Horizon Forbidden West shows off Aloy's new gear in 14-minute gameplay video
Meet the Pullcaster and Shieldwing
We got an extensive look at Horizon Forbidden West gameplay in PlayStation's latest State of Play stream, showing off a fresh location as well as several new tools in Aloy's arsenal.
The gameplay footage lasted for just over 14 minutes and showed a portion of the game where Aloy is tracking down her friend Erend after he's captured by raiders. In the course of freeing him she travels on foot, underwater, and on the back of a raptor-like Clawstrider. Oh, and she also glides through the air like she just scored a Victory Royale with her handy Shieldwing, which looks a bit like a holographic umbrella. Between that and her new Pullcaster, it should be faster and easier than ever to get around the world - whether you're locked in desperate combat or just exploring.
The one thing that was missing from the beautiful gameplay demo was a release date, as Forbidden West is easily one of our most-anticipated upcoming PS5 games. It's also coming to PS4, but with the number of PS5-exclusive or enhanced features Guerrilla has already talked up for Horzion Forbidden West, including near-instant load speeds for traveling across the massive open world and impressive haptics that will let you feel the rustle of tall grass as Aloy stalks her prey, it's hard not to see it as the definitive version.
As a direct sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West follows Aloy as she journeys far from her homeland - somewhere in the pre-apocalyptic states of Colorado and Utah - to what appears to be the grown-over remains of California and specifically the San Francisco Bay Area. She's making the journey in an attempt to find the cause of a strange blight that is killing off both flora and fauna, and also turning the weather into an endless, raging storm. We have a feeling she'll find even more than she bargained for in the process.
Meanwhile, if you're just hoping you'll have a PS5 in time to play, make sure you bookmark our regularly updated guide to finding PS5 stock.
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I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.