and sea which is just as fun as it sounds. The Bilegut is a frog-like machine that spews toxic acid and leaps around the battlefield leaving nothing in its wake. They are agile and tough to take down, and the main machine encountered in the DLC. They are often paired with the Stingstorm, small fly-like machines that stay in groups and are mainly a distraction mechanic more than a real threat. Finally Horus is the giant boss as seen in the trailers, that I won’t divulge anything about in case of spoilers.
These creatures are joined by apex versions of the base game machines to make for quite a challenging experience in the Burning Shores. On normal difficulty on a maxed out character, I was still experiencing a decent challenge even after taking away the rust built up from a year away. That and the added weapon type, the Specter Gauntlet, make for fun new ways to take on enemies on the ground and now in the air. I do wish we had more machines, but the ones added provided enough variety to keep me entertained for its short play time.
The burning shores on the whole take up a size equivalent to roughly a third of the base game's map. With it being mostly islands however, the actual game area feels much smaller than that, with the rest of the space occupied by water. This is matched by the amount of content in the expansion. With only five main quests, three side quests, a cauldron and a handful of collectibles. It’s a small list of things to accomplish, with most of these objectives being extremely similar to the ones found throughout the base game. This does lead to it feeling like a more refined gameplay experience, as the level cap increase to 60 is practically given to you if you finish the available content. That and some extra moves in the skill tree like grapple striking onto enemies make it worthwhile to seek out these extra objectives and tinker with the new moves available.
The one true difference from the base game for me was my ample use of the Sunwing. With the mount unlocking so late into the game, there really weren’t many uses for it as I had already experienced 90% of the map. Here it feels like the Burning Shores were made with the mount in mind. With every area easily accessible and beautiful vistas as far as the eye can see, you’ll be using this mount to fly past oceans to the Hollywood hills and it really is a marvel.
Image Credit: Guerrilla Games, Sony
Speaking of visuals, the presentation is as jaw dropping as it was in the base game. I played the game in performance mode, and was honestly blown away by how gorgeous the game could be while running at an excellent framerate. From the bright blue oceans to the wizardry that is the new cloud technology, The Burning Shores feel like a place you want to explore. Guerilla are some of the best in the business when it comes to engine tech and graphical capabilities, and they don’t miss a single step here. The final boss is a wonder of a set piece, and with the additions of great music and consistently great performances, it makes for an incredible next gen experience.
Saying that though I don’t personally see anything in here that stopped them from making this for the PS4. Yeah it's incredibly pretty, but so was the base game. There’s nothing here gameplay wise that screams next gen exclusive. I understand the wish to move on from old constraints, but I can’t help but feel sorry for the people left behind on PS4. Regardless, it truly is a visual treat, and any PS4 owners should definitely plug the game in if they ever get around to upgrading to the PS5 in the future.
Image Credit: Guerrilla Games, Sony
Summary
So do I recommend you play the Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores expansion? If you are a fan of the franchise and are desperate to hop back in, sure I recommend it. It’s another 10 or so hours of high quality adventuring with Aloy and helps bridge the gap to the inevitable third game. New character additions are fun, a deeper dive into the Quen as a tribe is a welcome addition, and the small but impactful character developments for Aloy are worth experiencing for a hardcore fan. Just know that it isn’t anything more than that. The variety in its gameplay, however strong, is minimal. And with its short run time and little impact on the larger story, I can’t help but feel that unless you are a die-hard horizon fan, you’ll end up leaving slightly disappointed.
It’s a step up from The Frozen Wilds and I’m grateful Guerrilla has created it. Heck, if you haven’t played the base game yet this will make for a hell of an epilogue in the inevitable complete edition. But I can’t help but feel that fourteen months was just a tad too long a wait, and while I’ll be there day one for the conclusion to this journey, I don’t feel this extra diversion is an essential play.