Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West is a post-apocalyptic action adventure where you explore an overgrown landscape with now-crumbling remnants of modern life. The story of Aloy continues as she sets out to investigate a plague terminating from an arcane frontier known as the Forbidden West. It stands out for the scale of the explorable world and the scope of the story.

CONTENT RATING

Violence

PLATFORMS

PlayStation 5

PlayStation 4

PC

POSITIVE GAMEPLAY

Exploration

Geography

Good Challenge

Interpretation

Systems Thinking

Comprehension

Quick Reactions

Over 30 hours

PLAY STYLE

Player vs Enemies

Vicious storms and an unstoppable blight ravage the scattered remnants of humanity, while fearsome new machines prowl their borders. It's up to Aloy to uncover the secrets behind these threats and restore order and balance to the world. Along the way, she must reunite with old friends, forge alliances with warring new factions and unravel the legacy of the ancient past – all the while trying to stay one step ahead of a seemingly undefeatable new enemy.

As you fight, hunt and explore your way through the land, you discover hostile regions ravaged by massive storms that are occupied by new deadly machines. This takes the premise of the first game and plays it out in broader locations: lush valleys, dry deserts, snowy mountains, tropical beaches and ruined cities, both above and below the water.

On PlayStation 5 haptic feedback via the Dual Sense controller adds to the experience. The tension of the bow as well as the feel of the landscape you are walking through are expressed through the controller's tension triggers and rumble feature.

Progress into the mysterious western frontier grants not only a larger map but new secrets about the world. You discover messages and artefacts from the Old Ones, lying beneath the ruins. This takes you to a ruined version of San Francisco and the Yosemite Valley.

GAMEPLAY TRAILER

Good to know

Insights to ensure your child's gaming experience remains safe and enjoyable

Consider time investment

Adventure games often take a long time to finish. Encourage regular breaks to get moving, rest their eyes and balance their time with other activities.

Nurture key skills

Many adventure games incorporate problem solving and critical thinking, important skills for school, work and more offline. Talk to them about their game to see how it supports them and their goals.

Build resilience

Encourage children to take risks with their characters in-game to safely learn potential consequences. Talk about what might happen outside of the game and why it's important to keep those risks in-game only. While playing, encourage them to think about innovative risks their character can take.

Skill level

Suggested by Family Gaming Database

Players need to be able to traverse the huge world, both following a map as well as navigating the best route when climbing. You also need quick reactions for battle where you must switch to the best weapons to deal maximum damage to enemies. It's fast-paced and demanding. There are prolonged story elements of the game that while optional are a key ingredient of why players enjoy this experience.

Content rating

Rated PEGI 16 for Violence. Violence is similar in style to that found in 'Zero Dawn', with Aloy and her companions fighting both mechanical dinosaur-like creatures and enemy tribes. Blood is shown but no graphic injuries. Cinematic scenes feature more realistic violence than the violence found in general gameplay, including tribes shooting each other using bows and arrows and scenes of execution at spearpoint. The game also includes some bad language, including 'b*!%$@d', 's*!t', 'dick', 'goddamn' and 'screw'.

PEGI rating explained?