Hear that roaring in the distance? That’s the sound of Aloy returning in the brand new Horizon Zero Dawn DLC The Frozen Wilds. She’s taken a break from the lush grounds of the Nora and the arid deserts belonging to the Carja to ‘trespass’ on the Banuk’s mystical lands. Our red-haired Seeker isn’t on any roadtrip either - she’s on the hunt for some mysterious answers. The Mountain overlooking the snowy, harsh landscape has them. It would help if we knew what the question was. Surrounding the mountain is a crackling electric smoke, as if something is alive in the mountain...and it’s not happy.
The thing is, Horizon Zero Dawn didn’t leave a lot of unanswered questions. Its beautifully considered main quest tied in the backstory to the apocalypse and Aloy’s journey to save the world from Hades, leading to a satisfying conclusion. Mind you, by the sounds of what the Banuk chief said the ‘hunt’ is going to be a big part of Aloy’s oncoming adventure. So we could be looking at a high-difficulty DLC rather than one based purely on story. She is wearing her insanely tough Shield-Weaver armour, after all. Headdress swaying in the cold wind, the Banuk leader also mentions defeating the beast that guards the Mountain. Somehow I don’t think he’s talking about a Thunderjaw, Horizon’s reincarnation of the T-Rex. That would be retreading old ground, when Horizon really needs to push Aloy to somewhere new. The smoke swirling around the mountain top wouldn’t crackle with electricity on its own unless there was a crazy lightning storm going on 24/7.
So, are we about to meet a colossal new beast, waiting in the smoke atop of the mountain? The answer must be yes. Remember, at the end of Horizon Zero Dawn we say Sylens had in fact teamed up with Hades, who is most definitely not dead. Has the dastardly duo awoken a Horus, one of the giant, robot-spawning titans glimpsed at the end of the game? Let’s hope the answer is yes, because if the boss at the end of The Frozen Wilds is another Thunderjaw, I’m going to get the feeling that players have seen it all before.
