Work on Horizon: Forbidden West on the Final Stretch; PS5 Will Offer 60fps
According to game director Mathijs de Jonge, Horizon: Forbidden West is in its final stages of development. The title will offer a choice between performance and visual quality.
The gameplay footage from Horizon: Forbidden West, shown on May 27, fueled the expectations of fans of Aloy's adventures. The only slight disappointment was the lack of any mention of the title's release date. In November last year Sony assured that the sequel to Horizon: Zero Dawn will debut in the second half of 2021, but the lack of any confirmation of this information at the latest State of Play could have caused a slight anxiety among players. Game director Mathijs de Jonge, however, has poured some hope into our hearts.
The developer from Guerrilla Games gave an interview to Hardware Zone, in which he was asked, about Forbidden West's current stage of development. Here's his answer:
"We have just successfully completed our beta milestone, which is pretty far along. We're now in the final stages of development. So we are polishing the game and fixing bugs. We are also wrapping up certain aspects of the game, like some of the machines being behind schedule - because it takes an enormous amount of time to build them. We're working on the final cinematic. So, we're really wrapping up. There's still a lot to do with a game of this size and magnitude, but we're in the final stages."
The game's release around winter Holidays seems quite likely, although PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst has been reluctant to provide any details recently. Mathijs de Jonge mentioned the beta phase, which usually means testing and polishing of the production.
The game's director also admitted in the aforementioned interview that Horizon: Forbidden West on PlayStation 5 will offer a choice between 4K resolution at 30fps - the same settings we saw the game at State of Play - or 60fps (no word yet about the resolution). However, the developer has denied that developing the game for two console generations (PS4 and PS5) in any way limits the creators. There will, of course, be some differences - de Jonge seems particularly excited about the detailed visuals made possible by the power of the PlayStation 5, citing strands of moss as an example (seen in the gameplay unveiled in May), each rendered separately.
We also learned a little about the gameplay in Forbidden West. During State of Play we've already seen that we'll be able to climb pretty much anything, and the whole process will be somewhat automated. In general, exploration will play an even more important role in the second game than it did in the first - the world will be bigger, and every step will have a mystery waiting to be discovered. Both on and below the surface, because the new Horizon will give us plenty of underwater towns to explore, and even "specific scenarios, tasks and activities that will force us to go underwater to uncover secrets or help certain people" (via Hardware Zone). De Jonge has also suggested that the world of Forbidden West will be partially explored by flying.
Despite the lack of a solid release date, it looks like the chances for this year's release of Horizon: Forbidden West are quite good - in contrast to the sequel to God of War, whose debut was officially delayed to 2022. As you may remember, the title will be released exclusively on PS4 and PS5... at least initially. The latest news from the Sony camp suggests that, as in the case of the first part, the sequel may also be released on PC over time.
