Guerrilla's Horizon franchise has captured the imaginations of gamers worldwide, in part thanks to just how many unique elements it manages to blend into its premise. The first game, Horizon Zero Dawn, introduced gamers to a future version of Earth where life is teetering on the edge of extinction, and ferocious robots known as machines roam the land. Among the few surviving humans who live in primitive settlements, an outcast warrior named Aloy discovers the epic nature of her origins and realizes that it may be her destiny to save the planet. It was followed by 2022's Horizon Forbidden West which has Aloy traveling to foreign lands when she discovers new threats to nature.
Horizon Forbidden West, and the rest of the Horizon series, situates itself within the soft science fiction genre, though it stands out from the typical sci-fi adventure. Most notably, it blends futuristic elements with primitive ones to produce a unique new aesthetic. Additionally, instead of looking to the stars and imagining a future where the problems of humanity are solved by taking to the stars, it instead plants its feet firmly on Earth and imagines a future where humans instead try to solve the planet's ecological problems.
Sci-Fi and the Final Frontier
The sci-fi genre typically concerns itself with imagining human possibilities and the mysteries of the universe. Although sci-fi works, to varying degrees, attempt to explain their worlds using real-world scientific concepts, the aim is to imagine what lies beyond the borders of current reality. One of the most common ways sci-fi does this is by imagining humans taking to the stars, colonizing other planets, and extending their reach throughout the cosmos.
The appeal of this dream is easy to understand, as Earth, as beautiful as it is, has finite resources which would seem to be incapable of continuously supporting a growing population. Furthermore, humankind's time on Earth has resulted in ecological disasters from deforestation, warfare, commercial farming, and mining, to name but a few harmful human activities. Consequently, humankind's home planet grows increasingly unappealing, and hopes of a shiny new place to live are far more attractive.
The trope of conquering the final frontier can be found throughout sci-fi, most famously in space adventures like Star Trek, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and WALL-E. It also pops up in sci-fi games such as The Outer Worlds, which takes place in the Halcyon System, and the upcoming Bethesda game Starfield, which takes place in a corner of the Milky Way humans have dubbed The Settled Systems. Instead of following the trend, the Horizon franchise instead goes in a different direction, and in doing so delivers a powerful ecological message.
Horizon's Fallen Earth
In the Horizon franchise, Earth is damaged by humans through greed and warfare. When Faro Automated Solutions produces the Chariot range of robots, they are popular at first because they can work together in an unstoppable chariot swarm. However, when a glitch causes them to become self-aware, they stop responding to their masters and instead consume all the biomass they can, and it quickly becomes evident that they will bring about the extinction of all life on Earth soon.
Fortunately, Dr. Elisabet Sobeck starts Project Zero Dawn, which involves storing the seeds of life in underground bunkers and giving an artificial intelligence system known as GAIA the job of repopulating the planet once it is safe to do so again. This is the world that Aloy is born into. It is fragile, and life has been given a second chance, but even the slightest interruption could cause it all to start crumbling again. Horizon Zero Dawn warns of the dangers of valuing technology over the planet's ecological health, as the technology of Faro Automated Solutions almost leads to the end of humankind. However, with the sequel, the series suggests that this planet, regardless of how beaten it is, is still worth fighting for.
How Aloy's Hope Subverts Sci-Fi Tropes
In Horizon Forbidden West, Aloy gets paid a visit by some people from outer space. They are the Far Zeniths, and they left Earth long ago when the disasters got too bad. They have also been able to extend their lifespans, and they enjoyed life on their colony on Sirius until it collapsed, which motivated them to return to Earth to take GAIA and use her to fix their new home. In many ways, the Far Zeniths resemble the characters of typical sci-fi.
Aloy stands in opposition to all the Far Zeniths except Tilda van der Meer, who she befriends at first. Tilda betrays the rest of the Far Zeniths and helps Aloy and her friends rescue GAIA. However, she eventually reveals herself to hold no hope for the future of Earth, and she tries to convince Aloy to join her in using GAIA to rebuild life on Sirius. Aloy refuses, because she still has hope that Earth can be saved and that humans still have it in their power to fix the problems facing them.
The message that Horizon Forbidden West presents is a useful one, as it is a reminder that while dreams of taking to the stars are nice, they should not be motivated by the desire to escape the mess that humans have left on Earth. It is worth taking responsibility for the planet's ecology and attempting to preserve the precious resources that are available to share.
While the ability to colonize other planets is a testament to humankind's intelligence and ingenuity, Aloy demonstrates that it takes an equal amount of courage and creativity to take care of a delicate planet that is able to provide so much when it is nurtured. Sci-fi stories that remain firmly planted on Earth may offer a hopeful message at a time when it is needed, reminding the species that it is within its power to solve the big problems that face all life on the planet. Though the stars hold many possibilities, Horizon Forbidden West stresses that home is still important.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.