Horizon Forbidden West Is Being Slated For No Reason
Even though Horizon Forbidden West is getting rave reviews from most critics, some are slamming the AAA title for no apparent reason.
23rd Feb 2022 10:07
Metacritic | Guerilla Games
Horizon Forbidden West Is Being Slated For No Reason
Even though Horizon Forbidden West is getting rave reviews from most critics, some are slamming the AAA title for no apparent reason.
23rd Feb 2022 10:07
Metacritic | Guerilla Games
Horizon Forbidden West has finally landed, and a lot of fans are incredibly happy with the package they've got. Trailers indicated that the AAA title would practically be the experience we know and love from Zero Dawn, with some big graphical buffs and much more technical improvements.
If this wasn't enough, there's Guerilla Games' massive open world to explore - and that's exactly what we got, would you believe. The game has been a treat for new and old fans alike, but some people don't seem to be too happy with it - and they're review-bombing Horizon Forbidden West for seemingly no reason.
Why Is Horizon Forbidden West Getting Review Bombed?
For some reason, users are taking to Metacritic to seriously review-bomb Horizon Forbidden West, slating it with ratings of 0 and 1, citing very little in the reviews themselves. Some players are suggesting that the game is buggy, despite reviews not mentioning them beyond minor open-world jank, and the rest of the angry reviews just seem… annoyed.
Players have theorised that these reviews are coming in as part of the general retaliation that the game is exclusive to PlayStation, now that the console wars seem to be back in full swing.
There's also the fact that Horizon, similarly to The Last Of Us, comes with it swathes of irritated misogynists picking apart the game because it had the nerve to put a woman front and centre. There's no hard proof that this is the reason for these negative reviews, but they don't half come with an atmosphere of sweaty sexism.
Horizon Forbidden West Was Delayed To Avoid Crunch
Despite what a bunch of chronically online ragers might think of the game's quality, at least we can say that the behind-the-scenes quality of life was better than that of many AAA studios. As revealed by game director Mathijs De Jonge, Horizon Forbidden West's development distanced itself from crunch culture as much as it could.
"We are very aware of the disadvantages of crunching, so we take that into account a lot in our planning," he said in an interview with NU.nl, translated by GamesRadar. "To give an example, at Christmas we said there would be no work and that everyone could just have a two-week vacation. The company was closed, you couldn't even go there to work."
It's clear that the team cares deeply about its staff, which makes the needless review-bombing sting that little bit more. It's typical, but that doesn't make it less of a bummer. Go outside, dorks!
About The Author
Joseph Kime
Joseph Kime is the Senior Trending News Journalist for GGRecon from Devon, UK. Before graduating from MarJon University with a degree in Journalism, he started writing music reviews for his own website before writing for the likes of FANDOM, Zavvi and The Digital Fix. He is host of the Big Screen Book Club podcast, and author of Building A Universe, a book that chronicles the history of superhero movies. His favourite games include DOOM (2016), Celeste and Pokemon Emerald.
