Horizon Forbidden West Review Embargo Details

What Will Be The Average Critic Score For Horizon: Forbidden West

  • >95

    Votes: 35 5.2%

  • 93-95

    Votes: 128 19.2%

  • 90-92

    Votes: 261 39.1%

  • 86-89

    Votes: 174 26.0%

  • 80-85

    Votes: 42 6.3%

  • <80

    Votes: 28 4.2%
  • Total voters
    668
Sosokrates said:
It seems most the geometry and lighting has been retained for the PS4 version.

PS5 enhancements I expect
  • Higher resolution
  • 60fps mode
  • Higher res textures
  • Hero lighting in game
  • Scalable surface detail
  • Scalable foilege
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Do you know what the resolution is for performance mode?
 
I'm planning on getting this game this week. Been a while since I've played a brand new game at launch and I enjoyed the robots of the first game even though the world and writing lacked.

I'm gonna go with an 88 score ps4 and ps5 combined average.
 
zuffuel said:
jack-nicholson-yes.gif
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rofif said:
ugly ?! She is cute af


(yes, she is cute in sequel clothed too)
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I'm surprised she isn't nude yet, PC dudes are some freaks when it comes to females in games lol
 
Danjin44 said:
For me it doesn't matter what reviews it gets, I learned my lesson from the first game, it just not made for me.
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I can understand it. I'm not the biggest fan of the 1st game but I saw the potential for the sequel as it had some good ideas and some good moments

I'm hyped to the max for Forbidden West from what I've seen and read
 
Sosokrates said:
I dont think it will be doing anything other games haven't already done.

Guerilla are obviously extremely talented Devs but I dont think they they will be "ahead of the curve".
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You can say that about any developer to be honest. Doesn't change their ability to make really good looking games.
 
SlimySnake said:
lol i think both DF and NX gamer need to be far more critical of the game's cross gen roots. I can understand average critics ignoring it since they review the game design and story, but tech reviewers have one job and they need to approach these games two years into the gen with a far more critical eye.

I rolled my eyes when Alex gave Deathloop a pass because it isn't trying to be a graphics powerhouse. I legit laughed when Richard declared forza horizon 5s next Gen difference when it basically amounted to pc low vs high settings. Last week they were fawning over GT7 for 30 minutes. Like come on, you are the only tech reviewer in town.

When i see the trailers i see fog blocking the draw distance everywhere. Next Gen version shouldn't have that fog, period. Let's see if these guys are even remotely critical tomorrow.
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I just want to see you capitulate and admit that a game can both look stunning AND be cross-gen. That's what Horizon is, and that's what GoW:R will be too.

Horizon certainly looks better to me than any next gen exclusive so far.
 
I'm prepared to be BLOWN away.

While most games haven't really warranted the next-gen premium price hike with their abysmal launches, short-length or lack of innovation,
I'm expecting HFW to be one of the first few games this gen that does
(even though I don't have to pay for it :messenger_grinning_sweat:).
 
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I really liked the first, wish it capitalized on its world more in both story and sidequest design as well as in-game economy and rewards. I got the Plat and had a blast till the end and like many wondered what the sequel would bring. Got it preordered and downloaded, just waiting for Friday. The game is a looker that's for sure, I've been itching for a game to really show off my PS5. Looking forward to just getting lost in the world and seeing all the tiny details. I also love the brighter color palette in this one. Too few games sport them these days, especially more realistic ones.

I really liked the big city and towns in the first game, I really hope we get more world building and quests with the inhabitants. If they nail that then I'll be in heaven. Also cool stuff like the DLC, more tribes and people.
 
From everything I read and heard, they have listed to the feedback about the first game and improved a lot in these areas. Currently I cannot see any red flag about this game, so a score under 90% would be a real surprise to me.

By the way anyone planning to play on PS4? I have 2 young children, so I have perhaps time to play 1 game every 2 months and didn't see therefore a good reason yet to invest in a PS5. So I will try this on PS4.
 
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James Sawyer Ford said:
I just want to see you capitulate and admit that a game can both look stunning AND be cross-gen. That's what Horizon is, and that's what GoW:R will be too.

Horizon certainly looks better to me than any next gen exclusive so far.
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But I already have admitted that Horizon looks better than any next gen exclusive so far. Several times. If anything, horizon FW proves that the next gen only games havent even come close to maxing out the PS5 power. Both Insomniac and Bluepoint inexplicably targeted native 4k 30 fps, and locked themselves out of precious GPU power.
 
James Sawyer Ford said:
I think it's massively better than Ass Creed

The combat in AC is abysmal and the mission variety and story is far worse
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Finishing up HZD before FW and hard disagree. The melee combat in ACV is leagues better than spamming light-attack-light-attack-heavy-attack-critical-strike in HFW. However, if you're in melee combat you've already essentially failed in this game. Still it's not great. Contrast with that in ACV.

If we're just talking about, who has better combat encounters period, HZD wins just because it is more than melee combat, but that hardly means ACV (or ACO or AC. . .O v2.O) had terrible or boring combat.

. . .and hands down the acting and overall writing in ACV is better than HFW. As someone mentioned way too many of the NPC's in HFW are stilted and deliver their lines like their lifeless soulbots. Ashley Burch and Lance Reddick are CLEAR standouts in the game and the story is definitely engaging, but no way is it trounced by what is on offer from HFW, particularly the last two AC's (I haven't played Origins).

Like, I get people love to kneejerk shit on UBI-Openworlds but this criticism feels like wild hyperbole.
 
5hrs to go

Seeing how the first one got an 89, and the improvements and the new hotness factor of the PS5 it will probably get like 91.
 
Really curious for this game. I don't need to see a lot, but feels like we don't know a whole lot about the game.

Definitely want to see the world map.
 
saintjules said:
Really curious for this game. I don't need to see a lot, but feels like we don't know a whole lot about the game.

Definitely want to see the world map.
Click to expand...

I believe they have said it isn't going to be much bigger than the first, just more dense. Also the verticality seems to be much improved as well so it is likely going to feel bigger even though the overall map size won't be.
 
ANDS said:
Finishing up HZD before FW and hard disagree. The melee combat in ACV is leagues better than spamming light-attack-light-attack-heavy-attack-critical-strike in HFW. However, if you're in melee combat you've already essentially failed in this game. Still it's not great. Contrast with that in ACV.

If we're just talking about, who has better combat encounters period, HZD wins just because it is more than melee combat, but that hardly means ACV (or ACO or AC. . .O v2.O) had terrible or boring combat.

. . .and hands down the acting and overall writing in ACV is better than HFW. As someone mentioned way too many of the NPC's in HFW are stilted and deliver their lines like their lifeless soulbots. Ashley Burch and Lance Reddick are CLEAR standouts in the game and the story is definitely engaging, but no way is it trounced by what is on offer from HFW, particularly the last two AC's (I haven't played Origins).

Like, I get people love to kneejerk shit on UBI-Openworlds but this criticism feels like wild hyperbole.
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I have played every single AC game aside from Odyssey and Horizon is leagues ahead in pretty much every department aside from maybe graphics where they are pretty much on par with each other depending on which AC game we are talking about. Origins and Unity yes, but Valhalla and Odyssey cant compare.

The combat in AC games is an afterthought. We cant compare the melee combat in AC games to a shooter like Horizon, but in terms of depth, Horizon is leagues ahead. Comparing melee in Horizon to melee in AC is like comparing bow and arrow combat in Horizon to bow and arrow combat in AC. It makes no sense.

AC needs to completely revamp their combat. It has gotten comically bad in Valhalla. I thought Origins was a good reset, but they wasted all that potential when they shouldve just focused on what GOW was doing. Right now, In valhalla, it is simply awful. Hits dont have any impact, no feedback, animations are cartoonish which sucks for a series that had industry leading animations in the PS360 era. Horizon's combat feels tight, responsive, and its enemies are aggressive and fun to fight.

I really liked AC2, Brotherhood, Black Flags, Unity and Origins, but the combat has been the one thing thats been a constant disappointment. The fact that it has only gotten worse is a shame too. I almost wish they went back to how OP they made you in Black Flags and Unity because of how terrible their current combat engine is.
 
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ANDS said:
. .and hands down the acting and overall writing in ACV is better than HFW. As someone mentioned way too many of the NPC's in HFW are stilted and deliver their lines like their lifeless soulbots. Ashley Burch and Lance Reddick are CLEAR standouts in the game and the story is definitely engaging, but no way is it trounced by what is on offer from HFW, particularly the last two AC's (I haven't played Origins).
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Hate to pick on you about this because this has been bugging me for a while, but isnt expecting Naughty Dog quality facial animations and cutscene quality direction in a massive 50-70 hour game like Horizon too much?

This game has dialogue trees. It is like expecting Mass Effect or Skyrim to have mocaped cutscene for their dialogue trees.

What sucks is that it seems they have gone and done exactly that. Every NPC in the game has their own cutscenes. even random dudes in the taverns no longer have those mass effect like dialogue trees. It's all mocapped. So they basically made a 50-60 hour naughty dog game. No wonder it took five years to make. They are basically shooting 3 seasons of tv episodes for one game.

What was there in horizon was good enough. you got cutscenes for the campaign missions and major side quests. the rest didnt have much work put in them because who cares. You are going to be killing machines anyway. why do i need to watch a five minute cutscene before i kill a thunderjaw?
 
SlimySnake said:
Hate to pick on you about this because this has been bugging me for a while, but isnt expecting Naughty Dog quality facial animations and cutscene quality direction in a massive 50-70 hour game like Horizon too much?

This game has dialogue trees. It is like expecting Mass Effect or Skyrim to have mocaped cutscene for their dialogue trees.

What sucks is that it seems they have gone and done exactly that. Every NPC in the game has their own cutscenes. even random dudes in the taverns no longer have those mass effect like dialogue trees. It's all mocapped. So they basically made a 50-60 hour naughty dog game. No wonder it took five years to make. They are basically shooting 3 seasons of tv episodes for one game.

What was there in horizon was good enough. you got cutscenes for the campaign missions and major side quests. the rest didnt have much work put in them because who cares. You are going to be killing machines anyway. why do i need to watch a five minute cutscene before i kill a thunderjaw?
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So now it's "too much quality"?

Man you complain about everything.
 
I don't think it will crack 90. I hope it does, 100%.

I'm thinking more like 88 or 89.

Then again, deathloop sits at a 88 and I thought that game was gonna give mid 70's, so what do I know.........
 
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ANDS said:
Finishing up HZD before FW and hard disagree. The melee combat in ACV is leagues better than spamming light-attack-light-attack-heavy-attack-critical-strike in HFW. However, if you're in melee combat you've already essentially failed in this game. Still it's not great. Contrast with that in ACV.

If we're just talking about, who has better combat encounters period, HZD wins just because it is more than melee combat, but that hardly means ACV (or ACO or AC. . .O v2.O) had terrible or boring combat.

. . .and hands down the acting and overall writing in ACV is better than HFW. As someone mentioned way too many of the NPC's in HFW are stilted and deliver their lines like their lifeless soulbots. Ashley Burch and Lance Reddick are CLEAR standouts in the game and the story is definitely engaging, but no way is it trounced by what is on offer from HFW, particularly the last two AC's (I haven't played Origins).

Like, I get people love to kneejerk shit on UBI-Openworlds but this criticism feels like wild hyperbole.
Click to expand...

All I can really reply is :LOL:

JFC Ass Creed Valhalla combat was atrocious...I never used melee combat much at all in HZ but it's not like it was much better if at all in AC.
 
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Mikey Jr. said:
I don't think it will crack 90. I hope it does, 100%.

I'm thinking more like 88 or 89.

Then again, deathloop sits at a 88 and I thought that game was gonna give mid 70's, so what do I know.........
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Gameplay is what matters the most. If your Gameplay is fun, you will get more scores. Infinite got more scores that way.

If HFw gets good gameplay, it would have no problem with 90 metacritic.
 
kingfey said:
Gameplay is what matters the most. If your Gameplay is fun, you will get more scores. Infinite got more scores that way.

If HFw gets good gameplay, it would have no problem with 90 metacritic.
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I haven't played fw, so I don't know yet, but my main worry is "combat is great, graphics are great, but its the same old ubisoft style open world game" type of review that will knock it down.
 
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SlimySnake said:
Hate to pick on you about this because this has been bugging me for a while, but isnt expecting Naughty Dog quality facial animations and cutscene quality direction in a massive 50-70 hour game like Horizon too much?
Click to expand...

Motion capped for all NPC's? Of course not. However too many of the NPC's are animated as if they drank way too much Red Bull and don't know what to do with their head. They just don't look good at all. And then combine it was sketchy delivery, and the dialogue cutscenes come off bad.

The combat in AC games is an afterthought. We cant compare the melee combat in AC games to a shooter like Horizon, but in terms of depth, Horizon is leagues ahead. Comparing melee in Horizon to melee in AC is like comparing bow and arrow combat in Horizon to bow and arrow combat in AC. It makes no sense.
Click to expand...

Different strokes honestly. I didn't get tired of the combat in ACV or ACO. Other than adding in a more complex "weapon-clashing system" (e.g. Bannerlord or SEKIRO perhaps) I'm not sure how much more oomph they can add in. And, as I said, overall combat in HZD is better simply because, by design, it can be more engaging. That doesn't mean (in my view) AC has terrible combat (for me it is no worse than Dark Souls) particularly with the varied enemies.
 
Sosokrates said:
I dont know AsscreedVal got an 80mc.

I think when games are approaching the 90 mark no one area should be weak.

Not that im trying convince you, but at the end of the day, zero dwans mission are repetitive not very creative and the dialogue and story is really lifeless and dull at times. Some chacaters speak dialogue like mindless atomotons, the story is pretty confusing at times and boring.

People have opinions, but I could show some footage of missions that are just not good aside from the combat.
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Your comment that a 90+ game shouldn't have weak areas is completely unrealistic. Would you slam the best RPG of all time because the real-time combat is bad? Good luck finding a 90+ RPG then.

It's an action adventure, the focus should be on the action, and it's the combat, traps, presentation and incredibly well-crafted and diverse machines and their behaviours that makes HZD shine. Would've been my GOTY another year if BOTW wasn't there in 2017.
 
Fredrik said:
Your comment that a 90+ game shouldn't have weak areas is completely unrealistic. Would you slam the best RPG of all time because the real-time combat is bad? Good luck finding a 90+ RPG then.

It's an action adventure, the focus should be on the action, and it's the combat, traps, presentation and incredibly well-crafted and diverse machines and their behaviours that makes HZD shine. Would've been my GOTY another year if BOTW wasn't there in 2017.
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If combat was a big part of the game and it was broken then I dont thinknit should score a 90 meta.

This aint the late 90s where ganes were far more genre specific.

Zero dawn is a narritive heavy RPG also, its story director was a story director from fallout new vegas.
Most AAA Games these days are not just one genre, especially open world games.
 
Fredrik said:
Bugs, that's unfortunate, reviews are rarely updated so now we'll probably see pre-release bugs lower the score forever even though the bugs has probably been fixed before the rest of us even gets to touch the game. Media needs to adapt to modern times, games aren't ready to be scored on day 0.
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Or they could just give reviewers finished games since the review score plays a large part in how a game performs…

The excuses for this are absurd.
 
Fredrik said:
Bugs, that's unfortunate, reviews are rarely updated so now we'll probably see pre-release bugs lower the score forever even though the bugs has probably been fixed before the rest of us even gets to touch the game. Media needs to adapt to modern times, games aren't ready to be scored on day 0.
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They shouldn't send the game out for review with bugs then.
 
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