Guerilla Games' follow-up to its popular and well-received 2017 release, Horizon Forbidden West, helped to broaden the expansive lore established in the previous title. With plenty yet to uncover in the post-apocalyptic setting, and a complicated history to establish, Horizon Forbidden West added more depth to the world introduced in Horizon Zero Dawn. The sequel has helped to plug some gaps in the story of how humanity got itself into the state players now find it in, with the ruins of the Old World littering the landscape, and mechanical creatures running riot.
One of the aspects that was explored more fully in Horizon Forbidden West was the fate of the humans that came before, who were responsible for the way the world is during Aloy's time. While players already knew about her identity as a clone of the Old World scientist Elisabet Sobeck, and the last-ditch attempt to save the planet after the Faro Plague threatened all life on Earth, much of these intriguing storylines were fleshed out in the sequel. One aspect that became a major focus in Horizon Forbidden West was the mysterious Far Zenith group and their distant Sirius colony.
Far Zenith's Place In The Saga
When things started to go south at Faro Automated Solutions, and the self-replicating robots began to consume biomass, humanity tried to come up with a few solutions to this self-inflicted mess. As the events of the Old World take place a thousand years before Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, Aloy has a lot of lore to uncover in order to piece together what exactly happened. Gradually, the story of the Old World and its doomed inhabitants is woven together as the game progresses, but it's not until Aloy meets Tilda van der Meer and her Far Zenith friends that the past reveals its secrets.
Originally founded as a "futurist consortium," Far Zenith's public goal was to help humanity colonize new planets. However, once the extent of the Faro Plague was revealed, the group quickly accelerated their plans regarding the Odyssey project in order to escape the fate of the planet and start again somewhere else. It was assumed that the Odyssey was destroyed in its attempt to leave the solar system, but in truth its journey was successful, and Far Zenith were able to set up the first human colony in the Sirius system.
The colony thrived, with the select group of humans able to reach previously unthought-of technological advancements and even achieve a kind of physical immortality by extending their lifespans by centuries. However, their attempts to create a method for downloading human consciousnesses failed, and they inadvertently created the malevolent Nemesis. This accidental byproduct eventually destroyed the colony, causing the last remaining members to flee back to Earth to claim a copy of GAIA and start again somewhere else as Nemesis set off in pursuit.
Why They Were Doomed To Fail
Far Zenith may seem like a group of incredibly advanced and ambitious humans, but they were originally only comprised of 77 of the world's richest individuals. While the group's noble goals in the beginning was to expand humanity's reach among the stars, their true motivations were selfish. Their commitment to ensuring their own survival above all else by launching the Odyssey, despite being a group that collectively had the resources to help many people, showcases their true colors. Elisabet Sobeck and a few others accepted their fate and thought about how they could ensure the future survival of humanity, but Far Zenith thought only of themselves and their own goals.
This attitude prevails, even after centuries of so-called advancement, when Far Zenith travel back to Earth only to find that humanity has survived. They still plan to steal a version of GAIA and start again somewhere else, leaving the humans on Earth to face Nemesis. This perspective is typical of a group composed of exceptionally rich people, who are hardly likely to be the most altruistic or self-sacrificing of individuals. This contributes to one of the reasons that Far Zenith's Sirius colony ultimately failed, as a group made up of people that are only ever looking out for themselves will always crumble when tested, just like when Tilda turns on her fellow members to aid Aloy.
Another major factor in Far Zenith's downfall is its inability to be satiated. Its members are basically the poster children for capitalism, and show that even having all the money in the world doesn't mean they are satisfied and aren't continually striving for something else. Not content with successfully building their own colony, escaping the Faro Plague, and achieving physical immortality, Far Zenith still sought the ability to download their consciousnesses and attain digital immortality.
If they had been satisfied with their lot, the Sirius colony could have been a success. But their rampant greed, selfishness, and pursuit of their goals in spite of everything else meant that Far Zenith would never be able to succeed, no matter how hard they tried.
Horizon Forbidden West is out now for PS4 and PS5.