Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
Horizon: Forbidden West director Mathijs de Jonge has spoken out against claims that development on the forthcoming PlayStation 5 adventure would be in any way limited by also coming out on the older PlayStation 4 console when it launches later this year.
In an interview with Hardware Zone, Jonge said “I don’t think the cross-generation development was limiting in any way. When we started with the concept of this game, we had so many great ideas that ended up being included – to the point that we didn’t really think about hardware limitations or anything, we just wanted to design a really nice, unique experience for the player. An awesome adventure. That’s how we also brainstormed all the quests and events the player is going to go through.”
Speaking to the how the game will be different on the PlayStation 5 version, Jonge added “I think that the big delta between these two consoles, apart from the 3D audio, quick loading and DualSense of course, is on the graphical side of things. On the PlayStation 5, we can add so much more detail graphically. We can see the tiny hairs on Aloy’s face, for example. You can also see a ton of detail from far away.”
“I don’t think many people notice in the demo, but you could see moss growing on the rocks. On the PlayStation 5, each individual strand of moss is rendered individually. So this machine is so powerful, and it can add so much more detail to the image. I think that’s one of the biggest deltas, next to the processing power of the machine.”
Jonge also makes mention of a specific lighting rig normally used for cinematics in the PS4 version, but will be able to be used during gameplay too on the PlayStation 5. Elsewhere in the interview, Jonge also makes note of how the game will also utilise the console’s ray tracing tech to make Aloy’s adventure look as good as it possibly can, and the whole interview is well worth your time.
Horizon Forbidden West is currently scheduled for release on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 later this year, and you can see how well its currently shaping up in some recently released gameplay footage shown off just under two weeks ago.
