Horizon Forbidden West Surpasses Its Predecessor to Become the Pinnacle of the Series

As an avid fan who has played both Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West to completion, including all side content, I can confidently say that Forbidden West stands tall as the new apex of Guerrilla Games‘ post-apocalyptic open world saga.

Zero Dawn will always hold a special place for kickstarting the series and introducing fans to Aloy‘s world overrun by animalistic machines. But Forbidden West elevates almost every aspect to new heights with its cutting-edge technical prowess and refined gameplay systems.

While Aloy‘s origin story in Zero Dawn made for a stronger centralized narrative, Forbidden West offers a grander adventure across a sprawling map dotted with bespoke biomes. Let‘s dive deeper into the key comparisons:

A Vast Open World That Dwarfs Predecessors

Forbidden West‘s rendition of post-apocalyptic America covers a staggering amount of ground, making the Zero Dawn map look inconsequential:

Set across Utah and California, theForbidden West seamlessly mixes lush jungles, arid deserts, snowcapped mountains and everything in between. Guerilla‘s proprietary Decima engine renders these landscapes with an astonishing level of detail – from swaying foliage to weather systems and diverse wildlife.

Navigating the world has been streamlined too. New traversal tools like the Pullcaster grappling hook and Shieldwing glider open up verticality. Fast travel between settlements eliminates tedious backtracking across a map that can take over an hour to cross.

Dotted throughout the environment are Bandit Camps to raid, Rebel Outposts to liberate, and a slew of side activities including hunting grounds, melee pits and salvage contracts. There are around 6-8 major tribes to encounter, each with their own storyline threads and dozens of side quests on offer.

Suffice to say, exploration is significantly more rewarding compared to Zero Dawn‘s sparser content.

Refined Combat With Unrivalled Mechanical Variety

While Aloy has access to a trusty spear and standard bow in Zero Dawn, Forbidden West introduces two new weapon classes into the mix – the Warrior Bow for high damage power shots and the Shield Forge for close quarters defense and bashing.

These additions lend a tactical edge, requiring on-the-fly adaptations depending on enemy distance and attack patterns. But whether you favor stealth, ranged assaults or brazen force, Forbidden West enables diverse playstyle expression:

Horizon‘s signature draw remains battling towering mechanical beasts that resemble prehistoric creatures like T-Rexes and Mammoths. Forbidden West introduces three new machine types and variants while preserving classics like Chargers, Striders and Thunderjaws.

The simulation behavior that governs these metallic animals has grown exponentially smarter. They are far more reactive to player actions, working collaboratively in packs, calling for backup when alerted, and retreating when overwhelmed. Robotic fauna also interact with their environment dynamically – such as machine birds gathering trees for nesting.

All of these refinements combined make Forbidden West home to some of the most visceral and clever combat encounters found in modern open world games.

Jaw-Dropping Graphics Powered By Decima

Launching early into the PS5‘s lifecycle, Guerilla‘s proprietary Decima engine has been pushed to its limits from a graphical standpoint. Postcard-worthy vistas are drenched in volumetric light rays with lavishly detailed foliage and weather effects. Horizon Forbidden West sets a new visual benchmark.

A Loy herself sees a generational leap in modeling and animation – from the minute microexpressions on her face to her flowing red hair that reacts individually. Almost all moving elements employ complex motion matching for unprecedented fluidity.

While Zero Dawn was no slouch, Forbidden West‘s materials, shadows, water simulation etc. operate on another level that borders photorealism in places, especially running at targeted 4K/60FPS on PS5 hardware. Ray tracing support takes lighting and reflections to further heights.

All things considered, Horizon Forbidden West stands tall as one of the most visually spectacular and technically advanced open world games made to date – harnessing next-gen power to realize a dystopian land overflowing with beauty.

A side by side showing the increased detail density that Forbidden West delivers

Roleplaying And Progression Systems Expand

While the core gameplay loop involves exploration and combat, Horizon also employs familiar RPG mechanics that allow players to unlock skills and upgrade weapons/armor. Naturally, Forbidden West adds more depth:

• 6 Skill Trees: ranged, melee, stealth, survival, machine mastery, valor surges
• 50+ Skills/Abilities to unlock including Concentration, Braced Shot, Critical Boost etc.
• 40+ Unique Outfits with slots for weaves that confer buffs
• Melee Pits offer special prizes for defeating waves of human/machine opponents
• Workbenches everywhere to improve weapons/armor

Combined with the massively increased world size and activity density described earlier, Forbidden West encourages gradual mastery while offering plenty of meaningful upgrades to acquire outside main story beats.

So whether perfecting weapon techniques or gathering top tier outfits, Forbidden West allows more customization freedom.

But Zero Dawn Tells A Tighter, More Focused Story

That said, if there is one area where Horizon Zero Dawn retains an advantage it would be the centralized story experience. Mysteries behind the FARO plague, GAIA, Sylens and uncovering Aloy‘s purpose as the clone of Dr. Elisabet Sobeck made for an intensely compelling arc.

Meeting the different AIs like CYAN along the journey built intrigue as layers were slowly peeled back across a 25 hour runtime. All the narrative revelations intertwined with themes of tribal division and the blurred line between man and machine.

By contrast, Forbidden West struggles to reach the same heights in its second act after an extremely strong start. The stakes with Regalla‘s rebellion simmer rather than boil as the focus shifts to rebuilding GAIA. New characters like Kotallo and Alva are great, but Sylens is sorely missed until the endgame. There are still incredible moments (the San Francisco ruin dive!) but the pacing has dips.

This isn’t to say Forbidden West tells a bad tale – Aloy remains one of gaming‘s most sympathetic leads. However, Zero Dawn‘s air of mystery and themes of existential purpose are tough to top. Both games still represent AAA storytelling near the top of the industry.

While Forbidden West wins out as the more fully-featured title with enhanced world design, combat systems and cutting-edge next-gen visuals – Zero Dawn offers a slightly tighter 30 hour narrative experience that started it all.

My recommendation? Play both games in order if possible to fully appreciate the evolution Guerrilla‘s post-apocalyptic wonderland has undertaken!

This analysis is based on completing Zero Dawn twice (on PS4/PS5) including Frozen Wilds DLC and putting over 150 hours into Forbidden West on a mix of Performance/Resolution modes targeting 60FPS.