Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores Review (PS5) | Push Square

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For us, Guerrilla Games' Horizon series has been brilliant from the very start, but it's getting better each time we return to it. Horizon Forbidden West is an excellent sequel that builds upon the first game in practically every way — a larger, more varied open world, a better ensemble cast, more interesting side quests, and improved traversal, to name a few. Burning Shores, the DLC expansion, is largely more of the same, but adds just enough on top to make it well worth the visit.

Following on directly from the events of the main game, Sylens tasks Aloy with tracking down an important loose end in the titular region. We won't give any spoilers, but it's safe to say this expansion acts as a neat bridge from Forbidden West into Horizon 3. Guerrilla has doubled down on its bonkers sci-fi story, and it's delivered so earnestly that we can't help but love the nonsense. If you do too, and enjoyed what the base game offered up, you'll definitely enjoy that side of the narrative here.

But let's not get too ahead of ourselves. 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 humanise a protagonist who was perhaps a little one-note in Forbidden West.

The main set of quests is five strong, and all of them are pretty lengthy. You're looking at about six to eight hours depending on your pace, and that's without considering the other stuff to do in the expansion. The story