Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition Out Now on PC

[FierceRed]

HZD came to GOG a few months after hitting Epic and Steam so yeah there's a little more waiting for those of us who like to own instead of rent.

Thanks for the arrival date clarity but also *shrug* sounds like the cost of doing ownership business.

Since most are willing to pay that cost - as well as buy things twice or three times - I don't mind this stratification in the industry. High speed for renters and and slow speed for owners. More choices on a menu are always welcome.

 

[Vayra86]

It's mostly because her face looks like it would better fit someone 20kg heavier than her. The fat face just does not look right on the body, though that's a non issue on PC, I bet there will be a mod just like there was for the first game.

From that one mugshot we see up here, I gotta agree it looks a bit off.

But not really something to fuss about imho either

 

[A Computer Guy]

I don't understand the fuss around Aloy's face. Was there such outrage when Geralt's face changed dramatically from Witcher I to Witcher 2 and then again in Witcher 3? I am also looking forward to the review by @W1zzard.

Because facial recognition is important to humans. Aloy has become a recognized and beloved fictional character.

I get that, but we have had unattractive male characters so why not have ordinary looking females as well. Let's not forget that in the USA, women are estimated to be close to 50 percent of the PC gaming user base. They are also estimated to be over 40% of the PS5 customer base.

There is nothing ordinary about Aloy. She is an extraordinary character on a journey of epic proportions. It's only proper that she look her best when facing down deadly bandits and large mechanized beasts in top notch cinematic fashion.

On the other hand they could easily explain this away in game as her having developed a thyroid condition from so much exposure to machinal manufacturing contamination from her extensive time in the caverns in the first game. Industrial pollution is well known to create damaging effects on the body and without OSHA present in the gigantic robot factories underground there is nobody to ensure proper air quality within the manufacturing plants. Let not forget with the extensive amount of damage she has repeatedly dealt to the robots exposure to battery and power cell fumes will eventually take their toll causing undesirable skin conditions.

 

[Sithaer]

Did the game require any always-online B$ or undeclared requirements to launhc and play the game..?

Other than running Steam there is nothing else as far as I know/noticed. 'idk if it works with Steam offline mode since I never use that'

 

[b1k3rdude]

Other than running Steam there is nothing else as far as I know/noticed. 'idk if it works with Steam offline mode since I never use that'

Well @W1zzard confirmed it in his review - "The game is DRM-free and works fine completely offline."

 

[trsttte]

I'd rather buy on GoG but that means waiting (if ever).

Horizon zero dawn took 3 months, should be similar with forbidden west.

Well @W1zzard confirmed it in his review - "The game is DRM-free and works fine completely offline."

Good on Sony for not being scammed by any of the DRM companies into making the game worse for legitimate users while still getting the game cracked within a couple weeks.

 

[b1k3rdude]

Good on Sony for not being scammed by any of the DRM companies into making the game worse for legitimate users while still getting the game cracked within a couple weeks.

With respect dont kid yourself, Sony are not your friend here. Sony has already made a pile of cash from the game when it was released on the PS. So we can be absolutly sure, Sony can at any time if and when they feel like, add DRM or some other online B$ requirement and/or Valve wont properly declare that fact (ask me how I know, Gotham knights...). Just be thanksfull, that atm they dont.

If and when these Games start appearing on GoG, only then can you/we cut them some slack. Because at that point we would own a copy of the game would not need the internet for any reason and thus would be the equivelent of owning physical media in perpetuity afaik.

 

[trsttte]

With respect dont kid yourself, Sony are not your friend here. Sony has already made a pile of cash from the game when it was released on the PS. So we can be absolutly sure, Sony can at any time if and when they feel like, add DRM or some other online B$ requirement and/or Valve wont properly declare that fact (ask me how I know, Gotham knights...). Just be thanksfull, that atm they dont.

If and when these Games start appearing on GoG, only then can you/we cut them some slack. Because at that point we would own a copy of the game would not need the internet for any reason and thus would be the equivelent of owning physical media in perpetuity afaik.

I have no illusions, but something light and non intrusive like Steam is not too bad, in the other hand things like Denuvo are a cancer, it doesn't deter piracy, it worsens performance, it costs a fortune and in the end only screws the people who bought the game.

I like the concept of GoG but I already have way too much stuff on Steam and they haven't given me reason to worry yet. I know it will be too late when it happens but for now I'm fine-ish with it, it's not like GoG is a guarantee either unless you keep you own redundant backups which I wouldn't be able to for games. Playstation though I only buy physical, not perfect either but I own those licenses in perpetuity and will have no ethical issue downloading an image if I ever need to. And that's the thing, if steam screws me over I'll just "pirate" the stuff I payed for with zero worries and point towards the purchase receipts if anyone evers knocks on my door.

 

[mxthunder]

I'm curious how this game will do on my current system. It handles HZD perfectly fine at 1440p, but that was a last-gen title. Is there a benchmark in this one too? If so, do you all mind posting some results?

There is no built in benchmark that I can see, that is my main disappointment with this game thus far. It runs pretty good as far as I am concerned. 5600XT? I have not ran it on my test rig with anything less than a 2080 super thus far, but I have some pascal cards I can throw in to test with @ 1080p. 2080 super was good enough for maxxed out 1080p.
I am seeing very low GPU usage on both of my main rigs - 4090 @ 1440p with a 13900K getting 75-85% GPU usage, with or without frame gen, and on my bedroom PC running a 4080 @ 4K with a 12700k - only seeing ~90% usage, with or without frame gen.

Loving the game so far, great story, lots of new mechanics. Reminds me a lot of SOTR actually. The cutscenes are unbelievable and the character models are stunning.
I agree, there has always been something about Aloy's face that was off or that I didnt like, but mods FTW.... they will come.. hopefully.


Side note - what is up with the shit ass quality of this tornado thing?

 

[b1k3rdude]

View attachment 340535

Where did you get this screenshot from, as it looks manipulated. Either that or there are mods for HZFW already....

 

[mxthunder]

First one is from HZD with mods.

2nd one is native HFW.

 

[chrcoluk]

While the game is beautiful and runs smoothly it does not run "very well", IMO. Which is crazy because it really feels polished until you break out the tools to get frame time data and the sort.

Of the bugs perhaps the one that's of the absolute highest importance is that the GPU usage figures are hilariously low and frame rates above 60 are... shaky at best. I can barely crack 100 fps even if I enable DRS or DLSS frame generation, but here's the deal: my CPU is essentially idle and my GPU's at 35%, pulling 100 W. Dropping from 4K/120 @ Very High to practically anything else has very little effect on the experience.

I've heard similar stories of RTX 4090 owners, but catch this: I have a 4080. Which clearly shows that the game is not using all of our hardware resources adequately.

As soon as I read it includes DLSS and DLAA I knew performance would be trash out of the box. The only motivation for a dev to implement these techs is if they cant get native performance up to snuff.

 

[Dr. Dro]

As soon as I read it includes DLSS and DLAA I knew performance would be trash out of the box. The only motivation for a dev to implement these techs is if they cant get native performance up to snuff.

Believe it or not performance is rather good, few patches is all it needs

 

[mxthunder]

I agree. Performance is awesome. I just wished it used more resources. I feel like a lot of performance left on the table, CPU and GPU utilization are wayyy lower than in the original game.

 

[chrcoluk]

I agree. Performance is awesome. I just wished it used more resources. I feel like a lot of performance left on the table, CPU and GPU utilization are wayyy lower than in the original game.

Why would you want a game to use more resources? That means the hardware is working harder to achieve the performance you getting, more heat, more electric and probably performance drops when it hits saturation.

 

[mxthunder]

Correct - but should result in more performance, unless there is some type of bottleneck in the way. If GPU is hitting 90% usage now for lets say 150FPS, I want it pegged at 100% for 166FPS.
Feels like a driver issue or something that could be optimized.