With that said, Guerilla Games just released a series of new screenshots suggesting that the game’s availability on the PS4 isn’t going to be a problem.
Forbidden West looks beautiful on the PS4
Earlier this year, we talked about how Guerilla should consider delaying Forbidden West to 2022. A few months later, they confirmed their decision to push the game’s release date back. Part of the reason why we believe that the delay is necessary is that it’s a cross-generational title. Had Sony decided to make it exclusive to the PS5, then there’s very little justifiable reason to delay it. However, by making Forbidden West available on both the PS4 and PS5, Guerilla has the unenviable task of making what should have been a next-gen title look and play well on an older console. Now that Guerilla has had more time to optimize Forbidden West, it appears that the studio did not waste a single moment.
— Guerrilla (@Guerrilla) December 15, 2021 Guerilla put it best by saying that Forbidden West “looks - and plays - stunning on the PlayStation 4.” Zero Dawn was a visually stunning game that probably would have won Game of the Year back in 2017 if not for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The original game’s seamless marriage of nature and technology sees a massive improvement judging from the images. Speaking of, the screenshots help showcase several new additions to the more massive Forbidden West that were previously not featured in Zero Dawn. Of course, we shouldn’t expect Forbidden West to run and look the same on the PS5 or PS4. Guerilla is great with optimizing and future-proofing their games - just take a look at Killzone: Shadowfall - but they can’t do the impossible. Ultimately, this is all great news. Forbidden West is set to launch on February 18, 2022. Seeing it look so awesome on the PS4 should help maintain the patience of any PS4 owners waiting on PS5 stocks to arrive. Even if it might play the best on the PS5, Forbidden West on the PS4 won’t be half-bad. Here’s to hoping that Guerilla delights fans with actual gameplay footage of Forbidden West running on the PS4 or PS4 Pro in the coming weeks.
