Learn to survive and take on new challenges in a post-apocalyptic world filled with wild machines, as Guerrilla Games discusses Aloy’s new abilities in Horizon: Forbidden West — giving players an idea of what new gameplay changes are coming to the highly anticipated sequel.

In a blog entry released by PlayStation, Guerrilla Games discusses the new traversal options and immersive exploration the sequel provides with new tools, abilities and weapons that augment Aloy’s abilities in the field to take on the adversaries that come her way. This will give her more options to navigate the terrain and take on enemies — and all will come in handy skills and powers to take on the machines.

Here’s a look at the various new abilities Horizon: Forbidden West will grant Aloy as she embarks in her biggest adventure yet.

For those who need bullet points on the new abilities Aloy has, here they are.

• Aloy can navigate freely on the terrain and use it to her advantage.
• There will be a number of environmental puzzles that will require players to think out of the box and experiment on how they can get out of sticky situations.
• The DualSense controller will be heavily featured in the game, using the adaptive triggers and giving players an immersive experience while guiding Aloy through her adventure.
• Free climbing in Horizon: Forbidden West will play heavily into providing a lot of options for Aloy to get past obstacles. She can also wall-jump now, and hoist herself up objects to give her ways to climb up and over places.
• The Pullcaster acts as a grapple mechanic and winch.
• The Shieldwing is a glider that helps Aloy get down from high places.
• Several new skills and abilities can be unlocked using the skill tree, and there’s a Valor Surge mechanic that can be upgraded to allow for more devastating attacks.
• Enemies can now attack in groups, so choosing how to handle them using melee or distance attacks is crucial for survival.

There’s definitely a lot of new stuff to learn in the sequel, and the developers chime in on why they made things challenging for Horizon fans and players.

“We put a lot of effort into creating more choice and depth for the players, and are super excited to see how people will play as Aloy with so many new possibilities of skills, weapons and gear she can obtain throughout the mysterious Forbidden West. We had a lot of fun creating cool and powerful combinations for players to discover, and we hope people will enjoy the game when it launches!”

Despite the new power-ups and upgrades, Guerrilla Games also makes things harder for Aloy as enemies can now face her in groups. That’s definitely going add more challenge and replay factor to the game, and it’s something players can get excited for when the sequel arrives for PlayStation next year.

Check out the 15 minute gameplay trailer for Horizon: Forbidden West if you missed it showing of Aloy’s abilities in action. The game will be released for PS5 and PS4 on February 18, and you can check out the different editions coming for that game here.

Source: PlayStation Blog