Players have been making discoveries in Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to Guerrilla Games's 2017 hit, Horizon Zero Dawn, for months now. Zero Dawn was such a huge hit and Forbidden West is also finding great popularity the world over as these different graphics and gameplay related discoveries offer players replayability as well as different goals to strive towards.
One such player is seen in the video below climbing to the top of the mountain in the center of the map, above the game's main hub area, and discovering something about the Tallnecks that are visible in the distance. Tallnecks in Horizon Forbidden West are the sometimes elusive and highly prized method by which the main character, Aloy, unveils more sections of the game's vast map as she traverses post-apocalyptic western America. Aloy climbs to the top of these towers and uses her spear's overdrive mechanic to download map data, which allows the player to dispel the fog of war on the in-game map.
In the video, Redditor onlylaiden has climbed to the top of the highest peak in the small, center mountain range that houses the game's main hub area where the player returns to resupply and talk to companions, some of the best characters in Horizon Forbidden West. From here, the player pans left to right, sometimes zooming in with the sights on the bow, to take a look at four of the game's six Tallnecks that are visible from that spot. Considering that the map in the game spans over five miles long and three miles wide, this feat speaks volumes about the game's render distance as well as about the major emphasis the developers placed on narrative and graphical consistency. These Tallnecks, in order of appearance, are: The Stillsands, The Shining Wastes, Salt Bite, and Cinnabar Sands.
The Tallnecks are Guerrilla Games's version of Ubisoft towers. The Tallneck at Cinnabar Sands is the first that Aloy encounters on her journey, being due east of the location, and the Tallneck at the Stillsands is probably the next. The other two, however, are not accessible to Aloy until much later in the game. The Salt Bite Tallneck does not become available until the player completes the Cauldron: IOTA quest and overrides the Tallneck at the end, bringing it out from its underground machine facility to walk the surface once more, and, last but not least, the Tallneck at the Shining Wastes is the most elusive as it requires Aloy to override a Sunwing and fly high above it and glide down to it with her Shieldwing, the game's glider.
Many game developers that work on open-world games create these towers, places where players can go to unveil pieces of the map, but Horizon Forbidden West adds different twists to each one, keeping it fresh. Each Tallneck in the game feels like a different experience instead of a repetitive monotony of towers.
Though many players of the game were probably hoping to see a different type of massive machine instead of the Tallnecks that were also in the game's prequel, Horizon Zero Dawn, the fresh new way that Forbidden West handles each one allows for a varied and enjoyable playthrough.
Horizon Forbidden West is currently available for PS4 and PS5.