The art director at Guerrilla Games details the unique shading system used inHorizon Forbidden West. Guerrilla Games is one of Sony’s first party studios developing games for the PlayStation brand, andHorizon Forbidden Westis the latest installment in theHorizonseries.TheHorizonseries is an action-RPG that follows a young woman named Aloy who travels throughout a world overrun with machines to try and uncover the truth about her past and the history of the world she lives in.Horizon Forbidden Westhas made many new improvementswhile continuing Aloy’s story, and one of the most notable has been the upgrade to the graphics and character models.RELATED:Horizon MMORPG Reportedly in DevelopmentHorizon Forbidden Westcontinues the use of the Decima engine, which is an in house engine developed by Guerrilla Games and has been used in othertitles such asDeath Stranding. Recently, fans online have praised the execution of the character models created in the Decima enginge forHorizon Forbidden West, specifically on characters of African descent in the game. Studio and Art Director, Janbartvanbeek on Twitter, noticed the viral image and decided to give some insight on how they were able to accomplish this feat.
In the tweet, the director thanks the original poster complimenting their work onHorizon Forbidden Westand explains that they used a unique approach that modeled melanin and blood distribution in the skin to accurately display any ethnicity with the correct skin complexion. Janbartvanbeek also pointed out that it allowed the studio to create character models that display emotional effects like anger and blushing.
Horizon Forbidden Westis a game that offers diversity in all aspects. Combat, side missions, and the characters that players meet on their journey are all fleshed out and help to create a world that feels alive and reminiscent of our own world while keeping true to the sci-fi aspects of the role-playing game. Many fans of the series are excited to revisit the world ofHorizonwith the recent announcement thatHorizon Forbidden Westis getting an expansionexclusive to PlayStation 5, though others are upset that the DLC is skipping PS4.
There have been recent reports that Guerrilla Games is preparing toinclude a make a cooperativeHorizongame. Sony has currently confirmed that it is looking to add a variety of games as a service games and fans have long speculated that the series would eventually have an online mode to play.
Horizon Forbidden Westis out now for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
