- Guerrilla Games has announced its new cooperative action game for three players horizon zero hunters
- The studio revealed a trailer and two new game modes that will be available to play in the upcoming PS5 and PC playtest.
- The game will also have a narrative campaign and will be canon to the Horizon series
Sony and Guerrilla Games have presented Horizon hunters meetinga new cooperative action game set in the world of Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West Horizon.
Described as Guerrilla’s “new chapter in the Horizon universe,” Horizon Hunters Gathering is a cooperative action game developed for PlayStation 5 and PC that allows up to three players to team up to protect the world from deadly machines that fans of the Horizon series may be familiar with.
According to game director Arjan Bak, combat in this game is “tactical, reactive and deeply skill-based” and relies on the “tactical precision” of the Horizon games, combining team game dynamics.
“With the first ideas that shaped the world of Horizon, we dreamed of players hunting machines together,” Bak said in a PlayStation Blog post. “We started with a small group of Guerrillas (including myself when I was Design Director) and began to explore what that could look like. Based on our experience of the killing zone multiplayer titles and boost Horizon Zero DawnWe set out to bring cooperative action to the Horizon franchise.
“Since then, the team and the game have grown tremendously. Throughout its development, we have done extensive testing, patching, and feedback. One of my favorite moments was our first playtest in the studio with the entire team: a special milestone where the vision and hard work of each discipline finally came together in a playable form. It’s always nerve-wracking to share early builds, but moments like that test, as well as today’s announcement, make it all worth it.
Look
Along with the action-packed trailer, which showed off a colorful world inspired by the Horizon games and a unique roster of hunters to play with, Guerrilla also revealed two game modes: Machine Incursion and Cauldron Descent.
Machine Incursion is a “high intensity” mission-based mode in which players must fight waves of machines led by a boss.
Cauldron Descent is a longer, multi-stage trial that features ever-changing rooms that “push hunters to their limits,” offering challenges ranging from brutal machine encounters to hidden doors that offer big rewards.
Both modes will be available to play in the upcoming test through the PlayStation Beta Program on PS5 and PC, but there is no release date for the game yet.
The game may include cooperative play modes, but it also features a narrative campaign that Guerrilla isn’t ready to dive into at this time.
As mentioned, the game will have a roster of expert hunters, each with different melee or ranged play styles and weapons, with select roles offering a rogue-lite perk system to create different play styles.
Players will also be able to return to the Hunters Gathering social hub between missions to prepare, connect with others, and customize their Hunters before returning to the world.
These hunters will also have their own personal motivations and struggles, which Bak says “come together into new stories we want to tell in the world of Horizon.”
Bak also confirmed that this unfolding story will be “fully canonical” to the Horizon series and “doesn’t stop at launch.”
“On a personal level, this is an exciting and at the same time daunting step for us,” Bak added. “Multiplayer games have always been part of our studio’s DNA and are where I started my own career.
“Bringing a cooperative hunting experience to the world Horizon The universe is something we have imagined for a long time and we are approaching it with care, ambition and passion. I hope the coming months give you a sense of the scale and complexity of what we’ve been building, or better yet, allow you to experience it yourself in a playtest.”
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