The recently-released Horizon Forbidden West is the latest AAA game to suffer from review bombing, and some of the criticisms are quite petty and shallow. The highly anticipated follow-up to 2017’s surprise PlayStation 4 hit Horizon Zero Dawn, Forbidden West finally launched last week, telling the story of outcast-turned-hero Aloy as she journeys into the titular Forbidden West to stop a mysterious plague and uncover more secrets about the disaster that befell her world long ago. In addition to the enhanced graphics and Haptic Feedback functionality of the PS5, Horizon Forbidden West adds a branching skill tree that allows players to craft their own playstyle, as well as new Machines for Aloy to hunt - such as the massive, snakelike Slitherfang and amphibian enemies that follow players into the water.
So far, most of Horizon Forbidden West’s reception has been quite positive, with players and critics alike praising the new game for building upon the gameplay and atmosphere that made Horizon Zero Dawn such a success. Extra praise has been given to Horizon Forbidden West’s enhanced visuals, which many players say masterfully bring the ruined world of the game to life even on the last-gen PS4. Legendary horror director and video game enthusiast John Carpenter is one of many who expressed excitement for Horizon Forbidden West before its release, and would later praise Horizon Forbidden West voice actress Ashley Burch for her role as Aloy.
Not everyone has enjoyed Horizon Forbidden West, with PushSquare reporting the game has been review bombed. Horizon Forbidden West’s Metacritic user review page has recently been bombarded by several extremely negative reviews, though this hasn’t really brought down the game’s overall rating too much. While some of the criticisms expressed are based around the game's graphics and gameplay, other users are lambasting Aloy’s in-game appearance as being too “masculine,” even going as far as to call her a “bearded woman” (via TheGamer). While Aloy does appear to have some minor facial hair when players zoom in on her in Photo Mode, it mostly amounts to a small level of peach fuzz that most humans have, regardless of gender. Nonetheless, these negative reviews are telling players to avoid Horizon Forbidden West for these reasons, and instead play Elden Ring when it launches later this week.
Even before the launch of the new game, many players expressed concerns over the latest design for protagonist Aloy, with plenty of viewers accusing Guerilla Games of making her appear less feminine in an effort to be politically correct when her character model was first unveiled in a reveal trailer last May. Others have pointed out that Aloy doesn’t look all that different than she did in Horizon Zero Dawn, and that she is too busy surviving in the robot-filled world of The Claim to worry about her hair and make-up too much, though it seems backlash over Aloy’s appearance in Horizon Forbidden West is set to continue.
As is the case with any video game, not everyone is going to enjoy Horizon Forbidden West. However, there is a difference between not connecting with a given title’s gameplay or story and lambasting the appearance of a fictional character for shallow and even outright false reasons. Thankfully, it appears that these negative Horizon Forbidden West reviews are in the minority, as the game currently enjoys a solid 8.1 user score on Metacritic.
Source: Metacritic (via PushSquare, The Gamer)
