Horizon Forbidden Westhas found an organic way to introduce new and improved enemy machines and their variants through the subordinate function, Hephaestus, its power growing to continue making uniquely designed and deadly machines. This is seen inHorizon Forbidden Westwith the Apex variant of most featured machines. Found mostly at night, these top predators are more challenging than their base counterparts. To organically top these apex machines, a third Horizon will need to create one or more variants of machines that up the threat levels.
First appearing in theHorizon Zero Dawncomic series, Apex machines are prominent throughoutHorizon Forbidden West, possessing black armor instead of white, with enhanced destructive features.Hephaestus designed Apex machines, and they generally appear with a purple outline through Aloy’s Focus, indicating they may be the successor to Daemonic machines, which were found inThe Frozen WildsDLC.
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Far Zenith and the Old Ones' AI Machine Designs
Anything that would follow up to Apex machines needs to be unique and more than just variations of the base machine version. While this provided a nice change of pace forHorizon Forbidden Westfor more demanding challenges and to collect rarer parts for crafting, the threat and capabilities of Hephaestus have increased significantly after exposure toFar Zenith’s technologywith the printing matrix. If any exposure to their data, designs, or code has been learned or absorbed by Hephaestus, he can produce machines unlike any Earth’s current inhabitants have seen.
This could be seen through machines built off designs from the 21st century. With access toFar Zenithdata, Hephaestus would unknowingly learn more about the type of AI and robots used for war and entertainment. With different governments and corporations using other corporate war machines, if replicated, players would get a glimpse at the type of machines other entities had besides the Chariot Line, which ended the world.
If this exposure were a theme in the third game with Hephaestus, he could replicate and learn designs for the future technology and parts that Far Zenith was aware of. It’s already been determined that they could upload their minds and consciousness through thecreation of Nemesis. It’s unlikely they didn’t do this in some form to back themselves up at different times, especially when on the run from their creation. On the other hand, Hephaestus could create more deadly weaponry to utilize through new machine designs and more robust defense measures, similar to the shields used by Far Zenith.
Increased Derangement in the Machines
There have already been Corrupted and Daemonic machines, and maybe with Hephaestus free and so powerful, theDerangement will be increasedas time for restoring the terraforming system is running out. Perhaps there’s a Frenzied state where machines are just causing havoc to everything around them - almost working in opposition to GAIA’s wishes and what the terraforming system is supposed to do. This could be because Hephaestus is becoming rampant, with the function disconnected from GAIA for too long and affected by being in Far Zenith’s printing matrix. Perhaps being in the printing matrix infected Hephaestus’s code, creating a struggle to maintain or destroy the terraforming system.
This increased Derangement state could be an essential theme or story point in the third game if utilized, givingAloy another threat to pursueand deal with on a world-saving scale as players await Nemesis' arrival. Hephaestus, in such a potential state of Derangement, could also explain the creation of new types of deadly machines beyond the Apex variants seen inHorizon Forbidden West. With Hephaestus' different codes merged and failing, players could encounter a darker, more twisted form of machines that serve as a thematic element showing the distortion of nature.
Horizon: Forbidden Westis available now on PS4 and PS5.
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