Horizon Forbidden West Will Let Players 'Feel' The Grass via DualSense Haptics
Guerrilla Games' Horizon Forbidden West is certainly high on the priority list of a lot of gamers this year, with fans of the original game, Horizon Zero Dawn, eagerly anticipating any new information on its sequel. For those looking for an immersive experience that matches the original, gamers will be excited to learn that PlayStation's DualSense technology will allow them to really feel the game's grass as they lay in wait for their enemies.
Horizon Zero Dawn was one of the PlayStation 4's best selling titles, with over 10 million copies sold worldwide in 2019, only two years after its release. It has also won numerous awards, including Best PlayStation Game and Best Storytelling at the Golden Joystick awards in 2017. The game was certainly notable, not only for the heartfelt journey of the game's protagonist, Aloy, but also for the strength of its environmental design. While the world is a dystopia, Horizon Zero Dawn is still lush with vegetation and life, juxtaposed with the encroachment of futuristic technology.
Horizon Forbidden West's environments were a strong focus of its announcement trailer, which showed thriving ecosystems above and below the water slowly succumbing to a mysterious threat that is plaguing the land. It makes sense that for a game with a heavy focus on the exploration of various biomes, Guerrilla Games wants them to be as immersive as possible. Studio Director Angie Smets, has suggested that haptic technology in PlayStation's DualSense controllers has allowed the developers to do that, allowing players to "feel those long grass leaves" when they dive into a patch of greenery to hide from foes.
Haptic technology allows the PlayStation controller to alter the amount of tension in its triggers based on the action the player is performing. It is used to great effect in PlayStation 5 games like Demon's Souls Remake for instance, giving players a sense of weight to weapons by having heavier swords and axes require a stronger press to swing, and bows having tension as the player draws back the string. While Smets only mentions grass in her brief comment on the matter, haptic technology could allow for much more immersive traversal across Horizon Forbidden West's varied environments.
While haptic technology isn't a brand new invention by Sony, it is interesting to see how games are being developed around it. Horizon Forbidden West utilizing the technology for differentiation in terrain could allow for some interesting player experiences, such as the surface tension of water or different materials underfoot as the player runs (or gallops on their robo-mount) across the land. The fact that developers such as Guerrilla Games and Blizzard are using haptic technology is exciting news for gamers, as many are ready to see what the DualSense controller can do in the right hands.
Horizon Forbidden West releases for PS4 and PS5 in late 2021.
Source: Wired
Reviewed by Unknown
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May 14, 2021
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