Horizon: Forbidden West is shaping up to be one of the best-looking games to come out on the PS4, and especially on the PS5. With more power and a new direction, Guerrilla has made some changes to Aloy's design in Horizon: Forbidden West, some of which may not be immediately noticeable.
On PS4, Horizon: Zero Dawn was one of the best examples of what then-next-generation hardware could do. Massive luscious environments, highly detailed character models, and perhaps most impressively, intricately detailed and destructable robot creatures, Horizon: Zero Dawn was a refreshing and ambitious leap from Guerrilla's prior series, Killzone. Aloy herself was a welcome protagonist in the PlayStation lineup, as well, undergoing an incredible journey of self-discovery as she learns the secrets of her world and where she belongs within it. Promotional material has shown that Horizon: Forbidden West looks to up the ante in nearly every possible way, but especially graphically.
New screenshots of Horizon: Forbidden West help give players a better look at Aloy in the upcoming game. For starters, it appears Aloy packs the powerful (and some would say game-breaking) Shield-Weaver Armor for her westward journey, that generally looks the same as it did in Horizon: Zero Dawn except for some key differences. Interestingly, the triangle units spread across the armor that help generate the shielding are not lit up in the Horizon: Forbidden West screenshot, as they are in Horizon: Zero Dawn. If the armor behaves as it did in Horizon: Zero Dawn, perhaps one of Aloy's side quests in Horizon: Forbidden West is to find more Power Cells to replace the suits depleted ones.
The other major distinguishing detail is that Aloy isn't wearing the modified Nora head piece she can be seen in from the first game. In most of the marketing material presented for the game that features Aloy, she has lacked any sort of headgear, and in this side-by-side comparison, the difference it makes is extraordinary. While the headgear doesn't entirely obscure Aloy's face in Horizon: Zero Dawn, it leaves the majority of emotive potential to her eyes, mouth, and cheeks, which might be a bit distracting in cutscenes. While it's still unclear if headgear is returning in Horizon: Forbidden West, players can choose to hide it in the settings of Horizon Zero Dawn so this may be a similar situation.
Some other tiny details between the two images show some of the increased texture work on the newer hardware, like in the blue cloth around Aloy's neck and her face. Likewise, Aloy's hair looks much more natural and defined in Horizon: Forbidden West than the chunky, tube-like effect Guerrilla employed in Horizon: Zero Dawn. What will be really interesting is when the inter-console comparisons start appearing, assessing Aloy's appearance in Horizon: Forbidden West on PS4 verus PS5. Fans won't have to wait much longer for that opportunity to arrive.
Horizon: Forbidden West launches Februrary 18 on PS4 and PS5.