Horizon Forbidden West star Lance Reddick, who plays the character Sylens, has returned to the motion capture studio. In a Twitter post since deleted, the acclaimed actor wrote: “Hard at work in a session for Horizon Forbidden West.” In the photograph, the star is wearing a motion capture suit and has marks on his face for facial capture.
It’s not the first time we’ve heard about actors from Guerrilla’s sequel returning to the studio. Earlier in the year, social media sleuths discovered that both Peggy Vrijens and Louis Van Beek – both of whom worked on Forbidden West – were shooting scenes at the same location. Of course, a DLC expansion wouldn’t be a huge surprise: Horizon Zero Dawn also added the surprisingly dense Frozen Wilds roughly a year after release.
With the PS5 and PS4 game continuing to top the charts around the world, Sony will no doubt see a huge opportunity in upselling existing owners – and to be honest, we wouldn’t say no to more of Aloy’s outrageously beautiful post-post-apocalyptic world. Sylens didn’t play a particularly huge role in the main campaign, so it’d be good to see him take on a bigger role in this currently unannounced add-on.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 56
I love that GiF of Sylens, it's so perfect for his character.
I'm shocked just shocked
Honestly can't wait, straight in my veins please
Some People here keep saying Sony won’t have Showcase this year Because they don’t have nothing ready to show which I think isn’t true at all.
@4kgk2 It depends by what Sony are actually prepared to show. As we've seen this summer, so many games get announced with CGI trailers because they don't have gameplay ready. Sony more then most don't tend to rely on that, if they don't have gameplay ready then you usually get an in engine teaser. That's where I find it's tough to judge where their studios are at.
I'm sorry! Sylens kind of has a big part in regards to the story. You might not see a huge amount of him but his character is a core element of the story.
@Deformedpye I’m thinking this is a co-op DLC where you can play as Silens and the other guy as they both have their own tools and combat styles, or a solo Silens dlc side story dlc.
One thing this game should really be praised for is the customizable difficulty. Good lord does easy loot make the game so much more fun.
That dude doesn't age. Looks the same now as when he was in The Wire. Just started this game and it's terrific
Hell yeah! Just finished HFW and would love some DLC. Cannot wait for the third installment. It’s set up to be an amazing battle. So excited for more Horizon!
Couldn't this also just be a photo from the past, where he worked on the main game? It would be safe to share now that the game is long out....but the tweet deletion suggests otherwise.
As much as I loved this game I had my fill by the end, probably wouldn’t play a DLC.
Unpopular opinion but I would focus more on tighter areas with more unique scenarios for a game like this next go, a lot of the content ended up feeling bloated.
@Colour totally agree the main quest was ok but the rest of it frankly felt like filler and i got bored by it i just wanted it to end.
I never felt that way in the original which i adored and wanted to explore everywhere and know everything
I really just like hearing this dude talk. Lance Reddick could read off the ingredients in random household objects and I'd listen to him for hours.
@jrt87 unfortunately I struggled with this one too. 22 hours I put in before I felt like I had my fill. There where good moments, and they all included Aloy going up against lots of big machines in pretty difficult fights but when that wasn't happening it felt a bit mundane for me.
@Deformedpye
Would be awesome if we would see more from his point of view, or even reliving the campaign playing as him!
@jrt87 2023 does look 🔥
My Ps5 is being neglected at the moment but street fighter 6, Tekken 8, Re4 and Stellar Blade will fix that! (Until they get delayed 😅)
Played about 5 hours of this and just felt so meh...I also have the first which I haven't played...I have considered trying to start with the first in the hope maybe I will get into it....but what hope is there when the second didn't grip me atall and the gameplay is generic
@jrt87 Whilst i dont agree with all of that, i think its a fair assessment - and i also dont think this reached anywhere near the heights of the first game. I didnt find the space people (forgot what they are called) particularly interesting and the story was strung out by quite alot of padding between missions. I thought zero dawn was a much tighter experience.
Frozen wilds was one of the best pieces of dlc ive ever played - so i do hope with a shorter run time, any dlc results in a more rounded experience and a tighter story.
Ive thought for a while that any Horizon dlc would be revealed in a showcase - so hopefully that is pointing to something before the year is out.
Final Fantasy 16, Silent Hill, Spiderman 2, this dlc, helldivers 2, whatever deviation games and haven studios are working on would all go down very nicely. Really want Sony to start building some hype around PS5 again
@Rob_230 ye I thought the whole space people arc felt really out of place for me too.
Frozen wilds is peak horizon for me. Hopefully if they do another quality expansion like that they'll make it stand alone as my copies been lent to someone and.... Ye I'm not seeing that again!
I dont recognise any of the critiscms people throw at this title at all, for me it improved on what was an already excellent game in almost every way, provided a story that gripped me to the end and companions I felt had real humanity and depth, and put them in the most beautiful game open world yet created.
Im quite sure the vast majority of people who played this title would welcome some more, so the expected DLC cannot come fast enough for many of us.
@4kgk2 The thing is, they sort of have to show off stuff for next year. As far as I know, the only confirmed Sony first party game for 2023 is Spiderman 2?
@4kgk2 There's plenty they could show off but the question is will they do it all at once. It all comes down to how they do the big GoW Ragnarok info blowout (1st party info blowouts are generally a month before launch), currently showcase chance seems high but if a GoW Ragnarok State of Play gets announced the chance of showcase drops quite significantly.
@Titntin That's just the thing with some people. A sequel is never good as the first no matter the improvements, forgetting they feel that way because the first was their FIRST time having that experience from the game. "GoWR not being as good as GoW 2018" is a comment you should expect from same people come November and beyond.
@Nf157 eurgh yeah i know that feeling. I leant someone Metal Gear Solid on PS One years ago. I think at this point i should give up hope of seeing that again 😅
Yep im with you - Frozen Wilds is probably the best content i have played from Guerilla full stop. It was excellent.
Didn't the first game, HZD, release in February and they showed off the DLC in August? Maybe it was September. Pretty sure they didn't wait an entire year, more like 6 months.
Didn't buy the game yet b/c I bought the first 1 right before they announced the dlc, was waiting this time.
I dont understand why anyone would play Horizon Forbidden west before they have played Horizon zero dawn frankly bizarre.
Forbidden west was a massive disappointment for me i havent felt that disappointed in a sequel since mass effect andromeda and before that fallout 4
More Horizon is always good Horizon. Arguably one of the best recent franchises ever!! Love Aloy and her world!! This planet is worth saving!!
@Deformedpye Yes. He is the kind of character who works in the shadows, so he won't show up a lot. When he comes, the ground shatters.
After six months and over 190 hours I’m ready for MORE HFW!!! Hoping there’s a games showcase sometime this month and the HFW dlc would be a major announcement! HFW my GotY unless GoW:R can match it!
@rjejr The DLC was shown off at E3 in June and given a November release date in August. Under Sony's current approach of completely ignoring E3's existence, I'd imagine they would've waited until August for the initial DLC reveal though.
@Olskeezy enjoy it’s a a massive improvement over the first one and has the best sidequests in an open world game since Witcher 3. It’s my goty so far and I can see only Ragnarok challenging it.
@Colour I can’t agree it’s one of the least bloated open world games out there especially this year compared to Xenoblade 3 and Elden Ring.
@trev666 that’s weird because this game has infinitely better sidequests and activities compared to the first and there was actually a reason to explore the world compared to the first
@jrt87 lol there’s so much wrong information in this comment that I can’t even smh
@jrt87 yeah uh no it has a high completion rate especially for a open world game
@StylesT gameplay generic when there’s very few open world games with better gameplay lol
@Titntinos most are just haters and think another open world game from this year was so much better and have to crap on it. You’re right though this game improved on the first in every way imaginable which is why it reviewed and sold so well and continues to sell so whenever someone says the first was better I have to give them the side eye and think they didn’t even play it.
@trev666 how when the sequel is a massive improvement over the first in every way like seriously how do you feel that way?
@dark_knightmare2
I do not agree with your opinion
@Grumblevolcano "I'd imagine they would've waited until August for the initial DLC reveal though"
Well it's October 1st now and Sony still hasn't officially mentioned it yet, right? 🤷♂️
Though I suppose the article is technically correct, the DLC "released" about a year after release, Feb-Nov being about 9 months, but if we knew about it in June that part is still a big difference between June and Oct. 🤷♂️
@rjejr The key is the gap between DLC announcement and DLC release. If HFW was getting DLC this year, it would've likely been announced already. What seems most likely is that DLC releases in 2023 release alongside a PC port, maybe announced in a Playstation Showcase.
@trev666 that’s fine I would just love to hear your reasoning to why it was a massive disappointment compared to the first when the general consensus among fans and critics is it’s an improvement in almost every way over the first.
@Slippship what was anticlimactic about it? I don’t know how a game with giant robot dinosaurs and animals could be boring especially one that’s plays well like you said. I never fast travelled because I couldn’t get enough of the fights against machines it was a blast every time and I was never bored once.
@jrt87 I'm admittedly not too far into Forbidden West yet but it's been underwhelming thus far with a lot of verbal hand holding (and generally lame dialogue) like the developer expected a lot of people new to the franchise. Zero Dawn was my favourite story of the last generation and didn't really need a sequel. It seems like I'm playing through a graphical showcase and not much more. I'm going to stick with it for now but it's somewhat of a disappointment.
Sylens is my favorite character in Horizon series and the voice acting is really excellent. He has a bit of an antihero and the way he annoys Alloy is hilarious.
I sunk 90 hours into Forbidden West and it left me… feeling weird. Like I’m in between the two extremes of how this game has been received.
First the positives.
1. The gameplay is top notch and the combat feels so much smoother than Zero Dawn. Melee is a viable strategy compared to Zero Dawn, where it was useless. The gameplay and combat enhancements were my favorite parts of the game.
2. The side quests were generally superior to Zero Dawn’s. Better written, more interesting gameplay loops, and the quests with returning side characters were very nostalgic. Despite having a ton of busy work, said busy work is better than the busy work from ZD.
3. The visual design, art direction, graphical quality, and sound design were absolutely top notch. Best looking PS5 title by far and even the PS4 version looks amazing.
Now the negatives.
1. The main plot is a mess. It’s nowhere near as interesting as Zero Dawn’s, Not Jeff Bezos and his cohorts are lame villains, the plot twist at the end was wasted due to lack of development, and it’s drawn out for far too long.
2. Aloy’s characterization is a step down from HZD. I really loved her in HZD. She had weaknesses and the main plot of the previous game developed her consistently from start to finish; it was a natural evolution. In HFW she literally (to me anyway) has no development until the very end of the game. I get that she’s more experienced now, but I really enjoyed the brave but vulnerable Aloy from the first game. It was more logical and made sense. I wish they would have kept more of that side of her.
3. The extra characters see almost no development. I liked Regalla and the Chieftain guy, and Sylens was great as he always is, but most of the cast was just sort of bland. I was hoping they would do more to explore Aloy’s interpersonal relations in natural ways and they sort of failed to do that. Even her bond with Beta is underdeveloped.
So basically my opinion is that from a gameplay standpoint, the game is a ten out of ten. But the story and characterization issues left me disappointed. It’s a better game than Zero Dawn, but it’s a much less interesting story.
Would love to have more! Such a great game and it remains as my GoTY so far until God of War comes.
I'm in mixed minds which game I prefer between this and HZD. The gameplay, open world, flying, more monsters are all so much better in this one. But I prefer the story from HZD and it feels a bit less bloated so it's hard to say which one has the better size. Big open world can be a lot of fun to explore but sometimes smaller is better, especially when you've already done the exploring and want a simplier play.
It took me ages to find better weapons for this game so I felt HZD did it better and more simple with that. Taking down the Thunderjaw was more satisfying in HZD too as HFW world is so big with a lot of shelter.
Then there is the cauldrons, in HFW, there was nothing in the game that was pushing me towards doing those. I forgot about them while I was off doing side missions making them my priority. Eventually I realised I should be doing the cauldrons so it wasn't until near the end of the game I started those. Would have been so much better to have done them sooner.
Both have good points and bad points that makes one better than the other. But this is a great sequel and I want more!
@Nf157 same here i cant wait til SF6 , ive been in a dry spell with fighting games for a long time now! gimmie street fighter , marvel vs capcom , and MK12 then im in heaven
@nomither6 Same. The last fighting game I played was super smash Bros ultimate, but the last traditional fighting game I played was soulcalibur 6 so it's been a good while for me. Really feeling the need to play one now!
I thought it was nowhere near as gripping as Zero Dawn and Aloy was a tad annoying in this one.
@jrt87 I didn’t see your reasons listed out besides one point about the story which was why I was asking. If your were disappointed that’s fine but that doesn’t mean you’re immune to people asking why and debating things that’s what message boards are for. The only reason my messages were in order was because I came to the article late and was just replying to comments that caught my eye so it had nothing to do with fangirling which btw I’m a guy fyi.
@Grumblevolcano That makes sense. Guess I'll be waiting a little longer, unless a Black Friday sale pulls me in. I'm a sucker for a good BF sale.
Maybe I'll get TLoU 2 this BF, HFW next BF, and GoWR BF 2024. 🤷♂️
@jrt87
nailed it.
I think that Guerilla make beautiful looking games, and are technically one of the best Studios, but they cant create good characters, write good dialogue or develop interesting stories.
Just leaves these incredible set piece games that are empty inside.
Forbidden West DLC would be awesome, here's hoping that's what they were hinting at.
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