Horizon Forbidden West teases giant robot snakes and pterodactyls

Sony and Guerrilla Games have shared a new trailer for Horizon Forbidden West, showing off a few of the new enemies players will encounter when the game launches for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 in February.

This comes not too long after another new trailer premiered at The Game Awards 2021, although that one focused more on the various environments Aloy will traverse. The most recent trailer, on the other hand, provides a closer look at the new enemy types, namely the Rollerback, Sunwing, and Slitherfang.

"Some serve as guardians of the natural order, while others are built only to kill," narrative director Ben McCaw explained in a PlayStation Blog post revealing the new enemies. "Even worse, the power to control them has fallen into the wrong hands." McCaw also teased that there are plenty more new machines that are yet to be revealed for the game.

The Rollerback appears to be based on an armadillo, with it capable of curling into a ball and rolling at high speeds. The pterodactyl-looking Sunwing doesn't appear to be as antagonistic, with it gently gliding through the air. We expect this one can be tamed and ridden, which would be fun.

The Slitherfang, meanwhile, is a giant cobra that, according to McCaw, can spit acid. Between that and its size, this will likely be one of the more dangerous encounters. The way it moves across the ground is also a testament to Guerrilla's animation team although, frankly, all the machines look amazing in motion.

Where's the PS4 version?

(Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment)

So far, Sony continues to push PS5 footage of Horizon Forbidden West in action and has yet to show gameplay footage of the PS4 version. Only yesterday, Guerrilla Games shared screenshots of Horizon Forbidden Dawn running on PS4 and it admittedly looks just as gorgeous. But this won't matter if the game doesn't perform as well as it does on PS5.

It's no secret that Sony is looking to push more people into investing in a PS5 and move on from the PS4. Originally, Horizon Forbidden West on PS4 wasn't going to come with any sort of upgrade path to the PS5 version, but Sony backtracked following a fan backlash.

Going forward, however, all other first-party PlayStation games that release for both PS4 and PS5 won't offer free upgrades. So, for titles like God of War: Ragnarok and Gran Turismo 7, you'll need to pay an extra $10 to upgrade from the PS4 to the PS5 version. A decision that only makes Microsoft's Smart Delivery service on Xbox look more enticing since any Xbox One purchase comes with the Xbox Series X/S version for free. At least now we know you can take out any frustrations on giant robot snakes, right?

source https://www.techradar.com/news/horizon-forbidden-west-teases-giant-robot-snakes-and-pterodactyls/