I can hear my PlayStation 4 Pro roaring just looking at these images
When it comes to graphics, it’s always fascinating to see what a development team can eke out toward the end of a console’s lifecycle compared to the early days. Horizon Zero Dawn looked great on PS4, and its sequel — which is coming to PS4 and PS5 next year — also shows well visually. How it’ll perform on an aging base PS4 model remains to be seen, but Guerrilla Games has shared several PS4 screenshots of Horizon Forbidden West.
Take a look and see what you think of Aloy’s new surroundings:
While a few non-side-by-side screenshots won’t be the end-all-be-all — far from it! — it is nice to have a rough idea of what to expect from Horizon Forbidden West‘s PS4 version. Of course, the real test will be how it all looks in motion and feels with a controller in hand.
For me, beyond image clarity, the water, finer details in the world at a distance, and lighting differences, it mostly comes down to the smoothness of combat and snappy load times — those are the things that will matter to me more on PS5. (Especially after I’ve had enough time to sit with a game and I’ve acclimated to the visual fidelity.) I mean, there’s a reason I’ll always pick a “performance” mode over “quality” if given the choice.
This isn’t Guerrilla’s first rodeo, so expectations are high for Horizon Forbidden West — folks are hoping for refinements across the board, whether we’re talking gameplay or visuals. I’m curious to see how far the Decima engine can go on PS4. I’m hopeful.
For a few months now, I’ve been meaning to go back and try the 60fps PS5 upgrade for the original Horizon Zero Dawn, which Digital Foundry found to be “nigh-on perfect” in terms of how the performance holds up. I’ve still got some time for a revisit before the sequel is out on February 18, and something tells me I really should prioritize — I think it’ll be harder to get into Zero Dawn again after playing Forbidden West. It looked so slick in the recent Game Awards 2021 trailer. If you missed it, there’s even a giant cobra bot!
