Horizon Forbidden West trailer gives a detailed look at 3 new machines

A new Horizon Forbidden West trailer gives us a closer look at three unfamiliar machines we'll encounter in our travels with Aloy, including a fearsome robo-snake.

The trailer focuses in on the Slitherfang - that's the snake, if it wasn't clear from the name - the Rollerback, and the Sunwing. The Slitherfang appears to reside in sandy environments in Horizon Forbidden West, where its serpentine transit across the dunes leaves behind a distinctive, S-shaped trail. A set of plates stretching back from its head extend and glow as a threat display, giving it the appearance of a cobra's hood.

The Rollerback is a less immediately threatening machine, with a bulky frame composed of distinct plates that give it an armadillo-like appearance. Unlike the plates on an armadillo, these ones appear to fly off of and back onto the machine as a possible defensive measure. Rollerbacks can also roll into a ball and propel themselves forward at a surprising speed with the aid of thrusters situated along their spine.

Finally, the Sunwings are easy: they're pterodactyls with wing membranes that double as solar panels. You'll see them gliding in packs (or would it be flocks) through the skies of the Forbidden West, which obviously leaves the big question of whether Aloy will be able to hack one and take it for an aerial joyride.

The trailer features brief looks at other machines, but we won't have to wait long to learn more about the whole mechanical menagerie; Horizon Forbidden West is still set to arrive on PS5 and PS4 on February 18, 2022.

Horizon Forbidden West is easily one of our most anticipated upcoming PS5 games.

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.