Horizon Forbidden West is a game that shows how to handle a sequel with plenty of new weapons, skills, locations, and machines for Aloy to fight as she attempts to stop the Red Blight from destroying all life on Earth. One tools significantly improved on from the first game was the traps, but even with the many new traps added in, using them can be tricky since they take a while to set up. With Horizon 3 set to bring Aloy her biggest challenge ever, the trap system in Horizon Forbidden West needs to be reworked to make using them more viable in the heat of battle.

Horizon Forbidden West’s traps are not entirely useless, and with the right skills unlocked, placing them down in the world can be much faster. Unfortunately, even with the Quick Trapper skill, the speed of some machines makes it risky to craft the traps, and without the skill, it becomes nearly impossible to set the traps without taking damage. Horizon 3 will need to implement a better system, or even include more weapons like the Tripcaster that allow for traps to be set on the move.

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Traps in Horizon Forbidden West

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Horizon Forbidden West has several types of traps, each of which specializes against different kinds of machines. The most unique of these, the vertical traps, allows players to finally bring down flying machines, making it much easier to override these machines. These traps have elevated the game in many ways when compared to Horizon Zero Dawn, giving players a more viable option when deciding to create stealth or trap-focused builds.

The several different types of traps available to the player in Horizon Forbidden West certainly aid players in stealth situations, but it falls apart in missions where Aloy does not have stealth to fall back on, like when Aloy fights her first Specter. In these situations, placing down traps could result in taking serious damage and forcing the player to restart the mission. Thankfully, traps are oftentimes not required to take out the machines and players might go through the entire game without using them even once.

Horizon 3 Needs More Tripcaster-Style Weapons

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Traps should not only deal damage but should either stun the machines or even open up areas that Aloy can focus on for extra damage. Unfortunately, there are no traps that can efficiently do both while still ensuring that Aloy stays away from danger, but the Tripcaster fixes both of these problems. They can allow Aloy to quickly set the tripwire and stun machines, even on the move. So, Horizon 3 should definitely try to incorporate more weapons similar to the Tripcaster to give players a better handle on trapping machines.

There are several avenues that the next Horizon game could take toward improving the Tripcaster. The first would be adding a vertical trap to the weapon to help bring down flying machines. Blast traps help not only damage machines but can take out multiple machines at once, so having a Tripcaster-style weapon that deals blast damage can help players handle more machines at the same time, especially with the army that Aloy will be fighting in Horizon 3. Furthermore, using more elemental damage in Ropecasters to cause a small amount of damage over time would also be a welcomed weapon during the fight against NEMESIS.

With her most dangerous threat now approaching Earth, Aloy will need all the tools at her disposal to once again save the planet from destruction. Traps have been heavily underutilized by many players because of how risky it could be to place them down, especially without the Quick Trapper skill. Horizon 3 will need to include a new variety of traps or weapons to help Aloy ensure that she is able to not only stop NEMESIS but also battle its army efficiently and effectively.

Horizon Forbidden West is available now for PS4 and PS5.

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