Guerrilla Games has unveiled the next game in the Horizon franchise, with a debut trailer spotlighting the co-op action and adventures of multiplayer spin-off, Horizon Hunters Gathering.
As announced, this is a game that encourages shared play. You begin as a heroic Hunter tasked with protecting a post-apocalyptic world under threat from deadly future machines, many of which will be familiar to Horizon players. Teaming up in squads, you’ll need to work alongside others to take down these beasts, and protect the future from a terrible fate.
What to know about Horizon Hunters Gathering – quick links
Horizon Hunters Gathering is centred on replayable hunts
Horizon Hunters Gathering is designed to be a social game, with the primary missions revolving around teams of Hunters setting out to take down machines on dedicated hunts.
Guerrilla has announced the first two of these hunt types – Machine Incursion, a ‘high-intensity mission where waves of machines pour out from underground gateways, led by a formidable boss’ and Cauldron Descent, a ‘longer, multi-stage trial in which ever-changing rooms push Hunters to their limits, from brutal machine encounters to hidden doors that promise power and reward for teams prepared to open them.’
Given the nature of Horizon Hunters Gathering as a live service game, we expect there will be many more modes, with each offering a twist on combat-heavy gameplay.
How combat works in Horizon Hunters Gathering
Beyond first details of gameplay modes, Guerrilla has also revealed much about how combat will play out, confirming a range of options to make each round feel fresh.
Players will be able to select from an array of Hunters, each with different combat specialties, from melee to ranged. There’s also a ‘rouge-lite’ perk system available, so you can enhance your warrior as you please.
Despite the game largely focussing on combat and team play, Guerrilla has confirmed there’s also narrative gameplay elements here, with each of the game’s main Hunters having ‘their own motivations and personal struggles’ which feature in ‘new stories’ the team is keen to tell.
Horizon Hunters Gathering has an accompanying narrative campaign to share more, which should better align the game with the rest of the Horizon franchise – even with its unique gameplay style and an entirely different, more cartoon-ish aesthetic.
This game seems to feature an entirely new direction compared to its predecessors, which is already proving controversial on social media. As many have pointed out, the Horizon games take themselves entirely seriously. They act as a commentary on the current state of the world, and defer to realism in aesthetic and tone.
Horizon Hunters Gathering – like Lego Horizon Adventures before it – seems to feature a more light-hearted tone, with player characters seen laughing and cajoling in the field, before heading into skirmishes.
It should be said that different isn’t always bad. We’ll wait to reserve judgement, and to see whether the game can live up to its popular predecessors when it eventually launches.
Also on ScreenHub: Baldur’s Gate 3 TV series adaptation in the works at HBO
Larian Studios’ acclaimed RPG Baldur’s Gate 3 is finally getting a major sequel. The only catch is, it’s in the form of a TV series adaptation, currently in development at HBO. The news arrives courtesy of Deadline, which reported the studio is officially working alongside Hasbro Entertainment to expand the world of the games, in entirely surprising fashion.
The continuation will be helmed by Craig Mazin, co-creator of HBO’s The Last of Us TV adaptation, and will be executive produced by various folks from Hasbro Entertainment and Dungeons & Dragons rights holder, Wizards of the Coast.
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