Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores DLC Review

 I know there is a lot of frustration about the Burning Shores DLC only being on PS5 because it's still not that easy to get the next gen console. It does make sense that studios are moving away from the previous consoles, but I understand that is frustrating nonetheless. I got lucky with mine in the fact that my husband was able to get one and surprise me with it for an early birthday gift last year. This allowed me to check out the Burning Shores DLC for Horizon Forbidden West. I was pleased to find that there was a free upgrade to the PS5 version of the game and that my PS4 save data carried over. After that I was ready to hang out with Aloy again. *SPOILERS AHEAD* 

Burning Shores takes place after the defeat of Far Zenith. It was a bittersweet moment hearing Lance Reddick as Sylens at the beginning, talking with Aloy. Sylens informs Aloy that there were actually thirteen people from Far Zenith. The last Far Zenith person is an industrialist named Walter Londra and he fled to what was downtown Los Angeles now known as the Burning Shores. Aloy takes her sunbird to fly there, but gets shot down by a tower that is firing all sorts of lasers, finding herself stranded there because Walter has essentially locked down the entire area. 

Aloy arrives at the Burning Shores. 

Aloy meets a Quen marine by the name of Seyka and Seyka explains to her that Walter has stranded the Quen marines with his actions. Right from the start there was something about Seyka that was interesting as she and Aloy agreed to work together to take down the tower and stop Walter. It turns out Seyka has some similarities to Aloy in that she's not sure where she belongs and is a bit of an outcast herself. Some of the conversations between Seyka and Aloy stand out because they discuss those feelings of not belonging and how it affects everything around them. I really liked Seyka and I thought she was a great foil to Aloy on this adventure. 

Aloy and Seyka take a boat ride. 

Wandering around the Burning Shores, I stopped often to take in the scenery. There was something beautiful about seeing nature reclaiming Los Angeles and seeing a surreal mix of decay and life blending together. There are many vistas that are gorgeous and I had fun exploring this new area discovering new treasures and doing a few side quests alongside the main story. 

Seyka and Aloy at the Hollywood sign. 

One of the things is Aloy helping Seyka find her sister and the other missing Quen marines and that Walter is involved because he enchanted them as a living ancestor. Burning Shores much like the main story shows how dangerous and manipulative the Far Zenith people are in the form of Walter. Sam Witwer does an amazing job as Walter Londra with the perfect amount of charm and malice, always keeping you on your toes with every scene he's in. All of the Far Zenith people were narcissistic sociopaths, but like Walter said himself he's different. There's something more sinister about him with his promises of a better life to the Quen who followed him. There's also an air of paranoia surrounding Walter as he demands absolute loyalty without question and Sam Witwer delivers this performance beautifully. 

Aloy sits with a holo of Walter Londra. 

There's the usual fight with machines and Aloy has all her weapons and tools to handle each one. There are also new tool upgrades and a new weapon that can be fully upgraded. Aloy has to get parts for a new type of bird machine, a Waterwing that looks a lot like a pelican. This is so that she and Seyka can bypass the lasers from Walter's tower with a mix of flying and diving under the water. It's a great idea and works really well while introducing a new machine to the game. 

As the story progresses, you start to see just how far Walter is willing to go to get what he wants. It leads to what can only be called an epic and grand showdown between Aloy and Walter as Walter tries to kill Aloy with a Horus machine. It's a brutally challenging fight, but it's also exciting giving quite a great sense of victory defeating it and Walter in the process. 

With the whole situation with Londra resolved, Aloy is ready to head home. Before she does that however, she gets a very sweet moment with Seyka where they get to confess their feelings to each other. It's a beautiful moment that is sweet with a touch of melancholy that makes sense because Aloy is looking to the future with the threat of Nemesis. However, she and Seyka both understand each other and their responsibilities while holding their hearts open for each other and appreciating that moment of joy and love they had. As a queer person, this made me so happy because it shows that we have joy and love and are more than our pain. It's a wonderful moment for Aloy and Seyka.

Aloy sends Sylens the data from Walter's Focus and when she returns home Sylens has decrypted the data showing her that there were companies working on experimental weapons that might be the key to defeating Nemesis. It's a good moment between Aloy and Sylens as he thanks her for her help. It also sets the stage for the next game. The story of Burning Shores DLC isn't too long. It's about 8-10 hours of gameplay and if you are a completionist like me, it takes about 15-20 hours. I enjoyed all of it and it was fantastic to hang out with Aloy again on her adventure. 

Aloy heads home. 

*Horizon Forbidden West is available to play on Playstation 4 and Playstation 5

 Burning Shores DLC is out now only on Playstation 5

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