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The Crew 2 Multi-Discipline Motorsport Across The United States

Arcade Racing

Title: The Crew 2
Type of Game: Arcade Racing
Developer: Ivory Tower
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: June 29, 2018
Platforms Available: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC Game
Platform Reviewed: PlayStation 4
Level of Maturity: T (Teen)
Reading Time: 8 minutes

While the first installment in the 2015 racing series The Crew aimed to be a racing MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), the second installment, three years later, expands the possibilities of the huge world to include boats, planes, and a variety of disciplines. Once again, we’re driving around a smaller version of the United States, but all the big cities and most famous landmarks are on display, such as the Statue of Liberty and the Mount Rushmore monument with presidents carved into the rock. Although the developers haven’t admitted it, The Crew 2 is essentially a reboot of the original game.

And while everything didn’t turn out perfectly, it’s better in every way. While I wasn’t able to get into the first game, I played roughly forty hours in the second game for the platinum trophy, and I didn’t even use half of the game’s content. The game struck me from the start as somewhat related to the top-tier Forza Horizon series. Both games share an open game world and freedom, but here it’s a cheaper and lighter version. Forza Horizon can be described as a simcade, and as a result, strikes me as more of a “celebration of motoring” than the proclaimed tagline of The Crew 2.

Arcade Bliss: Playfulness at its Core

The Crew 2, on the other hand, is an arcade to the core, with not only a number of disciplines but also plenty of challenges such as slalom, escape, and traversing a speed trap at top speed, as well as my very favorite drifts, which I simply fell in love with. You can then instantly see how you are doing compared to players from all over the world. The Crew 2 is more playful in this regard, whether it’s just for fun randomly around the map or in the various ranked activities. Another strong point is the powerful photo mode, where you can view and edit the last few minutes. There are really a lot of options, from changing weather, time, and filters to exposure, transport, and more.

Diverse Disciplines and Endless Customization

All the activities in the game are hidden into four main Hubs: Street Racing, Offroad, Freestyle, and Pro Racing. There’s classic street racing, motocross, rallying, aerobatics, boat racing, formula racing, and monster trucks. Of course, not everything is accessible at the start; you unlock new disciplines and additional challenges as you play. The game’s storyline is quite modest and it’s all about you as a driver who gradually becomes a star, this aspect of the game is spiced up by gaining followers on social media. Not to worry though, it’s a completely traditional experience points, just named differently.

Followers are gained not only after completing a race, but also when performing various tricks, jumps, and other stunts while moving freely in the game world. Once you reach the Icon level, the entire game opens up before you, including advanced car customization options such as traction, ABS, brake balancing… if anyone was looking for something like that here. As far as car brands go, there really are a lot of options to choose from, and along with a decent engine and car sound system overall, there’s not too much to complain about.

A Jack of All Trades: The Game’s Strength and Weakness

Ironically, the broad scope of the game can also be seen as a barrier. While there are motorbikes and aerobatics in planes, if you’re only interested in street racing, for example, The Crew 2 isn’t for you. There’s a bit of everything in the game, but the discipline in question doesn’t logically stand in for a full game in that category. Of course, not all of the disciplines suited me 100% either, but I enjoyed most of them, so the progression through the game was smooth. So nothing will happen if you ignore two or three disciplines completely. I mostly enjoy the aforementioned drifting discipline or the regular bike races and off-road in the vast countryside, which includes adrenaline rushes through checkpoints, racing on and off the motocross track, and, relatively speaking, rallying.

Immersive Exploration: A Seamless Open World

Omitting the opening long loading (played on PS4), in free mode you can drive across the entire United States without a loading screen. Meanwhile, you can zoom in and out of the entire map smoothly, Google Maps style, which looks incredibly cool. The smaller villages and countryside look great, the cities feel a bit sterile and bland at times, but it’s enough for adrenaline rushes. The map also comes in handy when completing photo challenges. If you’re in the location of a landmark, near an animal or other points of interest, the game will offer you the chance to complete a challenge. Simply switch to photo mode, meet the conditions (for example, jump on a motorbike with a view of the moon), and press the camera shutter.

Smart Navigation and Customization

However, you can complete challenges in a targeted manner, which is what the great map is for. By the way, you don’t just have to find activities on the map. You can easily view all of them together through bookmarks directly from the menu and launch them right away. Or rather, the game will take you from the menu to the start of the event. You can then admire and, more importantly, modify your car fleet from your headquarters in Miami. Completing activities earns you random pieces of equipment, which you use to gradually upgrade your car fleet. For cars, this includes top speed, engine power, braking distance, etc. The new parts are triple quality. The moment you have sufficiently upgraded your car, you can start performing activities at a higher difficulty.

Growing Prestige: From Beginner to Icon

When you reach the Icon level, you also gain points to invest in various areas, such as replenishing your nitro faster or increasing your chances of getting better gear. The in-game economy is set up quite reasonably. While there is dual currency, it’s optional as with Forza Horizon 3, the game certainly didn’t push me into anything. I would also have welcomed more types of AI opponent behavior, which is currently set up in such a way that in normal races your opponents are constantly on your back and it’s relatively difficult to outrun them in the lower car classes. This wasn’t a problem in the supersport though. My last small complaint concerns inconsistent collisions: for some objects, the game is benevolent, for others, it stops you almost immediately. This mainly concerns cities, in the countryside I find the physics set up well.

Verdict: An Entertaining Mixed Bag

The Crew 2 is an arcade game to the very depths of the soul, allowing you to have pure fun in the open world in a lot of disciplines. While it presents itself as an online game, I enjoyed it solo with the occasional live player I met in the open world. There was certainly no compulsion for me to play co-op. It’s not a perfect game, but it has its charms. And despite my general distaste for Ubisoft titles, I had a lot of fun, and the game especially with its variety of content and freedom on a large and nicely crafted map won me over.

Where to Buy The Crew 2

Steam (PC): The standard edition is available for $49.99, as well as the special edition, priced at $59.99.
STEAM SPECIAL PROMOTION!: Buy The Crew 2 Special Edition 80% off for 11,99€ offer ends 4 August
Xbox Store (Xbox One): The standard edition is available for $49.99, as well as the special edition, priced at $59.99.
PlayStation Store (PS4): The standard edition is available for $49.99, as well as the special edition, priced at $59.99.
Epic Games Store (PC): Special edition available for $59.99. Purchase it from the Epic Games Store.

Official Page: Visit the official The Crew 2 page for more information.
Subreddit: Join the discussion on the The Crew 2 Subreddit.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – A Nostalgic Battlefield Revisited

First Person Shooter (FPS)

Petko

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Feature Picture

Title: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Type of Game: First-Person Shooter (FPS)
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Released: November 13, 2020
Platforms Available: PlayStation 4, Xbox, PC Game
Platform Reviewed: PlayStation 4
Level of Maturity: Mature (M)
Reading Time: 10 minutes

Let’s be clear from the start: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the 2020 installment of the famous FPS series, is derivative. It’s an amalgamation of something we’ve already seen, both in story campaigns and multiplayer. Except that, while the campaign fundamentally suffers from this, the multiplayer game can effectively entertain anyone who’s comfortable with an M-16 assault rifle in their hand.

A Campaign Lost in Time

The campaign doesn’t work for a simple reason: It tries too hard to emulate the solid story of the original Call of Duty: Black Ops, but it doesn’t have the script, the characters, the graphics, the sets, the length, or the ideas to do so. All it has is a Cold War setting and a pretty interesting ending, which is by no means enough for a positive rating.

Once again, there’s conspiracy upon a conspiracy, double agents threatening to blow up all of Europe, you’re shooting Islamists in Amsterdam, Russian agents in Miami, and a bunch of other people in a bunch of other illogical places. And of course, the Soviets and Americans are trying to brainwash each other’s enemy spies with strange methods and implant false memories. You were guided through the original Black Ops by the brilliant Reznov and the charismatic, if wild, Mason. Here, the protagonist is mute and Russell Adler, your direct superior agent, is so overly gruff, American, and boring that he comes across as a parody of himself.

Unmemorable Moments

In the original Black Ops, you went through memorable scenes – the Vorkuta uprising, the attack on the chemical weapons factory, the massacre of the poor Soviets after World War II, all moments that have stayed with players for over a decade. Cold War has literally not one such moment. Probably the closest thing to it is the infiltration of the KGB headquarters in Lubyanka, where an oppressively overly suspicious atmosphere reigns at times, but again, it’s just a cheap copy of the far better sequence that was spying on the Germans in Paris in Call of Duty: WWII. For the rest of the time, the game tries to wow you with breathtaking events, like a plane blowing up next to you. Or a helicopter, a car, or a rocket-propelled grenade.

Explosions Galore

Explosions are such an intimate part of everyday reality for members of the CIA that Adler and the others would feel uncomfortable if they didn’t mix a live hand grenade into their müsli every morning. Moreover, the campaign is unusually short, a few missions and it’s over. The authors “cleverly” try to stretch out the game time with two side missions, for which you have to solve puzzles to complete correctly, and clues to these puzzles are scattered throughout the other missions. So you might happen to shoot some Russians somewhere, return to base, and find that you’ve missed a tape recorder or diary. And you can restart the mission if you want the best possible ending to the story.

Yes, there are two possible endings here, which deserve cautious praise. The story choices through dialogue usually don’t have much effect and, all in all, feel quite redundant, but the last one, the crucial one, radically affects the shape of the final mission and the tone of the whole narrative. Exceptionally, when the Cold War doesn’t exactly give away all of its ancestors, it can obviously deliver (the only) really nice novelty.

Multiplayer Mayhem

The multiplayer also tries firing some new bullets, but they aim pretty far off target. The old, time-tested bullets, on the other hand, hit with deadly accuracy. It’s a fast, snappy arcade game where you kill quickly, get killed quickly, and respawn quickly, but you don’t have to worry about any complex tactics, and you get a nice play with some great 80s weapons. The strength of Cold War’s multiplayer lies in Team Deathmatch, in Domination, in other modes where you don’t wait for respawn and just get swept up in the frantic rhythm of continuous combat. You grab a good old M-16, sigh at how much fun it is to shoot bursts instead of full-auto for once, switch to a pump shotgun, clear an entire corridor of enemies with two shots, and finally send a napalm strike on their spawn.

Map Madness

Conversely, I’m not too fond of Search and Destroy or the new VIP Escort mode, where you protect one member of your team, suddenly armed only with a pistol and chased by an aggressive opponent. While it’s possible to pick up fallen teammates, the opponent usually executes the wounded immediately, resulting in a long wait for the next round, which is difficult to accept in a game like Cold War, which I prefer to offer a constant stream of unpretentious fun instead of a Counter-Strike-style tactical experience.

The most controversial part of multiplayer is the maps. They suffer from the same problem as the campaign missions: there are really, really few of them, and pretty soon you’ll see all the environments a multiplayer game has to offer. But there’s one saving grace: the maps are really hilarious. Whether you’re fighting indoors or outdoors, there are plenty of ways to surprise your opponent, flank or backstab them, or trade a running tactic for a risky defensive one.

Around the World in Warzones

What’s more, the developers have taken full advantage of the Cold War setting. This time a global rather than a localized conflict, and will take you through the whole world. You’ll be spreading democracy/destroying imperialism in South America, in a German warehouse, in Miami at night, in Moscow, and in the desert – and everywhere you go, you’ll be driven forward not only by patriotic duty but also by the pleasure of virtual tourism. This is despite the fact that the game is objectively uglier than the year-earlier Modern Warfare 2019 reboot, which, to be fair, looked genuinely excellent. Cold War uses an older engine, though, and the developers behind the game are Treyarch, so definitely don’t expect any gorgeousness. The facial animations of the characters in the campaign appear extremely outdated.

On the other hand, the developers have managed, especially in multiplayer, to make something surprisingly “big” out of something relatively little, and the result is a pretty decent visual experience. The campaign can’t sell it, however, not least because the otherwise impressive moments are shot in the back by a silly script, but the simple fact that the 80s are cool comes out in full force in multiplayer. There’s something oddly comforting about shooting KGB boys in Afghanistan, especially compared to last year’s installment where one had to defend (even in multiplayer) the heart of contemporary London from terrorists.

Recap and Final Thoughts

Let’s recap Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. You can drown a few hours with the story-driven campaign; it’s stupidly entertaining at times, but at the same time, you shake your head and wonder who those unsympathetic individuals running around on the screen are. The multiplayer is a bit like Survivor (you’ll know it from TV). It’s not exactly nourishing “food” for the soul and brain either; it can be the same, but at least there’s always something going on, and you’re in beautiful foreign locations watching capable people who often make you think about yourself, specifically how you could be better.

Undead and Unimpressive

Now zombies, the third mode I haven’t mentioned here yet? Well… zombies are like a half-century-old movie that we’ve seen 30 times because, in one form or another, we’ve seen it a thousand times. You just pick up a few friends, kill a horde of brain-eaters, block the windows with a few planks, and somehow try to survive until the end credits.

And that, dear readers, is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War…won’t offend you, never impress you. It’s a competent shooter with good multiplayer and a foolish forgettable campaign. In short, it’s a significantly worse game than Modern Warfare a year earlier. In the end, though, I find enough reasons to cautiously recommend the game to fans of the series, mainly due to the fact that it’s an extremely packed content package. You run through the story to feast your eyes on Reagan and Gorbachev, enjoy a meat grinder in multiplayer, and then kill some undead with your buddies. You’ll also be able to use your elaborate load-outs in the Warzone battle royal that the Cold War is linked to.

Conclusion

The new Call of Duty campaign is incredibly dull, but the multiplayer doesn’t try to contrive anything and cheerfully benefits from its attractive Cold War setting. Along with zombies and battle royale Warzone integration, it makes for a great serving of militaristic fun that doesn’t offend.

Where to Buy Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Steam (PC): Available for $59.99. You can purchase it directly from Steam.
Xbox Store (Xbox One): Available for $59.99. Check it out on the Xbox Store.
PlayStation Store: Available for $59.99. You can find it on the PlayStation Store.
Official Page: Visit the official Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War page for more information.
Subreddit: Join the discussion on the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Subreddit.

Our Tribute to Lance Reddick: Beloved Character Of Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West

Goodbye Lance

Petko

30 July, 2024

The latest update from Guerrilla Games added a touching tribute to the late actor Lance Reddick to the Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores add-on recently. With the new addition, players can remember the actor who passed away over a year ago through Sylense, who has been a key character since the release of the first Horizon in 2017 and the 2022 sequel Forbidden West.

Honoring Lance Reddick: A Tribute in Burning Shores DLC

The notes for the approximately 1GB update (version 1.26), which includes the tribute, primarily focused on fixes and improvements. However, we quickly noticed the addition of a memorial. If you want to see it, just do this:

Assuming you already have the Burning Shores DLC installed, enter the island where the entire DLC begins (the place where Aloy first meets Seyka). Next, walk to the flower-filled clearing you’ll find laid out high above the local beach, and once you get there, the process is simple. Blue lights will begin to emanate from the floor with no more activity as you approach the memorial, which will coalesce above ground into a holographic name of the actor to whom the developers paid tribute when they announced his death.

Lance Reddick's Monument Location in HFW Burning Shores DLC — Lance Reddick’s Monument Location in HFW Burning Shores DLC

The Life and Career of Lance Reddick: A Gamer’s Tribute

Just as a point of reference, we learned about Reddick’s death in March last year, when the actor died suddenly at the age of 60. The originally trained musician leaves behind his wife Stephanie, daughter Nicole, and son Christopher. Known best for his role as Cedric Daniels on The Wire, the American actor also shone as Commander Zavala from the Destiny series and as Sylens from our beloved Horizon series. However, he was also a devoted gamer himself, as the last moments of his life show – the day before he died, it was the second Destiny that he devoted over 2,800 hours to, along with the first, and he was reportedly only one mission short of completing Lightfall.

Lance Reddick, who just portrayed Commander Zavala, already had a rich cast within video games that goes far beyond Destiny. He’s appeared in older titles like 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, Payday 2, Quantum Break, and John Wick Hex, among others, but most notably for us, the Horizon series. Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West.

Lance Reddick as Sylens from Horizon Zero Dawn & Horizon Forbidden West

Reddick’s Lasting Legacy in Horizon Forbidden West

As a Zavala character, however, he had the most iconic status. He was in charge of all Guardian military operations for the entire nine years of Destiny’s existence, leading them in campaigns such as the Taken War, the Red War, and the various expansions. Therefore, since the first rumors of the actor’s death surfaced, there has been a loud reaction, especially from the Destiny community. Players have paid tribute to the Commander’s character by standing at attention with him or spending time kneeling with him to honor his memory.

How Guerrilla Games Pays Homage to Lance Reddick

In addition to the studios themselves, such as Guerrilla Games (Killzone or Horizon series), some actors or faces of the video game profession also brought their own statements. Examples include Ashly Burch (the actress Alloy), Shawn Ashmore (who plays the hero of Quantum Break), and voice actor Nolan North (Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series) Furthermore, there were of course also tributes from the developers of Querilla Games who worked with Lance on the excellent games Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West which we at Weplaygames.net consider to be gems of the gaming industry.

Weplaygames Youtube: Horizon Forbidden West: Sylens – Lance Reddick Tribute Farewell Rest in Peace

With this article, we wanted to go back in time and remember this great actor with an absolutely fantastic voice who really hit us right in the gamer’s heart, especially through our beloved Horizon series around which I recently did several reviews, including the DLC for the second part of Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores where the monument to Lance Reddick is located. And most importantly to pay our own tribute to this man who will be sorely missed in the video game industry.

Need for Speed: Heat – Chases In The Heat Of The Night

Arcade Racing

Petko

Title: Need for Speed: Heat
Type of Game: Arcade Racing
Developer: Ghost Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Released: November 8, 2019
Platforms Available: PlayStation, Xbox, Pc Game
Platform Reviewed: PlayStation 5
Level of Maturity: T for Teen
Reading Time: Approx. 9 minutes

Reviving the Series with a New Twist

Nothing special has ever been expected from a new Need for Speed game in recent years. Heat, however, is a surprisingly interesting title that unfortunately suffers from the same old problems. The Need for Speed brand has not been in good shape in recent years. Not even a controversially received reboot in 2015, which saw the return of tuning and street racing, could save the series. Two years later, the bad situation was exacerbated by the microtransaction-filled if otherwise quite acceptable Payback. No wonder no one was jumping in the air with joy after the announcement of Heat. Moreover, the previews before the release didn’t look very convincing. However, the result is not bad at all. But there are a number of big “BUTs”.

A Nod to the Franchise’s Legacy

In 2019 franchise celebrated 25 years since the release of the first installment when NFS: Heat was released. Forget about returning to the brand’s roots for this addition, though. The developers at Ghost Games are continuing in the same vein, once again targeting fans of Underground, Most Wanted and Carbon in particular. The main role is played by tuning, street racing, and chases with the police.

Tuning and Upgrades: A Double-Edged Sword

The upgrade options for individual cars are again robust and are undoubtedly one of the game’s plus points. In addition to the visual modifications, there is no shortage of performance ones, which were ruined by the lootbox system in the aforementioned Payback, for which EA deservedly received criticism. Thankfully, there are no lootboxes in Heat, so you won’t feel like you’re playing a free-to-play title anymore.

As for cars, the game offers a total of 127 models and 33 different brands, which is a decent shift from Payback, which “only” had 74 different cars. For example, a large group of Ferrari cars returns after some time. With these cars, Need for Speed Heat takes you to the fictional city of Palm City, which is inspired by Miami. To my disappointment, the developers have failed to bring the vibrancy and diversity of the big city into the game here. Traffic on the roads is sparse and the city as a whole feels very generic. In this respect, NFS has missed the time and the developers need to do something about this problem in the future.

The Visual Dichotomy: Day vs. Night

So the environment doesn’t look amazing, but at least it can be destroyed decently. The destruction of the landscape is significantly more extensive than before. The car easily destroys smaller trees, street lighting, fences, or other similar objects. A close-up view of falling palm trees to the ground might make you think it doesn’t look pretty, but in the frantic pace of racing, the destructibility of the environment is justified.

You’ll suffer most from the dead environment during the day. That’s also when the graphics don’t excel. The developers were obviously aware of this, so they tried to cover up the weaker textures and details with almost permanent rain outside. However, the potential of the Frostbite engine only really comes into its own at night, when the combination of lighting, raindrops, glare, and neon creates a nice atmospheric mix that’s very pretty to look at. The optimization deserves better care. This is because more tense scenes sometimes result in more pronounced frame drops and occasional game crashes.

Need for Speed Heat Off Road race stunts — Need for Speed Heat Off-Road Race Stunts

Dynamic Day-Night Cycle

The method of alternating day and night also plays an important role and is one of the main innovations of Heat. While during the day you’re racing legally on fixed tracks (but still on regular roads), at night you become an illegal street racer, driving through the streets of the city and its surrounding area in full traffic. What’s great is that you can easily switch the time of day almost any time you want as well. The game doesn’t push you into doing one type of race or another unnecessarily, which again is a nice change from earlier installments.

High-Stakes Police Pursuits

As always, the police play a very important role. During the day, you can run at the speed of sound around town and the police don’t care. At night, however, they’re after you whether you’re currently breaking the rules or not. The game’s economy is built on the regular alternation of day and night races. During the day, you win money with which you buy new cars and visual or performance upgrades.

At night, on the other hand, you collect respect points, which unlock cars and upgrades and allow you to progress through the story. After winning a regular day race, the money is added to your account and you never lose it again. At night, however, it’s not enough to finish first. Since fast travel is limited at this time, you also have to get rid of the police, who often join the race as well. If caught, you lose most of the earned respect points, which adds a certain sense of tension to the game.

Need for Speed Heat Chevrolet Corvette on Highway

Versatile Racing Experiences

In addition to the fun on closed tracks or between designated points, there are also the traditional drifts and rough off-road racing known as Payback. However, you’d be hard-pressed to find sprints. For different types of racing, it’s a good idea to play around with the car setup. Drivability or drifting can be largely adjusted simply by playing the game or buying the right parts from the garage.

The absolutely awful performance upgrade method from the last game has thankfully been abandoned by the developers. On the other hand, you have to expect a weak story with characters again. As expected, it revolves around the duel between racers and police officers. It’s a kind of classic filler between races, from which you’d better not expect anything. For the first time ever, you can choose and subsequently customize your own character. In a racing game, however, it’s understandably not a big deal.

Need for Speed Heat Chevrolet Corvette night drifts

The AI Conundrum

I would have much rather welcomed the better intelligence of the other racers. They, unlike the police, look quite foolish and sometimes illogically slow down or speed up. Their variability isn’t helped by a mere three difficulty levels. Need for Speed loses in this aspect too. I would also have welcomed a more varied soundtrack, the composition of which seems to me to be quite similar to the last few episodes without major changes. On the other hand, traditionally the soundscape is saved from my point of view by very solid car sounds.

Need-for-Speed-Heat Chevrolet Camaro at the gas station

Multiplayer and Final Thoughts

Traditionally, Need for Speed doesn’t lack an online part either. In multiplayer, there can be up to sixteen drivers on the map. Unless you have a group of friends to ride the world with together, there’s not much point in going into multiplayer without them. You can also play completely offline. Need for Speed Heat doesn’t bring any revolution. Only two years after the previous Playback, it wasn’t even to be expected. However, despite the limited time, the developers have managed to fix a few major issues that dragged the previous games down.

Need for Speed Heat Busted by the police at night

Final Drive

NFS is still a fun arcade game years later, with detailed tuning, aggressive police, and a fun driving model. Plus, unlike the last few installments, it doesn’t annoy you with unnecessary stuff and provides surprising freedom. However, the developers have fallen asleep on the spot in some areas, which is especially evident when looking at the world and story treatment.

Where To Buy Need For Speed: Heat

Steam (PC): Delux edition available for $69.99. You can purchase it directly from Steam.
Xbox Store (Xbox One): Available for $59.99. Check it out on the Xbox Store.
PlayStation Store (PS5): Available for $59.99. You can find it on the PlayStation Store.
Epic Games Store (PC): Delux Edition available for $69.99. Purchase it from the Epic Games Store.

Official Page: Visit the official Need for Speed: Heat page for more information.
Subreddit: Join the discussion on the Need for Speed Subreddit.

Hollywood Haze of Horizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shores

Open World Adventurer

Petko

Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores Hollywood (Los Angeles) now known as Burning Shores

Title: Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores
Type of Game: Action RPG
Developer: Guerrilla Games
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Released: April 19, 2023
Platforms Available: PlayStation 5, PC Game
Platform Reviewed: PlayStation 5
Level of Maturity: Teen (T)
Reading Time: 7 minutes

Exclusive Shores Await

I finally got a chance to play this great DLC Burning Shores and immerse myself again in this beautiful, vibrant, and original world. Let’s mention right from the start that Burning Shores came to the digital market with one critical condition. The developers this time, and somewhat surprisingly to me, completely ignored owners of the PS4 version of the game which is also why I played the main game on my old PS4 six months after release, but the DLC only two years later. So Burning Shores will only be played by PS5 owners. And that’s if they’ve already played Horizon Forbidden West. Only then will the opportunity to visit a new and once again attractive world, set in the former Los Angeles area, become available.

A Ruined City’s New Life

Apart from the iconic Hollywood sign on a raised hill, the city blends in with the post-apocalyptic vision of the game’s previous locations. This is not to say that a trip to this destination isn’t interesting enough. The environments are varied, and while island elements predominate, surrounded by shallow lagoons with sandy bottoms or deep sea trenches, there’s also a dense jungle growing through the local ruins. Burning Shores is then reminiscent of the occasional lava areas, where the local Caudron is aptly placed, allowing you to unlock control of one of the two newly introduced common machines.

WePlayGames.net YouTube channel Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores start of Aloy’s journey

Audiovisual Splendor

The excellent audiovisual design may be one of the draws of this expansion, which, depending on personal preference, can take you around 7-8 hours to complete. Now, I’m referring to the decision of whether to stick strictly to the main storyline or to enliven your gameplay with some of the additional activities offered by the developers. True, there aren’t many of them. But there’s still a fairly large gameplay area to explore, where even through traditional collecting efforts you can learn more about the universe’s past, which doubles the total time to finish the game!

Seyka and the Story’s Depth

Important note. Once again, you are not alone in your problems. Aloy is joined right from the start by Seyka, a member of the Quen Tribe, around whom almost everything revolves. The story is very well told. I appreciate the unraveling of the main antagonist’s actions and his characterization, which was again of a high standard.

Closely related to this is the incredibly spectacular finale and again the incredible music, which here (especially at the end) took the experience to another level and you could feel from the soundtrack that Aloy is fighting a desperate war for survival of the people she cares about and for planet Earth as a whole. It was indeed, thanks to the epic and touching musical accomplishment, it was exactly what I experienced in the previous games, but then it went even further. It was simply touching. In addition to the touching music, however, comes the awareness that alongside the machines, you’ll also be fighting against somewhat unexpected enemies of the human race. Therefore, brand new, not only confrontational ideas.

Now to the gameplay. Each skill tree expands with several abilities to learn. A new feature, for example, is the ability to trigger a berserk state in the limited action radio of the present machines, in which they start fighting each other. Among the options, for example, various spear attachments can be seen, adding selected elemental states to melee attacks. Naturally, you’ll get a taste of the next batch of legendary weapons and armor, or “coils” to upgrade them. The developers have even slightly improved the use of the heavy stationary crossbow.

And a special feature may finally be a fast boat for moving on water. While it’s probably true that you’ll make the most use of the Sunwing you control for initial map exploration, from whose birdlike back you can then spectacularly jump to your desired location, its close relative is patiently waiting for you in Burning Shores. The Waterwing also allows you to travel nimbly underwater, and although this particular motif is only lightly sketched, it is essential. However, Sunwing is still at the forefront and you’ll need him even when exploring certain ruins where his cooperation is necessary for success.

Tomb Raiding and Combat Upgrades

The ruins where you search for various valuables again present such a mix of activities. First, it’s a tomb raider style of climbing, jumping, and climbing as you find the right path to your goal. Occasionally, you’ll come across some simple puzzles, such as crate maneuvers or other feats within the interactive environment. Naturally, there are regular clashes with machines, where you can use the very rugged terrain and varied combat strategies to your advantage. One of the best-ever gameplay aids in the second installment, the smoke bomb, has received a partial upgrade in the expansion and is still an invaluable tool in almost any predicament.

Companions and Challenges

Speaking of helpers. The previously mentioned Seyka as an NPC is actively involved in all key missions. The collaboration with Aloy is devised convincingly and their regular dialogues enliven the story. I also consider the participation of some other NPCs in the events of the optional missions a plus, if only because Aloy doesn’t have to do all the work herself. It’s worth noting at this point that the ultimate Ultra difficulty is sealed here as well, hardcore players will have to reach Burning Shores via New Game+.

Technical Triumphs and Troubles

The fantastic graphical backdrop also offers some new effects involving powerful streams of escaping hot steam that accelerate the shield and allow Aloy to overcome otherwise insurmountable elevations. Once again, there are plenty of beautiful locations in the game where it’s worth slowing down for a moment to take in the truly impressive scenery. However, I must briefly point out some technical imperfections, which include object bouncing and texture rendering, especially when flying the Sunwing.

Still, apart from a few moments, it’s nothing I can’t wave my hand at. As far as map layout goes, Burning Shores may be on a separate part of the map, but you can still use fast travel to return to Forbiden West at any time. Not to mention the fact that you can fly there with the Waterwing quite easily and then enjoy the vast sea at Landfall. The reason why I started to like the machine. The second exclusive in this field – Bilegut, evoking a huge frog, is also absolutely amazing! Including the unique feature of laying, or rather sowing, special eggs, creating a completely new form of a dangerous environment. It’s just that fighting it is no fun at all, and it’s one of the most dangerous enemies you can meet in the game.

Arena Antics and Future Foreshadowing

An environment where you’ll meet most of the machines from the past, like my “favorite” stalkers. With the giant Slaughterspin, for example, you’ll have a suitably dramatic encounter in an enclosed arena. Speaking of the arena, and now I’m talking about the training area at Memorial Grove in Forbidden West, here’s where you can expect some unexpected bonuses after finishing Burning Shores. Included in the bonus category is a very special firearm that you’ll get your hands on during the adventure. You’ll also get a final chat with Sylens, foreshadowing the strategy before the third installment arrives.

Conclusion

The Burning Shores expansion showcases some excellent design work, with some very nice tweaks and ideas. As a result, you get a stronger and more coherent story and more confrontational options, so the whole combat system keeps getting more interesting and varied. If you like this world and its heroes, you definitely shouldn’t miss Burning Shores. You will get many hours of really good entertainment, which is not completely flawless, but it doesn’t change the fact that the people from Guerrilla Games are simply very good at their profession.

Where to Buy Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

Steam (PC): Available for $59.99 You can purchase Complete Edition directly from Steam.
PlayStation Store (PS5): Available for $19.99 You can purchase it directly from the PlayStation Store.
Epic Games Store (PC): Available for $59.99. Purchase Complete Edition from the Epic Games Store.

Official Page: Visit the official Horizon page for more information.

Subreddit: Join the discussion on the Horizon Forbidden West Subreddit.

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