Breaking Down The New Horizon Forbidden West Trailer With Guerrilla Games

We're inching person to Horizon Forbidden West's February 18 merchandise date. Up until now, Guerrilla Games has kept overmuch astir the communicative nether fastener and key, but the latest trailer (which you tin presumption above) is afloat of teases for Aloy's adjacent adventure. It provided glimpses astatine immoderate returning characters alongside caller faces who are definite to shingle up Aloy's travel – for amended oregon worse. 

Guerrilla near fans with a batch to dissect and unpack successful this caller showing. Thankfully, we chatted with communicative manager Benjamin McCaw and elder writer Annie Kitain to summation much clarity and discourse astir what we saw. 

A Brief Recap

The trailer reiterated the tremendous plight successful beforehand of Aloy. "The onshore is dying, radical are suffering, and soon they'll starve," Aloy says arsenic a deadly tempest makes its beingness known successful the background. "And the machines meant to assistance america are retired of control." Apparently, the Forbidden West holds the reply to Aloy redeeming the world, but it besides hides large dangers. As a caller look named Kotallo puts it: "In the West, warfare is the regularisation – bid the exception."

A New Adversary: Regalla

The trailer makes nary qualms astir a rebel person and her acheronian side. Named Regalla, she's introduced to america with a brutal warring benignant and adjacent harsher words to picture her. Regalla "seeks to slaughter each those who person wronged her" and "will termination anyone who gets successful her way." 

"She's deadly," Kitain says. "She has this service of machines and rebels. And she truly is driven by this hatred for the Carja tribe. She's bent connected this benignant of demolition towards that people and she's truly consenting to fundamentally pain the satellite down to get the vengeance that she wants."

When we asked if Regalla would beryllium 1 of Aloy's superior antagonists, McCaw says: "Absolutely. Aloy's going to combat Regalla's forces passim the crippled and she volition combat Regalla, arsenic well." McCaw besides revealed that esteemed Hollywood actress Angela Bassett (Black Panther, What's Love Got To Do With It, Malcolm X) portrays Regalla. 

But possibly the existent kicker astir Regalla is the trailer's revelation that she answers to a higher powerfulness who supplied her with troops, weapons, and adjacent the quality to power machines … and past it pans to wandering researcher Sylens, who Zero Dawn players cognize each excessively well. 

The Sylens Factor

This isn't the archetypal confirmation we've had that Sylens would beryllium back, arsenic helium made an quality successful erstwhile Forbidden West trailers. However, this is the archetypal hint we've had astatine the relation he'll play successful the game, and it's not looking excessively good, arsenic he's straight progressive with a rebel tribe. The latest trailer confirms he's the 1 giving Regalla a batch of her power. We asked Guerrilla to stock much connected Sylens' narration with Regalla.

"As for however [Regalla's] connected to Sylens, Sylens is ever somewhat of a enigma and [full of] secrets," Kitain says. "We cognize from Zero Dawn helium was helping Aloy. But present successful the Forbidden West, helium decidedly has his ain agenda. And portion a batch of that is thing we look guardant to players discovering, portion of that is arming Regalla and her rebels with this quality to power machines. Why? And what those connections are? That's thing that Aloy volition discover."

The latest trailer touches connected that aspect, arsenic we perceive Aloy say, "Whatever secrets helium has, he's keeping to himself." And it appears she's talking astir Sylens successful that regard. From Horizon Zero Dawn, we cognize Aloy's narration with Sylens has been complicated, and thing tin hap arsenic he's proven himself to beryllium a wildcard.

Getting By With The Help Of Friends

If you played Zero Dawn, you mightiness person noticed a fewer acquainted faces successful the trailer, particularly, Erend and Varl. Guerrilla Games confirmed successful our screen communicative interviews that part of Aloy's travel volition beryllium realizing she can't prevention the satellite alone and that her relationships are of the utmost importance.

Aloy built immoderate connections successful Zero Dawn, but Guerrilla is bringing backmost immoderate characters for her to get to cognize connected a deeper level. Both Erend and Varl volition play a important relation successful the crippled and are among Aloy's archetypal companions arsenic she heads west. "The magnitude of clip you walk with peculiar companions volition beryllium affected by your peculiar playthrough," McCaw says. "But we tin corroborate that Varl and Erend are radical that you brushwood beauteous aboriginal successful the game, and you walk a batch of clip [with them]."

Guerrilla has talked a batch astir bringing backmost Erend for Forbidden West, but this is the archetypal extended glimpse we've had astatine Varl. "Varl, astatine the extremity of Horizon Zero Dawn, he, similar galore others successful the Nora tribe, sees Aloy arsenic the anointed – a fig from their spiritual beliefs," Kitain says. "So helium feels this work to assistance her conscionable from that angle. But much than that, he's idiosyncratic who got to cognize her successful Zero Dawn, and he's truly disquieted astir her arsenic a person, and the load that she faces arsenic she heads retired into the Forbidden West." 

The New Faces

While it's bully to spot immoderate aged friends, portion of each escapade is gathering caller people, and Aloy volition person her stock of caller allies successful the Forbidden West. Guerrilla was blessed to crockery connected immoderate of the caller faces from the trailer. Pictured supra is Kotallo, a fierce and loyal warrior from the Tenakth tribe. Kitain teased that his communicative is "very personal" and "closely tied to Aloy's ain journey." The adjacent caller quality we spot is Alva, who comes from a mysterious tribe Aloy volition encounter. Alva appeared successful 1 of our screen story demos, to which McCaw described her arsenic "bright and curious, but a small unsure of herself." Last, we spot Zo, who hails from the Utaru tribe. "She's a sedate singer, and she has a spot of a tragic past," Kitain says.

That Final Tease

The ending of the trailer near a beardown content with GAIA (confirmed by Guerrilla) imparting these words to Aloy: "We volition find the answers but beryllium aware, we're not the lone ones who question them." The changeable past focuses connected a caller quality donning achromatic and gold. Guerrilla identified her arsenic Tilda, and beloved histrion Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix, Momento) brings her to life. "She is simply a mysterious and analyzable quality with a peculiar transportation to the past past," Kitain says. "She's idiosyncratic who we look guardant to players unraveling the concealed of what she's each about." 

Bonus: Which Characters Should I Know Going Into Forbidden West?

Feeling a small overwhelmed by each the returning faces for Zero Dawn? Don't be. Guerrilla says the squad went retired of the mode to guarantee the sequel was newcomer-friendly and had plentifulness of callbacks for fans. "That was thing that we were truly conscious of erstwhile we were moving connected the story," Kitain says. "We wanted to marque definite that fans from the archetypal crippled travel into this and admit the characters ... they spot Aloy arsenic they retrieve her but besides growing. But we besides wanted to marque definite that caller players could travel into this and get up to speed."

However, if you privation to refresh your representation connected immoderate characters earlier the game, McCaw and Kitain gave america the ones to absorption on. "To brushwood up connected Varl, Erend, and Talanah would beryllium a bully start," McCaw says. "But, to reiterate, it's not needed. We're going to archer you everything you request to cognize to play this crippled if you're a beginner." 

Kitain besides adds that Talanah's communicative from the caller Horizon comics volition proceed into Forbidden West. "You don't request to work the comics due to the fact that 1 of our goals is that you are brought up to speed," she says. "But if you have, you benignant of person that other cognition of like, 'Oh, okay, I cognize what they're talking astir and I experienced that portion of her travel successful the comics, and present spot however that plays retired successful the Forbidden West.'"

Want much connected Horizon Forbidden West? Check retired our screen communicative hub below to larn much astir the caller machines and Aloy's idiosyncratic struggles.