At its core Forbidden West is a fantastic game, it just has a few things that niggle away at me and stop it becoming a 10/10. Visually it is stunning, it’s still the best looking game I’ve ever played with ridiculously high fidelity characters and environments, gorgeous lighting, complex weather etc. The story is solid but not as strong as its predecessor Zero Dawn. The first games story blew my mind but still felt reasonably believable, whereas this story felt like it was veering into superhero film territory. That feeling is exacerbated by the main cast of characters, especially Aloy’s allies, who grated on me over time and who I felt didn’t react believably to the events going on around them. Combat is once again fantastic and is a real challenge, especially on harder difficulties, and progresssion felt rewarding, although in the inevitable next installment I hope they find a better way to streamline the inventory system/upgrades. Puzzles can be irritating in this game too, or at least they were for me, especially when Aloy repeatedly narrates everything you’re doing. My last niggle is a very personal one. While the world is incredible to look at and hear, I wish the game didn’t constantly have music playing at all times. I like when games feature minimal music as the ambient sound of an environment can be incredibly immersive (Red Dead 2, Ico) and I felt the constant music distracting. What keeps this game at a 9 considering these criticisms, is the visual package overall and the combat. I recommend this game for those fantastic highlights.

Essentially, I’ve played this game before, called Horizon 1 or any Assassin’s Creed game. You’ve probably played it before too. The world is gorgeous yet the reasons for exploring it often aren’t worth the effort. There’s so much potential, the machines are amazing though could be even bigger, the cauldrons remind me of the Matrix, I should love it. Sadly exploration and the story is forced and I just don’t care about it or anyone in it.

It's impressive the ability they have had so that despite the great atmosphere that has, they have managed to create a game so generic and that gives me the impression that I've played a thousand times. Even though it has a really intriguing story, it is impossible for me to be interested due to its characters that sin of being generic and unbearable. A game with a nice but empty world, it leaves me with the feeling that it could be much more.

It’s a monster of a game if you factor in everything there is to do. I enjoyed it but also felt waterlogged by the long conversations and cutscenes. I’ll definitely play the next one and have a lot of respect for the amount of detail included.

What started as a great initial game has been fully realised in the sequel. It’s engaging story, more developed gameplay and surprises make this a stellar game.