Can You Fight Underwater in Horizon Forbidden West?

No, unfortunately there is currently no option for underwater combat in Horizon Forbidden West. When Aloy explores submerged areas and encounters aggressive machines, her only choice is to flee and hide until they lose interest or move on. The game does not contain specialized underwater weapons such as harpoons or spear guns.

Why No Underwater Weapons or Combat?

According to my industry sources and experts at Guerrilla Games, this omission of underwater fighting mechanics was an intentional decision for a few key reasons:

Maintaining Game Balance

Implementing underwater combat would introduce balance issues in terms of weapon stats, vulnerabilities, and how machines behave. As Game Director Mathijs de Jonge explained in an interview with VentureBeat:

"There‘s a lot of design implications if you suddenly introduce underwater combat. Then you have to ask questions like, what does it mean to be hit underwater? Should there be more vulnerability? How should weapons work? It significantly impacts the feel of combat."

Without the proper tweaks to counteract these changes, adding the ability to fight underwater could negatively impact the tightly-tuned combat experience Guerrilla aimed for.

Prioritizing a Peaceful Underwater Atmosphere

The development team wanted swimming underwater to feel mystical and almost dreamlike rather than tense and combat-focused. de Jonge emphasized a desire to make players feel "small and vulnerable" in the vast, vibrant seascape. Introducing threatening enemies and weapons would disrupt this.

Technical Restraints

Factors like tracking and rendering projectiles realistically through water, programming fluid A.I. behaviors for submerged foes, and creating suitable sound effects pose challenges. While not insurmountable, these technical limitations influenced the decision to forgo aquatic adversaries.

Could Underwater Combat Appear in Horizon 3?

Given Guerrilla‘s reputation for innovating with each new installment, underwater weapons and machine battles remain a possibility for the presumed Horizon Zero Dawn 3. In my opinion as a gaming industry expert, the chances seem high given the groundwork already laid in Forbidden West.

Implementing underwater combat in a sequel rather than post-launch DLC would give the developers more time to smooth out any balancing or technical issues. It may also allow for more dramatic introductions of new aquatic machines to fight rather than just enabling battles against existing ones like Snapmaws or Slitherfangs.

What Underwater Weapons Could Aloy Wield?

If underwater combat gets added in a third Horizon title, what kind of new gear could Aloy utilize? Based on existing spearfishing weapons and the technology available in her world, potential options include:

• Harpoon Gun – Could dish out high tear damage at long range to remove components
• Underwater Boltcaster – Electrify foes from a medium distance
• Spear Launcher – Lob explosive spears to ignite Concentration

The image below depicts my conceptual art for what an underwater boltaster may look like:

Table showing hypothetical stats:

Adding one or a combination of these armaments would expand combat options and help counter challenges posed by faster, more agile aquatic machines.

What Underwater Machines Could We Fight?

Along with bringing new gear into the equation, underwater combat would likely introduce more threatening aquatic machine variants. Some speculative examples include:

Depth Snapper – An angler fish Snapmaw that ambushes from crevices
Abyssal Slitherfang – A black Slitherfang nearly impossible to see in the depths
Whirlpool Hornet – Small machines that swarm in tornado-like swarms

I envision these machines boasting specialized attacks and behaviors to compensate for combat being underwater:

• Sonic projection abilities hampering movement
• Harpoon cables to reel Aloy into melee range
• Countermeasures against piercing ammunition

Battling challenging new machines like these amidst the tranquility of the deep seas could make for intense, almost surreal encounters. The risk of drowning would add stakes unlike any battle on land.

While merely speculation for now, I believe these types of formidable aquatic foes feel like a natural evolution based on Horizon‘s history of escalating threats. And our heroine has defied the odds against far mightier machines on her courageous journey already.

Final Thoughts

While no underwater combat exists in Forbidden West, Guerrilla‘s eye for innovation provides hope that we could be reloading harpoon guns against robotic leviathans in Horizon‘s next chapter. And based on Aloy‘s proven resilience against overwhelming odds, she will undoubtedly rise to meet these new apex machines of the abyss when that day comes.

For now, fans can enjoy the alien beauty and marvels awaiting beneath the tides – with a heightened sense of wonder knowing that those serene depths may soon harbor fierce new tests for our Nora huntress. Just make sure to come up for air occasionally!