Like the streets of New York, Los Angeles is one of those cities that even if you’ve never stepped foot in the place, you still instantly recognise its landmarks. We visit LA an awful lot in games, too – as recently as last week, I was battering the brains of the undead cops that patrol up and down Venice Beach in Dead Island 2 – but I’ve never seen LA like . A luscious, leafy paradise where the palm trees sway and the turquoise waters glisten and molten lava dribbles down the hillside beneath that iconic sign. Though known now as Burning Shores, ghosts of the LA we know so well still remain if you know where to look.
Horizon Forbidden West: Burning ShoresDeveloper: Guerrilla StudiosPublisher: Sony Interactive EntertainmentPlatform: Played on PS5Availability: Out now on PS5
I’ve always been mesmerised by Horizon’s world, a peculiar place that’s simultaneously familiar and foreign, old and new, and Horizon Forbidden West’s long-anticipated DLC, Burning Shores, does nothing to change this. How strange it is, even now, to watch a mechanical animal pounce and pirouette as it chases its prey, moving as if it’s made of meat and muscle and not scrap and steel. Yes, they still terrify me.
Burning Shores extends Horizon Forbidden West’s original storyline, which means you’ll have to have completed the main campaign before Sylens summons you for this additional one, taking you to the all-new Burning Shores location. There, we’ll not only encounter a new locale to explore, but a fresh selection of menacing machines and BFFs-in-waiting, too. I can’t say I was particularly enamoured by the story; Horizon’s lore is complex and multi-layered, and takes a little time to familiarise yourself with, which is possibly why Burning Shore’s pedestrian tale of greed and corruption falls oddly flat – not least because I saw the main story beats coming a mile off. Not a huge issue, but it’s a shame that the story never quite got going for me, despite the talented cast’s efforts.
There’s not even time to reacquaint yourself with the control scheme, either. It’s been over a year since some of us last teamed up with Aloy, but Guerrilla has no time for easing you back in. Instead, we’re instantly thrown into the fray. I think I’d forgotten just how complex Horizon Forbidden West’s bells and whistles were; most of my opening hour was spent scrolling through the menus and trying to reacquaint myself with Aloy’s arsenal of tools and weapons as much as it was familiarising myself with the story.