NCsoft has recently shown the first gameplay for the new MMORPG Horizon Steel Frontiers. This suggests that they have borrowed the setting and gameplay from Sony’s single-player blockbuster Horizon Forbidden West. And it is now available cheaper than ever on Steam. Sophia Weiss believes that the game is definitely worth buying.
What games is the MMORPG based on? Horizon Steel Frontiers is currently being developed by NCsoft in South Korea and is based on Sony’s Horizon universe. This currently includes two single-player games originally for PS4 and PS5.
Both games are now available on Steam and both are currently discounted by 40%. Horizon Zero Dawn is currently available in the Remastered Complete Edition for 29.99 euros (via Steam). Forbidden West, the second part, in the Complete Edition is currently priced at 35.99 euros (via Steam) – the lowest Steam price so far for the game (via Steamdb.info)
The gameplay and setting of the MMORPG are based on Horizon Forbidden West according to the gameplay trailer with the grappling hook, weapon selection, and setting. You can check how the game is currently progressing here:
Cavemen vs. War Machines – This is Horizon
What is Horizon anyway? The Horizon universe belongs to Sony and started as PlayStation exclusives. The two single-player games were developed by Guerrilla. The story revolves around the hunter Aloy, who grows up as a half-orphan in a world full of hunters, gatherers, and early settlers. The perfect Stone Age setting, if it weren’t for the hyper-modern and often malevolent machines of unknown origin.
In Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy investigates the mystery of why the world is as it is and tries to find out where she herself actually comes from. The second part shifts the plot westward – hence the name: Horizon Forbidden West.
Basically, Horizon takes place on the North American continent. In the first part, it is still subtle; in the second, however, one visits the ruins of fallen mega-cities like Las Vegas or Los Angeles. The MMORPG is said to take place in the so-called Deadlands, located in the regions of today’s US states of Arizona and New Mexico.
The gameplay is generally oriented towards that of Horizon: Forbidden West. The setting is also similar. So, if you want a first taste of Horizon Steel Frontiers, you are well served with Forbidden West. Even if you should, for full story understanding, play Zero Dawn first, it is not necessary.
For comparison with the gameplay of Steel Frontiers, we also have this for Forbidden West:
This is how well MeinMMO editor Sophia Weiß finds it: I love open-world games, but I suffer from the fact that there is so much to do – I almost never finish. Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the few open-world games that I have actually completed. And at the moment, I am grinding my way through Forbidden West on my path to 100%.
The setting and also the characters are just amazing to me. I love finding ruins of familiar places in the USA in the Forbidden West over and over again. The mecha-monsters are also really cool and give the world a unique touch.
From the story perspective, Zero Dawn is indeed stronger than the second part. However, the second part shines for me with the setting and the extended gameplay. The MMORPG trailer already shows that, for example, the pull-caster, a grappling hook, will be taken over and expanded. I find that quite neat.
Basically, I think that every RPG or open-world fan should definitely keep an eye on the Horizon games. I am also looking forward to the MMORPG, albeit with a little bit of ambivalence: The new MMORPG for Horizon looks damn good, but I find the characters, in particular, terrible.
