HOLLYWEIRD
Is The 'Burning Shores' Expansion For 'Horizon' Any Good? Here's What The Reviews Say
Fourteen months after the release of last year's "Horizon: Forbidden West," Guerrilla Games has released a beefy $20 expansion that jettisons PS4 support so that the PS5 version can better utilize the added horsepower. Thankfully, PS4 players won't have to re-buy the base game when they upgrade.
The "Burning Shores" expansion has a strong average score of 79/100 on OpenCritic with just nine reviews so far. That doesn't match the 88/100 average of the main game, but that's not surprising since this downloadable content (DLC) is made to be post-game content designed for super fans — not the broadest possible audience.
Still on the fence? Here's what the critics are saying about this expansion:
There's a lot here for fans of the characters and the combat
"Horizon: Forbidden West's" "Burning Shores" DLC is a worthwhile addition to this acclaimed action-heavy sci-fi series. Fun new challenges and enemies are introduced and cool new ways to dispatch them are presented with regularity. The story is more concerned with developing character than it is working towards dealing with the imminent world-ending threat, and it's Aloy at her most personal and believable yet. A couple of poor boss battles aside, it's a great new chapter with enough creative new bells and whistles to keep fans more than happy.
Aloy crash lands in the "Burning Shores" and is immediately confronted by Seyka, a member of the Quen tribe that's currently stranded and missing many of its people. This new character will join Aloy on her main quests and she proves to be just as capable as our heroine, which is a rarity in these titles. She's another welcome addition to "Horizon's" wider cast, and one who challenges Aloy in new ways, helping to humanize a protagonist who was perhaps a little one-note in Forbidden West.
This is building up to the next mainline game
By the way, the seeds of a "Horizon" are planted in the epilogue, so if you are a fan and want to know how Aloy and her team are going to try and beat Nemesis? Well, you will need to play this DLC.
Despite all of that, "Horizon: Forbidden West: Burning Shores" is still a lot of fun. The combat remains as satisfying as ever and so too does the traversal similarly satisfy those looking for more of the same bedrock mechanics that has made the series so compelling. Seyka meanwhile is a worthy addition to the series ever expanding cast of characters and the ending though somewhat flat, provides a clear sign where the series will go in its inevitable third entry.
Some of the best content included here can feel like a tantalizing teaser for the next mainline "Horizon" game. In particular, Aloy gets one new weapon — a more modern piece of tech that's entirely alien from her bows and javelins — midway through the campaign that quickly became my go-to machine slayer. It left me dreaming of a sequel that follows that thread further, working more advanced weaponry into Aloy's world and examining how she adapts to it. Burning Shores may not be rich with new content, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of its ideas become series-defining hooks going forward.
It looks really good on PS5
Only available on PS5, "Burning Shores" looks absolutely phenomenal, just as you'd expect. For the most part though, you'll wonder what there is here that couldn't have been done on PS4 to some degree. Then you get to the final quest. Culminating in a boss fight against a mechanical monstrosity that dwarfs even the giant beasts found in the likes of "Shadow of the Colossus," it is well and truly epic.
It's worth noting that "Burning Shores" is a PlayStation 5 exclusive, which is interesting given that the base game hit the PlayStation 4 too. However, that current gen exclusivity has paid off, with the game looking absolutely gorgeous throughout. It's been a while since I played "Horizon: Forbidden West" so I'd forgotten just how stunning it was, but the luscious (and at times [recognizable]) sights seen in "Burning Shores" acted as a reminder that the team at Guerrilla are masters of their craft when it comes to striking world design.
"Horizon: Forbidden West: Burning Shores" is available now exclusively on PS5.
