Guerrilla’s RPG Horizon gained a lot of buzz when it was revealed at this year’s E3, and while the dinosaur fight wowed the crowd, it left many hoping for more. Over at Games Radar is an in-depth preview that explains the various systems that make Guerrilla’s new game tick.
Horizon is not only an open world RPG, but it also lets the player climb up any mountain or tree, giving them plenty of options to not only explore the environment, but avoid enemies who lack the ability to move vertically. Speaking of the open world aspect, Guerrilla also states that there are no loading zones and that exploration is seamless, even when swimming through winding rivers or climbing mountain ranges.
Combat is apparently focused entirely on the bow, with the game’s human characters using salvaged parts of their enemies to form new attachments and ammo for it. This seems to reinforce the idea that technology is completely lost to the humans of this post-apocalyptic age, since they are unable to reverse engineer any of the weapons used by their robotic enemies. There is a “rope caster” that can be used to tie down enemies or set traps for them to run into, however.
It’s also said that there will be some sort of online component, but it doesn’t seem to be full-on multiplayer, instead being referred to as “social features”.
As for character growth, it seems that rather than rely solely on experience points, the game is tied to a perk system that allows you to mold your character as you see fit. There is an emphasis on finding parts and upgrades, and it seems like the biggest boost in your combat readiness will come from locating those new additions rather than grinding up levels.
Speaking of gameplay choices, there are also three types of combat techniques. Broken down into stealth, firepower, and trap-setting, these three methods of dispatching enemies can be specialized in by the player or dabbled in equally to create a “jack of all trades” warrior if the player wishes.
Having been in development for the PS4 since 2011, Horizon is a large game that is still under development. As such, there is no concrete release date other than “sometime in 2016”. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date if that changes.
