Horizon Forbidden West Has Been Crowned The Prettiest Game Of 2022
Out of every AAA and indie game released in 2022, it seems Horizon Forbidden West has secured a victory of being the best looking.
Despite the end of the year being dominated by conversations around Pokémon Scarlet and Violet looking like a dog’s dinner, 2022 was actually home to a wide variety of gorgeous video games. Sure, not all of them were exactly amazing games, but a large majority had our eyeballs weeping at their beauty.
From God of War Ragnarök to The Callisto Protocol, many AAA - and even smaller indie games - managed to push the bar for graphics this year. But out of everything that has been released, it seems to be Horizon Forbidden West that’s taking home the crown.
A Whole New World
Despite fighting against other gaming goliaths such as Gran Turismo 7 and The Last of Us Part 1, the tech wizards at Digital Foundry have awarded Horizon Forbidden West the best gaming graphics of the year. It’s seen some steep competition, but even viewers seem to agree it’s a well-deserved victory.
Horizon Forbidden West tipped itself into the top spot, pushing The Callisto Protocol and Portal with RTX on PC into the runner-up positions. According to Digital Foundry, the team at Guerrilla Games put in some “exceptional work” to earn the title.
Elements of Horizon Forbidden West that were praised included the highly improved character models, the lighting, the use of water, and many other aspects that have received nothing less than a substantial upgrade over the original game. With the comparisons shown by Digital Foundry, it’s clear why it’s become so highly regarded from a technical standpoint.
A Cross-Gen Miracle
Viewers were also quick to agree on the decision, with one comment reading: “The fact that Horizon Forbidden West looks so good being an open-world game is astonishing. They [Guerrilla Games] are outstanding developers.”
As commented by Digital Foundry, all of this has been achieved in a year plagued by cross-gen releases, with Horizon Forbidden West being no different as it was released simultaneously on PS4 and PS5. It’s said that Guerrilla Games “actually focused on giving the PlayStation 5 version really visible and palpable differences.”
Next year is set to be a massive year for gaming - perhaps one of the biggest ever, with games such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy XVI, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor aiming to launch with a huge thud. But will any top Horizon Forbidden West in the graphics department? Guess we’ll have to jump in and see for ourselves!
About The Author
Daniel Hollis
Daniel is a former Guides Writer for GGRecon. Having originally focused on film journalism, he eventually made the jump to writing about games in 2020, writing for sites such as NME. Eurogamer, GamesRadar, Tech Radar, and more. After a short stint in PR, he is back in the world of games media writing about his favourite games, including Bioshock, Fable, or everything Fortnite and Xbox Game Pass related.
