
(Please note that the image at the top of this article is from Fortnite, which has an Aloy skin.)
A Horizon Forbidden West leak is currently being passed around online, and it's quite fascinating. The footage is apparently from an old alpha build of the open world adventure, showing a four-player multiplayer mode that was, at one point, in development (and probably still is, as pointed out below).
The big talking point, though, is that despite keeping Forbidden West's realistic environments, the character models are very cartoony, immediately drawing comparisons to the designs in games like Fortnite. The leaked video features male and female avatars wearing different clothes and armours, and the characters seem capable of performing the same kinds of sprints and slides as Aloy. However, we don't see the characters engage in any out-and-out combat.
So what happened to this multiplayer project? Well, as far as we know, it's still on the cards. You may remember that late last year, Guerrilla Games was specifically hiring for an online Horizon project featuring "a unique stylized look". This leak is likely the beginnings of that project.
What are your thoughts on a Horizon multiplayer title? Do cartoony characters hit the spot, or would you rather have realistic models? Work together in the comments section below.
[source reddit.com, via resetera.com]
Comments 57
I'm actually very excited about this. Having played MH Rise on PS5 I wouldnt mind a Horizon version of that gameplay with Thunderjaws and Slaughter Spines. And the Stylization doesnt put me off, plus it probably looks VERY different in it's current iteration.
Really curious to see if Sony makes their live service games free to play. Might be smart to launch them through ps extra.
As much as I'm not interested in a multiplayer only game, better that than the supposed PS5 version of Horizon Zero Dawn.
This could be fun. Although Free to Play is the way to go when cross play isn’t a thing and you want a good player count.
Removed - unconstructive
Violent coughing and choking
@Pathfinder3497 Says the ‘wannabe content creator’.
There's also a bit of concept art for the Horizon multiplayer game making the rounds that looks VERY Fortnite-esque. I think this kind of art style COULD work, but I'll need to see it in action. Even with that in mind, I'd love a 4-player Horizon game to play with the Discord homies.
I’m not gonna judge an unannounced game based on a build from 3 years ago. Direction can change massively during that time. At this point I feel like most people should just wait and see.
What I will comment on is how weird it is that Sony seems to be going all in on Horizon, at least to me. 2 games, 2 expansions, a Netflix series, a multiplayer game, and a remaster/remake of the first (if rumors are to be believed). Horizon is fine to me it’s like a definitive 7/10, but even removing my biases, it doesn’t seem like the series has either the acclaim or uniqueness to be this massive phenomenon.
Just make the multiplayer similar to monster hunter games which each zone being seperated and having a main hub to select missions and buy gear etc. Then the core of the game is 4 player multiplayer hunting the machines, the bigger machines would have way higher health pools than they do in the main game, maybe also require you to kill smaller machines on the map first to get materials to craft ammo etc.
Just for the love of god don't make it a survival game similar to ark evolved, hate games like that especially with base building.
@Deoxyr1bose I seem to have missed all this talk about a remaster/remake of the first one. Has this been announced?
Yuck. The more games go Fortnite style art design, the more I dislike it. It’s fine if a game looks that way from the ground up, but converting a photorealistic game into a Fortnite game just makes it look cheap. Like a mobile game.
Hoping that Factions 2 doesn’t have Fortnite styled characters . I’m trying to imagine how the Infected would look. 😅
@nessisonett I think the HZD Remake was still only rumor, but it was pretty firmly based, so it’s assumed to be real. That is, unless the negative public response has them reconsider. I wonder if it was one of those controlled “leaks” to gauge interest
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/10/hardcore-playstation-fans-seem-dead-against-a-horizon-zero-dawn-remake-or-remaster
@nessisonett There is a rumour that it is in development, but not by Guerilla: https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2023/01/03/horizon-zero-dawn-remake-ps5-developer-rumor/amp/
@Th3solution @nessisonett well judging by how the Last of us show is increasing sales for Part 1 Remake I dont see Sony shying away from HZD Remake to coincide with the Netflix show.
if Sony were super smart, f2p, all consoles/pc. would show users on other ecosystems the quality of Sony games.
This game will be heading straight to the live service graveyard with the rest of the GaaS that failed. People can only stretch there time so thin for these games that want you to commit to them forever. The main ones that were successful will end up being the only ones to last in the end.
Interesting stuff. I’m super curious to see what they come up with.
@3Above That’s true. These game producers have really found something with the TV and movie synergy to increase sales.
I don’t have a big problem with the HZD remake, only feel similarly like TLoU where it’s a missed opportunity for teams to be spending resources on other games. The industry has been profiting off of endless unnecessary remakes for years though — they’re called FIFA, Madden, and NBA2K. 😜
I'm not much of a monster hunter guy but I do somewhat like Horizon so I'll reserve judgement until I see more.
Not my genre of “game”. But don’t really care about the stylised design. If they feel it’s more mass market and they can earn more money that way then it’s all the more money for Sony to invest into games I’ll like.
Make this a PS Plus title. Win, win. You will get new people to sub, older subs to stay subbed and almost certainly have a high concurrent engagement up front.
Not interested in the style I want horizon graphics but a red dead online type monster hunter with ability to buy a home lodge. Mmo style horizon
I'd mind this less than the remake rumor, but even though horizon is my favorite current ps series, I'm not really at all interested in a multiplayer version of it. And I'm just aghast at the fortnitification..... And people say Sony isn't for kids. . Nothing screams going straight for the kids market quite like Fortnite graphics. Tbh almost anything heavily multilayer strikes me as aimed at kids... The phone call with friends plus guns thing is what kids are into.
... And this is coming from a Splatoon fan... But I like it BECAUSE there's no choice chat!
@thefourfoldroot1 Doesn't work that way though. If this is the kind of thing that makes the big money and what you like doesn't, they cut what you like and focus on making things for the biggest most profitable market. They don't need you as a customer if they have 5 Fortnite kids to replace you.
@NEStalgia
Perhaps, but I still have faith that it’s people like us who buy the Sony consoles for the Fortnite kids to play on, and Sony knows that. It’s not like they really sell phones or laptops anymore.
I was not the biggest Horizon fan but did like monster hunter world. I'm guessing that best fits the Horizon world but how well a clone would do would depend on the timing of the next MHW release. I do think Sony needs to move past the cinematic game style, not give it up but add some variation. Personally, that "thing" that made Sony studio games so great last gen is wearing a bit thin for me now. Will be good to see what they come up with.
Hmmm...Aside from just playing a worse version of Monster Hunter (my opinion, I don't really enjoy just destroying robots in games as a general rule, and human enemies are...I mean that's easily the worst part in Horizon) I am not a fan at all of those character models. Fortnite has a little more appeal, but these look like rip-offs of Disney Infinity characters to me.
sick of this cartoony era , almost all multiplayer games for the longest time have been indie garbage with the aesthetics for a 3 year old , i hate it so much . id take the gray/brown era back any day over this mess . i miss realistic looking games , not this lazy wacky kiddy design that insults my intelligence . this is 9th gen , push the console to their limits and justify our $500+ purchase FFS . imagine making a powerful console just to ***** crap out like this .
Horizon is a game strongly related to Alloy and other characters. A multiplayer game of the franchise is a bad idea, not interested at all.
@Th3solution im with you, I dont feel the remakes are neccessary but I guess they aren't for us. I platinumed both HZD Nd HFW so they already got my attention 😅 But if its 3rd part devs working on it and not 1st Party at least it's not taking GG dev resources. I just hope it doesn't become a FF7 Remake situation and they have to take it away and make it an internal project.
If they're making this game with Fortnite Style graphics then I already hate it. I'm totally in for a Horizon co-op game, I love Monster Hunter and Horizon can be a strong IP to challenge Capcom in that area, but i'm F-ing tired of games using that cartoonish art style, this franchise is a showcase of the Playstation power, making it that way is a disrespect to the series.
I understand if the idea is releasing the game on PS4, PS5 and PC they probably want the game to be accessible for many systems, but there are better ways to achieve that.
Seems like a waste of time when there’s an unused franchise that could be brought back to life as a story based multiplayer online online game.
Cough Killzone
@thefourfoldroot1 Heh, sadly they know what sells and they know kids have their parents open wallets. They don't need our one and done money. They really just don't... The big bucks come from buying dog costumes for Apex. It started with the darned smart phones.
Though that's my problem with Jim's leadership in general. It's not so much about catering to many different audiences and turning a profit, it's about the Hollywood model of cutting what sells low and funnelling all resources only into what sells high, and just repeat it until stops.
It's kinda weird, MS is now doing with things like pentiment and HiFi rush the kind of things Sony used to do with gravity rush and ico. But... Jim shut it all down to focus on the big earners.
Vr2 is funny because it's clearly something Jim wasn't interested in but Japan r&d was doing it anyway. I just hope he doesn't just ignore it and focus on the inevitable killzone tv show and remake of kz1.
Hell, if they are wanting to push multiplayer, I want a new Uncharted multiplayer more than anything else they possibly can offer. Well, Motorstorm would be great as well. A multiplayer Horizon just doesn’t interest me.
I prefer fantastic singleplayer experiences though.
I may have missed it when I read the article, but there are a lot of people in these comments talking about co-op and monster hunter but this game could easily be another battle royale.
@NEStalgia
I just meant that, if we had kids, which we thankfully don’t, and all games where crappy online social spaces with repetitive sandbox interactive elements, there is no way I’d have the latest console in my home. If they really wanted they could play that rubbish on their phone. There would go Sonys 30% cut.
For the next generation at least I think Sony need to provide games that the actual wallet holders want to play. Of course, later, when the wallet holders are from the free to play generation we are all screwed.
As for VR2, it would have been a decision based on the relative success of the original, and their need to hit a different market from moneybags Microsoft. There is a huge opportunity, not just to be at the forefront of VR gaming, but concerts through their music arm and 3D movies and sports through their movies and tv divisions. They know that when the tech truly matures, which would likely be a decade longer without their input, it will be much more expensive to buy up an existing player.
The amount of people getting wound up over the graphics looking a little cartoony on a piece of software they have never played or have no interest in playing is downright hilarious.
@SplooshDmg Blood and gore normally scream “Hello teenage audience.”
A unique art style (which is really what it is) makes Fortnite great as it means me (a man in his 40s) can play squad games with his kids and not worry about the content.
Speaking of Monster Hunter clones... I really wish Sony would have given Soul Sacrifice another go!
@RadioHedgeFund the art style and graphics is garbage
cartoony kiddy graphics usually scream “hello babies”
@RadioHedgeFund
The art style needs to fit the mood and themes of the game world.
Horizon is one of those games where it needs stylized realistic artwork. ZD and FW both were very stylized, but done in an ultra realistic framework.
I actually love unrealistic artsy graphics myself. Tales of Arise is GORGEOUS because the stylized almost anime look really fits that game’s mood.
I don’t think the cartoony fortnite style really fits Horizon. It needs to be stylized yes, but it needs to be stylized realism.
@RadioHedgeFund
Horizon doesn’t have any gore and only a little bit of highly stylized blood.
It’s not The Last of Us.
I also play Fortnite but getting put in random squads with the kids really puts me off. They’re all foul mouthed little goblins with no home training. It’s why I play with my regular guys or I play solos.
@nomither6
To be fair to Fortnite, the newest build of the game is actually visually impressive. It uses Lumen and Nanite very well. The lighting is very good.
Unfortunately I play at 120hz so I don’t get to see that most of the time. Faster refresh for the win. But there are times when I’ll knock it down to 60hz just to admire the improvements they’ve made to the visuals over the years.
Hard to comment until there's more info on the gameplay and what you can do in it. There are many good directions they can go. Genshin like, or MH direction, or maybe even a survival element. Let's see how it comes together.
I absolutely loved HZD and Frozen Wilds. HFW didn’t impress me as much in the story department but it was still well made.
But when did Horizon become this mega franchise with multiple games in the works? Feels like they’re throwing major resources at the Horizon Universe but it doesn’t feel earned after the second game was so divisive. It feels kinda forced.
I was hoping Guerrilla might move onto something else but it seems Sony are letting their first party studios work on the same old franchises indefinitely.
I'd rather see a Horizon/TLOU crossover, where Aloy is constantly on the run from clickers because she won't shut up😅
@thefourfoldroot1 Haha, that's not how kids work. When all their friends are playing some insipid Zoom: The Game on PS they need the ps, and they'll ask Santa for it otherwise they make life miserable
I think that's it though. The existing ps owner base since last Gen isn't people who play gow and ff, really, it's the f2p/sports/GTA/cod market. That market puts quadruple the revenue in that we do. And current management is just the trend/money chasing sort. Like Ubisoft.... Which has worked out so, so well.
@nomither6 Like the cartoony kiddy graphics of Akira?
@NEStalgia while you are right in most of what you said you are wrong saying the existing ps owner doesn't play those games like actually no one does. 70% won't do it but those games still sell A LOT between the remaining 30% and those games are created, planed and projected for that 30%. They don't used all that money on Ragnarok to waste money lol.
And to be hones that's something that has happened since the first ps, people who only played winning eleven or grand turismo, or madden on ps1/ps2 because they were too cool to play cartoonie games. People who had a 360 just to play madden, halo and cod and so on.It has always been the reality of everything not named Nintendo.
@GymratAmarillo It's not that none of those games are profitable. It's that the ROI is a tiny fraction of what the mass appeal stuff generates and reaches a much smaller public awareness to drive other media from an IP. The current management isn't interested in anything that doesn't maximize returns, and "our" market isn't the market for that.
@GymratAmarillo i love how yall tie the whole not liking childish looking games to someone wanting to be ''edgy'' or ''cool'' when 99% of the time, its just people genuinely not liking the tone of the game because its unappealing. but if a grown-up likes nothing but kiddy looking games , its ok right ? hes not edgy or anything.
it goes both ways.
@NEStalgia
Lol, if that’s what constitutes good parenting these days then it’s fortunate we don’t have kids!
Nice news for those interested. I'm content with the upcoming Forbidden West DLC, and the inevitable third game in the main story.
This is bleak but it doesn't really matter to me as I almost certainly would never play a multiplayer game like this anyway.
@thefourfoldroot1 Hear! Hear!
@Deoxyr1bose
I just knew there was gonna be a couple of people in the comments downplaying horizon haha. so predictable. anyway if you clearly can't see that horizon is widely popular and acclaimed by critics and fans alike...then you seriously have been living a tiny bubble. there's no other game that you can say you can fight robo creatures with a bow in arrow in a post post apocalyptic world...stop the cap it's more unique than most if not all the games you play or like.
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