Horizon Zero Dawnand its sequelHorizon Forbidden Westintroduce players to their post-apocalyptic world in a roundabout way, discovering the Earth’s past along with main character Aloy. InHorizon Zero Dawn, the Earth’s rich history and the fall of civilizationis revealed piece by piece through fragments of memories and broken audio logs.
Horizon Forbidden Westthen expands on the foundation established byZero Dawn. As Aloy makes her journey further from home, she discovers diverse new tribes settled upon the ruins of the American west.Forbidden Westdoes heavy lifting to let players know that the world is bigger thanZero Dawnever made it seem. WhileHorizon Zero Dawndisplays a zoomed-in view of civilizations that formed around cradle ELEUTHIA-9 - the Nora, the Carja, the Oseram, and others -Horizon Forbidden Westmakes the players aware of the living and breathing world beyond either game’s play space. There’s a lot to be explored in the future, and some of it may extend beyond the United States.
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What Lies Beyond the Horizon
Horizon Forbidden West’s biggest hintabout what lies beyond the continental United States is its missions with the Quen. The Quen that Aloy meets are a small group who have come from across the Pacific Ocean and landed in the ruins of San Francisco. This is the first and only group of people in theHorizonseries that have not originated from the United States. The game shares little about the exact origins of the Quen, but it can be assumed that they hail from a civilization that formed around a different cradle than ELEUTHIA-9.
Seeing how they traveled across the Pacific Ocean to reach San Francisco, it makes sense to assume the Quen come from some part of Asia or the Pacific Islands.Horizon Zero Dawnshows that the ELEUTHIA-1cradle was located in northwest China. However, much of the Quen weaponry and infrastructure resembles Polynesian culture, so this could point to their particular place of origin.
It remains possible that the thirdHorizongame could send Aloy across the Pacific Ocean to explore the Quen homeland. If the tactic Guerilla took withForbidden Westis any indication ofthe trajectory it will go on forHorizon 3, it’s likely the next game will feature entirely new tribes and cultures. The cradles shown on a hologram map inHorizon Zero Dawncould indicate where the story takes Aloy and her friends next.
In the game’s universe, the construction of cradles was a race against time, with the Project Zero Dawn team struggling to complete them as the Faro Swarm closed in. It’s safe to assume that not every cradle planned out actually became operational. Themap Elisabet Sobeck examines in the hologram flashbackshows ELEUTHIA-2 inside Mount Namuli in Mozambique, making it plausible Aloy could travel to Africa in a future installment. No other cradle locations are given throughout the story so far, but since the Nora cradle is labeled as number 9, the Earth should have at least six other cradles in unknown locations.
Should futureHorizongames take Aloy outside the United States, Guerilla will face a challenge. Much of the history and contextual storytelling of the first two games came from Project Zero Dawn being based in the US, with both Elisabet Sobeck and Ted Faro being American. Aloy learns much of the history of the world through sites like the Project Zero Dawn Facility in the first game. Taking Aloy away from the United States risks removing these glimpses of Project Zero Dawn and the drama that surrounded its formation. Regardless, it is likely thatHorizon 3will take Aloy and playersto new locales, fighting new machines and meeting new people. Where exactly that may be will remain a mystery for now.
Horizon Forbidden Westis available now for PS4 and PS5.
