The cross-gen nature of Horizon forbidden west made many people turn up their noses frightened by the idea that the old gen version is castrated compared to the flaming one for PlayStation 5, so that Guerrilla Games has stepped in to ensure that the game will run smoothly on PS4 as well.
Speaking in an interview with Hardware Zone, Forbidden West game director Mathijs de Jonge said that the game's cross-gen development was not "limiting in any way".
"When we started with the concept of the game play, we had so many great ideas that ended up being included that we didn't really think about hardware limitations or anything, we just wanted to design a truly beautiful and unique experience for the player. A fantastic adventure. This is how we have also thought about all the missions and events that the player will have to face".
de Jonge then went on to talk about ways the PS5 version of the game improves on the PS4 one, in particular from a visual point of view:
“I think the big delta between these two consoles, aside from 3D audio, fast loading and DualSense of course, is on the graphics side of things. On the PlayStation 5, we can add a lot more graphic detail. We can see the little hairs on Aloy's face, for example. You can also see a ton of detail from afar ”.
“I don't think many noticed that in the demo, but you could see the moss growing on the rocks. On the PlayStation 5, every single strand of moss is rendered individually. So this machine is so powerful, and it can add much more detail to the image. I think this is one of the biggest deltas, alongside the machine's processing power. We also use it for a specific lighting system. It is a cinematic lighting rig we normally have time to use only in movies. Since the PlayStation 5 is much more powerful, we always keep it on. During gameplay, there is a very high quality rendering and lighting system. So there are all these extra features that make the game even better ”.
de Jong also recently revealed that Much of the development and playtesting for the upcoming RPG has been done on PS4. Meanwhile, it has also been confirmed that the game will have a 60 FPS performance mode on PS5.
Horizon Forbidden West would be "on track" for a 2021 launch, but Sony is not yet willing to commit to this launch window. Guerrilla Games said however that the development of the game is in its final stages.
