There's a common refrain that Guerrilla Games' Horizon franchise has the unfortunate tendency of releasing its open-world titles just before groundbreaking entries in the genre. In 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn launched a week before The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and earlier this year Horizon Forbidden West launched a week before Elden Ring. While many feel the latter titles overshadow Aloy's adventures, there's good reason Guerrilla has become a top PlayStation developer.
Forbidden West is a strong evolution of the formula established by Zero Dawn, even if many have decried it for taking the approach of an objective-stuffed Ubisoft series like Assassin's Creed. It's certainly easy to point toward FromSoftware's encouraged freedom with The Lands Between as antithetical to Horizon Forbidden West, but that also downplays the way Guerrilla improves upon many of the "checklist" objectives in its sequel. Aloy's treks into Caudrons and up Tallnecks are particularly good case studies for how to make repeat objectives unique enough to feel fresh.
Cauldrons in Horizon Forbidden West are Like Zelda Dungeons
Horizon Zero Dawn is a relatively compact adventure, with Aloy's journey to discover how the world of the Old Ones ended broken up by repeating, almost copy-and-paste activities. She encounters hunting grounds with three timed challenges meant to teach the player, bandit camps to clear out, Tallnecks that act as map revealing "radio towers," and more. Cauldrons are one of the biggest side activities, allowing Aloy to delve into giant factories so that she can unlock the ability to override more machine types.
In Zero Dawn Cauldrons were aesthetically and mechanically identical in most respects, presented as cavernous metallic facilities that require Aloy to override security systems or ride delivery drones to reach the Core. Once at the Core, players fight one of the game's largest machine opponents as a sort of final boss. In some ways Cauldrons could be compared to Breath of the Wild's Divine Beasts, which were received unenthusiastically by a fanbase used to Nintendo's more fantastical dungeon design.
Forbidden West's Cauldrons are a step in the right direction, as they still feature overall aesthetic similarities but are completely unique in terms of objectives. For example, Cauldron CHI to the south of Thornmarsh is seemingly picked apart by machines, which comes back when Aloy must escort a part stolen by Clamberjaws to repair the Core. Cauldron KAPPA to the west of the Bulwark is akin to a Water Temple, its interior forming a giant ocean pump that leaves its metallic walls covered in barnacles and its waters full of fish.
The stand-out element of these pseudo-dungeons is the way they let Guerrilla Games play with tone. Cauldrons in Zero Dawn were all predominately oppressive in the same way, large and alien to Aloy's more natural world. Meanwhile, a Cauldron like Repair Bay TAU is required in Forbidden West's story and features Aloy helping Zo deal with the existential crisis of learning the Uraru Land-Gods are being outfitted for battle. Cauldron KAPPA is a sharp contrast, more like a horror game as Aloy fills its Core chamber with water before being dropped into it alongside an Apex Tideripper.
Tallnecks Require Different Approaches to Climb
The Giraffe-themed Tallnecks receive a similar treatment, and this makes sense given they've become emblematic of the franchise like the T-Rex inspired Thunderjaw. In base Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy finds Tallnecks scattered about the land, each of which wanders around tall structures like abandon buildings or natural plateaus. Every one requires Aloy to climb high enough that she can reach footholds on the Tallneck, which in-turn let her climb to its head where she can download map data.
By contrast, every Tallneck in Horizon Forbidden West requires a different solution to climb. The Cinnabar Sands Tallneck is right next to a satellite dish that Aloy must power and move into the appropriate angle, meanwhile the Tallneck at The Stand of the Sentinels can only be conquered once Aloy crosses a puzzling jungle gym - an abandoned village built into the redwood forest around San Francisco. Sometimes they don't require Aloy to climb at all, as with The Stillsands' Tallneck that she needs to repair by toppling the machine using Oseram harpoon anchors.
This approach to more unique Cauldrons and Tallnecks was something Guerrilla considered in Zero Dawn, as evidenced by its Frozen Wilds DLC. The Tallneck Aloy finds in The Cut is like a prototypical Stillsands mission, requiring her to find stolen parts and repair the machine. Likewise, she explores Cauldron EPSILON alongside Banuk siblings Ourea and Aratak, not unlike Repair Bay TAU's mission with Varl and Zo.
Horizon Forbidden West Shines When it Shakes Up The Formula
Though Horizon Forbidden West takes the tentative steps of Frozen Wilds and runs with them, Cauldron IOTA is a great example of how powerful it can be to subvert expectations with an entirely new premise. Located to the east of Tenakth settlement Salt Bite, this Cauldron is built into the floor rather than the side of a mountain as usual. Aloy finds out this is because the facility constructs Tallnecks, and was partway through developing a new one when seismic activity disrupted the process.
This becomes a two-part objective, with Aloy first having to reach the Core before realizing she needs to finish the Tallneck that's blocking her escape route. It's a more involved quest thanks to the way it mixes objectives, leading to a Tallneck head escort mission, and at the end players receive both new override and map data for their troubles while permanently affecting the world around them.
Though Guerrilla Games' means of differentiating Cauldrons and Tallnecks are solid examples of how to make repeat objectives feel unique, Forbidden West isn't perfect. Returning activities like hunting grounds or rebel camps, as well as brand-new ones like melee pits are largely the same thing regardless of how their layouts or individual tasks differ. But with other new activities like Relic Ruins taking more diverse approaches to puzzle design and worldbuilding, there's a good chance Horizon's third installment could be even better at producing variety.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.