Guerrilla Games' Horizon franchise is set at a time after the world has ended, when protagonist Aloy can explore the ruins of the "Old Ones" who died off around the 2060s thanks to a rogue swarm of self-replicating combat robots. These machines were designed by Faro Automated Solutions (FAS) after its CEO, Ted Faro, pivoted the corporation from climate recovery tech to military contracts. Horizon Forbidden West dives further into the world's backstory, with more of an emphasis on Elisabet Sobeck's career after she leaves FAS to continue her altruistic research.
Sobeck served as the Chief Scientist at FAS, gaining renown as a leading voice in the "Claw-Back" era that began reversing the effects of climate change. After Faro's pivot, she used her clout to start Miriam Technologies - a company named after her mother that focused on "life-positive" innovations. This earned Sobeck further acclaim, leaving her in a position to lead Project Zero Dawn as a last-ditch effort to revive humanity in light of the unstoppable Faro Plague. References to Miriam Technologies appear throughout the series, and the Vista Points of Forbidden West tell a sweet story about Sobeck's impact on the world prior to Zero Dawn.
Forbidden West's Vista Points Are the New Vantage Points
In 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn, one of Aloy's main collectables are Vantage Points. These are 12 specific locales at high altitudes that interact with Aloy's Focus when she makes it through an obstacle course, allowing her to see images of old-world places and hear the story of FAS employee Bashar Mati. Vista Points in Forbidden West are a similar concept with a different execution, as Aloy picks up nine garbled images from lingering towers that she fixes by lining up its landmarks with her surroundings.
Rather that the product of a single man telling his story, Vista Points served as pit stops on a tour of the western United States by Miriam Technologies. Some Vista Points focus on cities, such as multiple points in Las Vegas now called "The Stillsands" and "Dunehollow;" others highlight individual locales, such as a solar power facility now housing the Tenakth city "Scalding Spear." Each was selected to showcase a technological breakthrough or lesson from the Claw-Back era, expressing a message about caring for Earth's "fragile" life.
A number of these talk about progress as an ongoing process, with the Scalding Spear Vista Point lamenting that its clean energy generation has repercussions like boilers that harm local wildlife. Others add context to in-game areas of interest, such as further details about Stanley Chen's water reclamation project in Las Vegas or the FAS Greenhouse facility on California's coastline - "The Long Coast." The latter facility is particularly interesting as the tour admits it's a competitor's site and even makes a dig about Miriam Technologies doing what FAS doesn't; waiving patents and sharing research globally.
How Comments Change the Vista Point Narratives
While getting insights into old-world environmental endeavors would have made the Vista Point tour an interesting quest on its own merits, each piece of flavor text is particularly fun because Old Ones who found each location left comments that were preserved. There are a few one-off names, like Aamer complaining about a broken sign, or the six-year-old Mary who says, "I really like the robots." There are also repeat names like Ramiro and Anderson, who race one another to see who can reach every stop first.
However, the major underlying thread for these collectables comes from an individual named JiaLi who comments on wanting to take this tour for a long time in their first stop at Utah's Zion National Park. They leave a note at every subsequent stop, often talking to other visitors: saying it's "still possible to do good" in response to corporate cynicism, being inspired to donate toward the Coalition for Environmental Reclamation alongside someone who wins at holo-poker in Vegas, and so on.
JiaLi's Vista Point Story Speaks to Elisabet Sobeck's Impact
At the last stop in San Francisco, the "Isle of Spears," JiaLi reveals his grandmother died in the Syzygy/East nuclear disaster - an event referenced in relation to Zero Dawn scientist candidate Susanne Alpert from Horizon Zero Dawn. According to JiaLi, Miriam Technologies helped clean the radioactive zone, and as a result they were able to go with their mother to collect the belongings of their family member. They end their message with the note, "I came on this tour to say thank you, Ms. Sobeck. You really are making the world a better place."
This backstory helps recontextualize JiaLi's message at the Mojave Battlefield Memorial Museum, now the Tenakth capital "Memorial Grove." The museum was established following the second American Civil War, which began after the federal government ordered an evacuation due to a climate crisis that ultimately served its interests of controlling water and rare earth mineral facilities. It was the first conflict between man - represented by Joint Task Force Ten - and automated machines, but the Battle of the Mojave ended with the detonation of a nuclear armament that left an immense crater.
The crater goes on to be the Tenakth Arena where Horizon Forbidden West players assist Chief Hekarro in hosting the Kulrut, but JiaLi's message at the site indicates it has a "special meaning" because of similarities to the situation around their grandmother's death. They say the southwestern US is also grateful to Miriam Technologies for helping clean the site of nuclear fallout, and it's just one example of how Elisabet Sobeck's altruistic nature benefited the world long before developing Zero Dawn. As Aloy and her allies aim to protect her legacy, Aloy is pleased to hear a direct message from Sobeck at the end of this quest hoping Miriam's mission statement means as much to others as it did her.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.