Horizon Forbidden West boasts improved traversal and climbing mechanics

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Aloy's sequel will feel a lot smoother

Horizon Forbidden West
(Image credit: Guerrilla Games)

Horizon Forbidden West boasts improved climbing and traversal mechanics, it's been revealed.

The new details come courtesy of an IGN preview, where the outlet got to sample four hours of new gameplay in Horizon Forbidden West. In particular, the new preview points out that the climbing mechanics of the sequel are a big improvement on 2017's Zero Dawn, featuring much more rocky terrain that protagonist Aloy can scale with ease.

This ultimately brings Forbidden West closer to that of an Assassin's Creed game, the new preview notes. If you found Aloy's handling of environments to often be clumsy back in the original game, then the thought of scaling walls, branches, and cliff faces far quicker in Forbidden West is no doubt music to your ears. 

In fact, we can see some of these overhauled mechanics in action in the leaked footage below. We can see Aloy scaling rocky ridges, using rapid ziplines, and even latching onto enemies with a grappling hook in the gameplay segment, as well as using the paraglider-like item that we've previous seen in past gameplay demoes.

All of this has Horizon Forbidden West shaping up to be a far more smoother experience when you're out in the open world. Guerrilla's forthcoming sequel launches in under a month from now on February 18, for PS4 and PS5 alike. Just earlier today, we learned that it'll feature an absorbing minigame similar to Warhammer, where Aloy ventures around to collect pieces to use for battle.

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Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.