Horizon Forbidden West is releasing this Friday, the 18/02, and reviews have started to drop from Australian outlets.
This is one of Sony’s most anticipated games and, I’m sure, a game they’re expecting to be one of their biggest releases of the year. Horizon Zero Dawn was a massive hit for Guerrilla Games, and as a new IP, even more of a success. I’m sure all parties expect this to be as good, if not better.
The reviews are super positive for the most part, with plenty of scores hovering around the 9 to 10 mark, which is exciting. While you can expect to hear more from us and what we think of the game when we get hands, here’s what Australian critics are saying about Horizon Forbidden West right now.
AusGamers (7/10) – Kosta Andreadis
“As an action-adventure, an RPG, a narrative, and open-world sandbox, and a way to simply spend time exploring a breathtaking world – it falls short. Engaging at times, thrilling too, but also disjointed, clunky, and unfocused in ways we didn’t expect.”
Checkpoint Gaming (10/10) – Luke Mitchell
“Horizon Forbidden West is everything you could hope for in a sequel. Not only does it provide more content to sink your teeth into, but it makes smart design decisions that refine its systems to be near faultless. Aloy’s personal story continues to evolve, this time with an even stronger supporting cast and memorable antagonists propelling her journey to another level. Above all, its moment-to-moment gameplay expertly combines the fun traversal, exciting combat, and creative problem-solving to awesome effect, meaning it always feels excellent to play.”
Digitally Downloaded (4.5/5) – Matt Sainsbury
“I have deep and irresolvable issues with Horizon: Forbidden West, and it largely boils down to the game being an empty blockbuster that will chew up a lot of your time, but not do anything meaningful with it. However, that’s all Horizon ever wanted to be and criticising Horizon for not being a great work of art is like criticising a reality television dance show for not being ballet.”
Game On Aus (Masterpiece) – Dylan Blereau
“Horizon Forbidden West is an absolute treasure that is not only a welcome sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, but also arguably one of the best games to grace the PlayStation 5 thus far – with a solid claim to being the best native PS5 game yet.”
Games Hub (5/5) – Leah J. Williams
“While the vastness can occasionally feel overwhelming, it also gives Horizon Forbidden West a sense of wild freedom. There’s so much to see that it feels like a single playthrough couldn’t encompass it all – but somehow, it does.”
Player2 (A+) – Jess Zammit
“I want to do everything I can in this game because the world just feels so good to exist in, and this is going to be one of those rare titles that will have me going back to get all the extra collectables and unlocks just to give me an excuse to keep being Aloy. Everything about this game just feels good. It’s beautiful, narratively complex, empowering, and a true testament to what the PS5 can do.”
PowerUp Gaming (8.5/10) – Adam Mathew
“In no time, I fell back in love with the hunter-gather loop and the methodical nature of its machine murdering – I have no doubt you will, too. Those epic, sometimes 20 minute long fights I had with the 40 odd cast of megafauna machines…man, I’ll be telling my grandkids about some of those one day.”
Press Start (10/10) – Kieron Verbrugge
“In almost every way, Guerrilla has re-thought, refined and redoubled on everything that was good or bad about Horizon Zero Dawn while pushing nearly every boundary imaginable in how an open world video game can look and feel. Above all else, this is a game that consistently surprised me.”
Stevivor (6.5/10) – Joab Gilroy
“It’s a game of contrasts. A game about robot dinosaurs where you spend far too much time fighting robot meerkats and boars instead for some reason. One with brilliant voice acting that you begin to hate because some characters won’t shut up. Where the side quests are great, but they’re so simple as to feel pointless. Where the combat features a complex balance between elemental strengths and weaknesses but you can ignore all that via a rain of explosive spearheads.”
WellPlayed (9/10) – Kieron Stockton
“I spent 45 hours seeing the story to its end with significant meandering, and I feel like I could spend another 45 and still struggle to see all of the world’s wonders. My 10 or so hours post credits have done nothing to dim my spirits, and while my Aloy is now a fully-levelled force of nature, I will continue to scour the West. The difference with Forbidden West is that I return to its world not because of a compulsion to tick off some checklists, but because I can’t stay away.”
Do you like what you’re reading? Are you planning to pick up Horizon: Forbidden West this week? Let us know in the comment section below if you are.
