Horizon Forbidden West - Digital Foundry Tech Review - A PS5 Graphics Masterclass

Digital Foundry・2 minutes read

Horizon Forbidden West impresses with its visuals, open-world design, and performance across PS5 and PS4, showcasing Gorilla Games' expertise in creating immersive experiences for all players. The game's attention to detail, improved character interactions, and stable performance make it a must-play for fans of story-driven experiences and open-world adventures.

Insights

  • Horizon Forbidden West, developed by Gorilla Games, showcases a visually stunning open world with diverse biomes and detailed character interactions, offering stable performance on both PS5 and PS4.
  • The game's advanced visual techniques, including volumetric effects, realistic surface interactions, and improved climbing systems, contribute to creating a cohesive and visually appealing landscape, emphasizing the importance of detail perception based on distance in virtual worlds.

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Recent questions

  • What is Horizon Forbidden West?

    A sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn with improved visuals.

  • What are the performance modes in Horizon Forbidden West?

    Resolution mode at 30fps native 4K, Performance mode at 60fps 1800p.

  • How does Horizon Forbidden West improve surface interaction?

    Realistic vegetation and terrain reactions to movements.

  • What are the key visual elements in Horizon Forbidden West?

    Volumetric clouds, water rendering, and detailed landscapes.

  • How does Horizon Forbidden West enhance character interactions?

    Expressive characters and detailed rendering for immersion.

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Summary

00:00

"Horizon Forbidden West: Next-Gen Gaming Excellence"

  • Horizon Forbidden West released five years after Horizon Zero Dawn, exceeding tech expectations.
  • Gorilla Games, known for pushing visual boundaries, presents its first PlayStation 5 game.
  • The game is cross-gen, available on both PS5 and PS4, with upcoming comparison analysis.
  • Horizon 2 showcases polished quest design, traversal, and refined world design.
  • The game boasts diverse biomes, interconnected beautifully, offering engaging exploration.
  • Powered by Gorilla's Decima engine, Horizon 2 offers two PS5 performance modes.
  • Resolution mode maintains 30fps at native 4K, while Performance mode targets 60fps at 1800p.
  • Visual quality differences between modes are minor, affecting screen space details.
  • Horizon 2 excels in surface interaction, with vegetation and terrain realistically reacting to movements.
  • Water rendering in Horizon 2 significantly improves, featuring dynamic reflections and realistic textures.

16:52

Horizon 2: Stunning visuals and immersive gameplay

  • Volumetric clouds play a crucial role in creating beautiful vistas in Horizon 2, prompting a deeper exploration of large-scale environments in games.
  • Horizon 2's climbing system has been significantly improved, enhancing the traversal experience when reaching mountain peaks.
  • A beautiful vista in an open-world game comprises the horizon, far-field detail, midfield detail, and near-field detail, each contributing to the overall visual impact.
  • Designers must consider how detail perception changes based on distance in virtual worlds to avoid unnatural repeating patterns.
  • Horizon 2 excels in creating natural differences in surface appearance based on proximity, utilizing various visual techniques to avoid repeating patterns.
  • Volumetric effects, height fog, cloud and mist formations, and lighting contribute to creating a cohesive and visually appealing landscape in Horizon 2.
  • Horizon 2 boasts a visually dense and detailed open world with a wide range of biomes, each offering a unique look and feel.
  • Character interactions in Horizon 2 have significantly improved, with expressive characters and detailed rendering, enhancing immersion and engagement.
  • Horizon 2 offers stable performance in both 60 frames per second and 30 frames per second modes, with minimal frame rate drops and loading times.
  • The game's open-world design and engaging quests cater to players who may not typically enjoy open-world games, offering a story-driven experience with enjoyable traversal and surprises in gameplay progression.
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