Horizon Forbidden West: Language and Representation blog tasks

 Language

Introduction

Read this review of Horizon Forbidden West in the Financial Times (should be non-paywalled but you can read the text of article here if needed). Answer the following questions:

1) Why does Guerrilla Games have 'a serious case of bad timing'? 

Horizon zero dawn was over shadowed by Zelda and Horizon forbidden west by Elden ring

2) What is the narrative for the original game Horizon Zero Dawn? 

The games take place a thousand years after rampaging machines have wiped out most of humanity. Survivors have clustered into tribal communities who view relics of technology as objects of either suspicion or religious reverence.

3) How is the central character Aloy described? 

 Guerrilla struck gold with flame-haired heroine Aloy, who balances grit and tenderness as one of the most memorable new characters of its console generation.

4) What is the narrative and setting for sequel Horizon Forbidden West?

Forbidden West beckons players to Nevada and California with a new threat to humanity that, naturally, only you can resolve. The previous game revolved around the mysteries of Aloy’s identity, which were neatly wrapped up by its conclusion. The new game’s story is more diffuse, yet it smartly explores themes of climate catastrophe and the hubris of big tech 

5) What does the review say about animation and graphics?

Forbidden West is the first truly eye-popping flex of the PS5’s muscles, with graphics so beautiful that I have often found myself halting the adventure just to gawp at the landscape

6) What do we learn about the gameplay and activities in Horizon Forbidden West? 

The robot enemies are ingenious works of biomechanical clockwork, shaped like snakes, hippos, ferrets, rams and pterodactyls, with electric cables for sinew and gleaming steel for ligaments. Most impressive are the character models. Aloy’s complex hairstyle is a marvel in its own right, and the animation of facial expressions achieves an unprecedented realism

Close textual analysis

Watch the trailer for Horizon Forbidden West:

Answer the following questions:

1) How is narrative, character and setting introduced in the trailer?

The setting is introduced by the golden bridge in America and a new America after the apocalypse, character through aloy as the main character and being female and the narrative through good and bad, red and blue and needing to save the world

2) How is the game's open world / sandbox genre shown in the trailer? 

Open game survival links to sandbox genre like minecraft

3) What representations can you find in the trailer? 

Representations of a strong female character and attracting a female audience also representations of good and bad through the bad animals having a red light

Watch the gameplay video and answer the following questions:

1) How does the game use media language to communicate ideas about narrative and genre?

Through the plot of the game to save the planet and the good vs bad, the setting communicates the genre through an abandoned new America and survival

2) What representations of people, places or groups can you find in the gameplay video?

Aloy being represented as the main character and being shown as a strong female character as she has to save the world, groups are represented through the good and bad and Aloy works together with her allies 

3) What audience pleasures are suggested by this gameplay trailer?

Diversion: play the game for fun

Personal relationships: build a relationship with the characters like aloy

Narrative and genre

Read this excellent Den of Geek article that addresses elements of narrative and genre. You can find the article text here if the link is blocked. Answer the following questions: 

1) Read the opening to the article. How can we apply Steve Neale's genre theory to Horizon Forbidden West?

 take a little time to offer a disclaimer that those expecting a substantially different experience from Zero Dawn may be surprised to find that after five years and the introduction of  Forbidden West still feels surprisingly similar to Zero Dawn this links to repetition and difference

2) How many copies did the Horizon Zero Dawn sell and why did this influence the design of the sequel?

sold over 20 million copies, it’s not like this series really needed to change all that much to reach a significantly wider audience

3) How does the article criticise the story in Horizon Forbidden West? 

However, there have been people (including fans of the original game) who have spent the five years since Zero Dawn’s release asking for changes. While some of those changes amounted to little more than relatively minor QOL improvements (we’ll get to those in a bit), others hoped an eventual Zero Dawn sequel might break free of its checklist-based, Ubisoft-style open-world shackles and fully embrace some of the concepts that set it apart

4) What do we learn about the gameplay? 

Those new combat features are nice, but there is little doubt that Forbidden West’s best improvements are found in the game’s greatly expanded navigation mechanics

5) What is the article's overall summary of the game?

Forbidden West sometimes sticks to a beaten path, but it goes further than so many other games in this genre and manages to plant a new signpost that I can only hope Guerrilla Games and other developers aspire to reach and surpass in the future. 

Representations

Race representations in Horizon Forbidden West

Read this fascinating Polygon feature on why Horizon Forbidden West isn't post-racial and answer the following questions: 

1) How does Horizon Forbidden West use narrative to create a fully diverse cast of characters?

2) What is orientalism? 

Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world.

3) How does the article suggest orientalism applies to Horizon Forbidden West? 

4) Who is the player encouraged to identify with in the game and how does this influence how representations are constructed?  

5) Finally, what did the writer of the article (an Asian American) feel when playing the game?

Gender and videogames

Focusing on Aloy and the representation of women in videogames, read this Forbes feature on the topic. Answer the following questions:

1) What is the debate regarding Aloy in Horizon Forbidden West? 

The author, Tae Kim, views Aloy as a breath of fresh air in gaming , as he’s uncomfortable with other portrayals of women in games he otherwise likes

2) What examples are provided of other female characters and representations in videogames?

Characters like Aloy remain too rare among mainstream games. As a video-game enthusiast, I find it uncomfortable playing leading titles like Tomb Raider, Genshin Impact or Bayonetta, all of which feature female characters in skimpy outfits.

3) What are the issues facing the videogame industry in terms of gender?  

It's a rare occasion for this to happen, but this piece managed to unite the full political spectrum of gamers. On the right, there are cries that “another woke gaming journalist is saying video game women are too sexy!” while on the left, Kim is being accused of “gatekeeping what women are or are not allowed to look like in games.”