Players will have a wealth of new options when it comes to fighting and traversal in Horizon Forbidden West. A PlayStation Blog post detailing new features coming to the game showed off some of protagonist Aloy’s choice new abilities, including the Breath of the Wild-esque Shieldwing, a grappling hook, and Valor Surge finishing attacks.
Some of Horizon Forbidden West‘s traversal changes have already been mentioned by the game’s developers, including the Shieldwing, which players can use to glide vast distances, and free climbing. Further growing Aloy’s suite of new movement options is the Pullcaster, which players can use to zip Aloy over to targeted locations. Players can use these tools in a sequence, going from a grapple launch into a glide with the Pullcaster and Shieldwing.
As for combat, players will have access to some powerful moves that can be used to quickly put down enemies, although they’ll have to charge them up first. Called Valor Surges, these special attacks are built up by successfully beating on enemies, charging a purple bar in the game’s head-up display. There are 12 variants of the attack, “with each of them representing and strengthening a specific approach to the game,” according to the blog post. Each variant can be charged up to three levels, with higher levels taking longer to charge but dealing more damage.
Players will also be able to give their regular weapons a boost thanks to the game’s new workbench. Here, players can upgrade and strengthen weapons and outfits, unlocking new perks, mod slots, and more.
Horizon Forbidden West was supposed to launch this year, but was delayed to 2022. It will now release on February 18 for the PlayStation 4 and PS5.
