Horizon 3 Has a High Bar to Clear in One Key Area

Highlights

• The Horizon franchise is popular and ready for its third installment, but facing challenges with machine enemies and creative design.
• Balancing problems could occur with bigger machines in Horizon 3, and it must focus on creative solutions for challenging combat.
• Exciting possibilities lie ahead in Horizon 3, as developers at Guerrilla Games have to bring out big guns for Aloy’s journey.

Guerrilla Games’ Horizon franchise has been one of the most popular Sony exclusives in recent years. Although there are only two games to have been released in the series, Horizon is primed and ready to get a third installment. The popularity of the games has even spawned a LEGO adaptation, but a third mainline entry will expand Aloy’s journey even further.

The world that Guerrilla Games has been able to bring to life in its Horizon series is incredibly compelling. Set in a post-apocalyptic United States in the 31st century, one of the biggest threats facing protagonist Aloy and her allies are the various machines that plague the land. These hulking robotic creatures are the key antagonists of the series, but they also present Horizon 3 with a tricky road ahead. Although the machines are one of the main features of the Horizon series, it is difficult to imagine how they could be made even better.

The Horizon Franchise Has Backed Itself Into a Corner With Its Machines

Horizon 3 Might Have No Room to Go Bigger

There may only be two games in the Horizon franchise at this point, but the sequel, Horizon: Forbidden West managed to go bigger and better with its machines in a beautiful way. There are several ways that Horizon can be improved, but designing even more unique machine enemies is no easy task for developers. The existential threat of these machines lies at the heart of Horizon‘s story and its combat, so a third game in the franchise has really put itself in a tricky position with how to move forward.

One of the greatest parts about the Horizon series is seeing how creative the developers at Guerrilla Games can get with its creature design. The machines can range from the not-so-lethal varieties, like the Tallnecks, but there are also plenty of machines to be feared in Horizon. Machines like Behemoths and Bileguts present incredibly challenging boss encounters for players. Although Forbidden West recycles some of the machines featured in Zero Dawn, the former turns up the difficulty, offering an even more harrowing experience for players.

There are several animals
Horizon
could still use as machine design inspiration, like sharks, gorillas, or even spiders.

With such formidable foes being at the heart of Horizon, it’s baffling to try and think of what could be in store for the next Horizon chapter. The art design of Forbidden West‘s machines brought the franchise to new heights, so a third game will really have to bring out the big guns if it wants to meet the same highs that the second game did.

Horizon 3 Making Even Bigger Machines Presents a Balancing Problem

Based on job listings for Guerrilla Games, it seems as though Horizon 3 will have even bigger machines. Of course, this would be the natural progression for the series, since Forbidden West also took a bigger and better approach. However, this also presents a major balancing issue. If new machines become too big in the next Horizon game, it won’t be believable to watch Aloy take them on. There is a lot of potential for Horizon 3‘s new machines, but embracing creative solutions instead of focusing on sheer size may be the best move.

The possibilities for machines in Horizon 3 are wide open, and it will be exciting to see what route developer Guerrilla Games takes with the next chapter in Aloy’s story. At first, it seems like going larger with creature design is the natural progression, but focusing on creative designs and challenging combat, despite the size, is also a good route for Guerrilla Games to take. As time passes, more will eventually be revealed about Horizon 3, and until then, it’s exciting to imagine what is next for the series.