Horizon Forbidden West PC review: An excellent PC port of a phenomenal PlayStation exclusive

Horizon Forbidden West on PC is probably the definitive way to play Guerrilla Games' open-world magnum opus. Nixxes Software are literal wizards when it comes to translating these big-budget AAA PlayStation exclusives to PC, while also making sure the whole thing runs great, not only on the latest and greatest PC hardware but also the more modest configurations, as well.

I have always been a fan of Nixxes' work since their time on the PC ports of the Tomb Raider Trilogy. Being someone who primarily plays on PC, I've grown accustomed to getting shoddy console ports on the platform, which usually take upwards of a year to get to a stable and playable state.

However, when it comes to Nixxes, I've rarely (if at all) seen them mess up a PC port, and Horizon Forbidden West is no exception to this rule. In fact, I think Horizon Forbidden West's PC port is perhaps the best PC title that's released so far in 2024. Period. While yes, there are some issues, with the game, the port, for the most part, is as stellar as it gets.

Horizon Forbidden West PC: A good PC port of an equally excellent RPG, held back by a by-the-numbers open-world

Visuals, audio, and presentation

One thing that you cannot fault any major PlayStation exclusive for is their presentation. From Uncharted to Ratchet & Clank, every PlayStation exclusive packs some serious punch when it comes to their visual fidelity, and Horizon Forbidden West is no different. It might very well be the best-looking PlayStation game to date.

The Decima engine at its best. (Image via Nixxes Software)

While there isn't any ray-tracing involved here, the lighting is on par with some of the best implementations of RTGI (ray-traced global illumination) I've seen on PCs and consoles. The screen-space reflections do look a tad dated though, but that's also somewhat remedied by the stellar transparency post-processing effect.

Horizon Forbidden West already looked leagues ahead of any other open-world game of its time on the PS5. However, with the PC release, it now looks even better, not only due to the sheer graphical fidelity but also due to its unique art style and the underlying tech that's powering it. That also holds true for the game's audio.

The PS5 version of the game was the first time I got to experience what the Tempest 3D AudioTech engine was capable of delivering. Surprisingly, on PC, with a proper 7.1 set-up or a good pair of headphones, you can get an almost identical audio experience, albeit with a few minor caveats.

Horizon Forbidden West also features a rather robust photo mode, a perfect tool for virtual photography enthusiasts. (Image via Nixxes Software)

There are some issues with the sound mixing in the PC port, especially when it comes to dialogue. Despite cranking every single sound-related slider to its maximum value, the dialogue in cutscenes and gameplay always sounds muffled. This issue is only applicable to dialogue, as the in-game ambient sounds do play just fine.

New things added to the PC port

Similarly to other recent PlayStation PC ports, Horizon Forbidden West more or less is the same game as the PS5 version, albeit with a few key differences. First things first, the PC port includes the PS version only, and not the PS4 code, as such, I really won't recommend playing the game on anything that falls under the minimum requirements bracket.

You get a ton of options to tweak to get the balance between performance and visual fidelity just right. (Image via Nixxes Software)

The PC version is the "Complete Edition" which bundles in all the post-release updates as well as the fantastic Burning Shores DLC. I originally played Horizon Forbidden West on PS4, when it was first released back in February 2022. However, close to Burning Shores' release, I got my PS5 and did a full playthrough there as well.

Now after almost a year, having played through the entire base game for the third time, but on PC, I can safely say the PC version looks and feels significantly better than the PlayStation version. This is due to two major things, the first being the uncapped framerate, which allowed me to go past the 60fps threshold.

And second, well, that's just the ease of access. I spend most of my time in front of my computer, and as much as I like my PS5, I rarely get the time to boot that system up. In terms of PC-exclusive features, there's the usual suite of DLSS, FSR, widescreen, and Steam input support. Apart from those things, the PC version is identical to that of the PS5 version.

Story and exposition

Horizon Forbidden West is one of the very few sequels where I would highly recommend you play the previous title in the series first. Yes, you can play, and even enjoy the sequel without any prior knowledge of the previous game's story, but in doing so, you will often find yourself confused and unfazed by some of the plot-related revelations.

The story of Horizon Forbidden West starts strong but fails to nail its ending. (Image via Nixxes Software)

The story here picks up right after the conclusion of Horizon Zero Dawn and its Frozen Wilds expansion, with Aloy, the series' protagonist being on the hunt for GAIA, an AI capable of halting the destruction caused by HADES, another AI, but rogue. The story here is a typical sci-fi affair, with some tender character moments thrown in the mix.

While I did like the story in Horizon Zero Dawn, I never really felt the same for Horizon Forbidden West, or even the Burning Shores expansion. Where the first game felt like a simple sci-fi story, that despite its many complex ideas never felt overwhelming, the sequel is just that, overwhelming, and not in a good way.

The overreliance on exposition for almost every single aspect of the story is precisely what I don't like about Horizon Forbidden West. While the sci-fi aspect of the narrative is captivating, it's undermined by the game trying to explain everything with lengthy expository jargon, that often feels like padding above anything else.

Burning Shores does help make up for the rather abrupt ending of the base game, but it too doesn't feel like a proper or natural conclusion to Aloy's character arc. (Image via Nixxes Software)

The Burning Shores DLC somewhat remedies this with the story being less "exposition-heavy" but it isn't perfect either. I also didn't like the ending of either the base game or the DLC. I do commend Guerrilla Games for the bold direction they took Aloy's story in, but aspects of it don't feel natural or befitting the overarching narrative.

Gameplay and combat

The moment-to-moment gameplay and combat are where Horizon Forbidden West shines the most. There are very few things in gaming that are as satisfying and exhilarating as taking down a huge robot dinosaur with nothing more than fancy elemental bows, slingshots, makeshift traps, and pure ingenuity, also, probably a bit of luck.

Exploring the world of Horizon Forbidden West is an absolute joy. (Image via Nixxes Software)

The gameplay being so refined and fun is probably why I don't like the story's overreliance on exposition, which only takes away time from the best parts of the game, i.e., combat. At its core, Horizon Forbidden West is a third-person shooter, with minor RPG elements thrown into the mix.

Your primary arsenal includes a variety of bows, each with its own elemental properties, slingshots, spike-throwers, and also a minigun, although that's a DLC-exclusive weapon. The combat here is pretty straightforward: shoot the machines with everything you got, till they wither and die, or should I say "shut down."

However, there's also some depth to this simple combat system, especially with elemental affinities and enemy weak points involved. Every enemy type here bears some form of elemental weakness, which you can exploit to gain an upper hand in combat. Additionally, you can target specific weak points on the enemies, to deal additional damage.

Elemental weapons make a short work of bosses. (Image via Nixxes Software)

There's genuinely nothing more satisfying than taking down a Tremortusk or a Thunderjaw or even a Slaughterspine, by first immobilizing it with an adhesive slingshot, then tearing off its blasters, and using its own weapons against it. There's also a boss fight against a mountain-sized mech, the "Metal Devil," albeit that's part of the DLC.

Port report

Coming to the main reason why you'd want to pick up Horizon Forbidden West on PC, especially if you've already played the game on PS4 or PS5, i.e., the PC port, and performance. Well, with Nixxes Software helming the project, I had little to no doubts regarding the PC, considering the studio's previous track record with PlayStation PC ports.

Nixxes did an amazing job at porting Horizon Forbidden West to PC. (Image via Nixxes Software)

And honestly, Horizon Forbidden West on PC is nothing short of what I expected from Nixxes, a stellar PC port, that perfectly encapsulates how an ideal PC port should look and feel. I don't necessarily have a top-of-the-line PC, but even with my modest Ryzen 5 5600X, RX6600XT machine, I was able to get upwards of 70fps at 1080p.

Also, I should mention, that I wasn't using any form of upscaling, which is rare for PC games these days, looking at you Alan Wake 2, Lords of the Fallen, and Dragon's Dogma 2. However, there were some minor issues that I did face with the game, in particular with the cutscenes and loading of new areas.

I did experience momentary framerate drops in certain cutscenes, especially ones with multiple NPCs, going from 75 to 30 or even lower in some scenarios. Additionally, there also was a memory leak issue in the release version of the game, that resulted in degraded performance the longer you played the game.

Minor framerate issues aside, Horizon Forbidden West is a benchmark for modern PC ports. (Image via Nixxes Software)

However, Nixxes did release a hotfix a couple of days after the game's release that addressed the memory leak issue. Apart from the unexpected and often jarring framerate issues, I did not face any other problems with the game like crashes, stuttering, or freezes, which is genuinely surprising for a current-gen PC port of this scale.

In conclusion

Horizon Forbidden West is easily the best PC port of 2024 so far, which on some levels isn't surprising coming from Nixxes. It's a testament to the studio's craft that they can bring what is essentially the most graphically-impressive game on the PS5 to PC, without any major issues, while also adding a few quality-of-life add-ons for PC enthusiasts.

Horizon Forbidden West might be a flawed game, but its PC port is almost flawless. (Image via Nixxes Software)

Yes, the game has flaws, especially when it comes to its narrative. However, you can't deny the sheer passion the developers poured into making the sequel, which not only tries to evolve on the foundation laid down by the previous game, but also capitalizes on its core strengths, to deliver something truly unique, and dare I say, breathtaking.