Horizon Forbidden West is a much-awaited sequel for Aloy’s first epic experience in the wild forests. This latest Guerilla Games collection is nothing but a whole new chapter in the life of Aloy. Fans have been waiting ever since Horizon Zero Dawn came out from nowhere and made its mark in 2017 as one of Sony’s best-selling games. Around 2019, the game had sold 10 million copies and this was before it even arrived on PCs. That happened in August 2020 when the fanbase had already settled in.
Now Guerilla Games has revealed another ground-breaking take in the game by the announcement of the second part of Horizon. This new arrival just with its trailer, shocked the gamers as they saw a drastic change in almost every aspect of the game. After the PS5, expectations began to rise increasingly about every game that made its way to the next-gen console. Due to this reason, the creators of all the games had to deliver to the gamers and Sony did not disappoint.
The first game explored the life of Aloy as an outcast and a young hunter who later came to become a part of the Nora Tribe. She then battled many machines, uncovering secrets and learning about her life. Similarly, Horizon Forbidden West focuses on the same environmental calamities which endanger life on Earth. Aloy searches the Forbidden West for the cure to the plague that kills everything it infects.
That being said, the graphic difference between PS4 and PS5 upon the arrival of Horizon is quite noticeable. The game is visually different on a PS5, PS4 Pro, and other base PS4s. Ever since PS5 came out, the two new Graphic Modes have been the talk of the town and have made the visuals extremely challenging; Performance and Resolution Mode.
Resolution Mode runs the game in 4K with 30 FPS while Performance Mode targets 60 FPS along with 1800p resolution. Resolution Mode focuses more on the sharpness of the game allowing the gamer to see clearly onto far distances while Performance Mode fixes the frame rate to 60 FPS giving the players a much smoother experience at the expense of the graphical clarity of the game. Many players have undoubtedly settled for switching between the two; using the Performance Mode for close combats and Resolution Mode for sight-seeing.
Performance and other problems:
However, as amazing as it is players have still been having various issues regarding the game following the launch. Even though the game is equipped for consoles, there are still many grey areas that have been pointed out already:
- The game has been reported to have performance issues
- It fails to launch sometimes and tends to crash.
- Players are experiencing connectivity and login issues.
- There are reports of bad, blurry, and weird visuals in Fidelity Mode, also known as Resolution Mode.
- Some console players have complained about Aloy not interacting with the machine upon reaching the First Machine remains.
- There are issues in installing Horizon Forbidden West.
- HDR not working properly.
- Missing audio and stuttering.
Some of these problems are being looked into by the developers while others can be solved by some changes in the settings. Blurry visuals, performance issues, and crashes can be solved by switching to Resolution Mode or turning off HDR in the game’s settings. Aloy not interacting in the First Machine remains area is probably because the companion is left behind and the player ran too fast into the area. This can easily be solved by restarting the game, reloading a saved file, or walking slowly along with your companion. The rest of the issues will hopefully be solved in the next patch update.
There is another issue that has been troubling console players. They have been getting blurry visuals from the game, especially with the Performance Mode turned on. Although the issue has knowingly occurred in Fidelity Mode as well the Performance Mode is the main issue here. To solve this little issue all the player needs to do is:
- Go to the game’s Settings >> Visual and change the Graphics Mode from ‘favor resolution’ to ‘favor performance’. This will take a toll on the game’s FPS but will certainly increase the sharpness and give a clearer view of the game.
- However, if the issue persists even in Fidelity Mode, go ahead and turn off the HDR from the game’s settings or tweak and decrease the TV’s sharpness.
The issue with Performance Mode is that it lowers the resolution and initiates motion blur even when the motion blur option is turned off in the settings. So, as long as the player is okay with FPS lower than 60, Resolution Mode will take away the blurriness. The player can also switch between the two according to his convenience.
Horizon Forbidden West also has a couple of stuttering issues in PS4 and PS5 consoles. These issues are common in video games and console players get the mini versions of them, unlike PC players. However, it is still irritating for lags to occur during gameplay. There are several reasons this issue might occur and here are some common fixes the player could try:
- The go-to move would be to switch the Graphics Mode which has been essential in solving many problems arising in this game and others.
- Try restarting the PS5. After the Graphics Mode fix, this will come in handy as a simple reboot tends to solve the issue mostly.
- Make sure that the game and the console are both up to date. Playing a game with an older version of a console can initiate lag and stuttering.
- Keep the console in a well-ventilated area so that it doesn’t heat up. Heating causes major problems to the console itself and affects the game performances as well.
- Try power cycling the PS5.
- Turn off the console completely.
- Remove the power cord.
- Wait for 30 seconds.
- Put the power cord back again and start up the PS5.
- Make sure to double-check the PC/Monitor because lower refresh rates can cause the game to lag as well.
Horizon: Zero Dawn made its way to PCs in 2020 after about 3 years of the game’s release. Therefore, there is no telling when the second installment of the post-apocalyptic adventure of Aloy will arrive for the PC fanbase. Expected requirements for the PC players are as follows.
Minimum system requirements:
- CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Or AMD FX-8320
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 4GB or AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB
- RAM: 8 GB
- Windows: Windows 7,8,8.1 and 10 (64 Bit)
- DirectX: DX 11
- HDD Space: 65 GB
Here are the recommended system requirements
- CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4-Core 4.0GHz Or AMD Ryzen R7 1700
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 or AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB
- RAM: 16 GB
- Windows: Windows 7,8,8.1 and 10 (64 Bit)
- DirectX: DX
- HDD Space: 65 GB
The PC players have extremely high expectations from the game but unfortunately, they will encounter major issues following the release of the game. Just like the first Horizon, this one will also have problems regarding lags, performance issues, stuttering but until they are officially fixed, workarounds from all players, PC, and console combined will be required to fully enjoy the game.