The Art of Horizon Forbidden West

by Guerrilla Games

A dynamic full-color hardcover featuring concept art and creator commentary chronicling the development of the next adventure in the epic Horizon saga.

When a mysterious red blight threatens to strangle all life, the heroic young Aloy must tackle new dangers in the mysterious frontier of the Forbidden West in order to save her world. The highly anticipated sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn has finally arrived, and with it, all new vibrant landscapes, jaw-dropping machines, and thrilling secrets to discover.

Follow Aloy on her next adventure with this beautiful chronicle created by Dark Horse Books in association with Guerrilla Games! The Art of Horizon Forbidden West uncovers the mysteries of a lost world with all new behind-the-scenes artwork and intimate developer commentary. Relive the unforgettable tale.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Video Games, Gaming

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 23, 2023

Reviews

[Adriii · Rating 3 out of 5]

No es que el Artbook del juego anterior fuera la bomba, pero este es aún más decepcionante en cuanto a contexto del diseño se refiere. El arte y los conceptos son una maravilla, pero un libro como éste pierde bastante sin los porqués y procesos creativos. Algún día tengo que hacer un ranking (os adelanto el top 1: The art and making of Control). Igualmente, con Aloy al fin del mundo.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice overview of some of the design thought processes and just overall beautiful world they created in this game.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved my time with Horizon Forbidden West, so I was a little disappointed with this collection. Yes a lot of the art is gorgeous, and captures the feel of the game, but there's not a whole lot of insights into the design and theory behind it (what is here is very interesting), and it feels like too small a scale for the world the game involved - like Salt Bite and its region aren't covered at all, and some of the northwest coast is given short shrift as well. There are so many environments and several of them don't seem to be covered at all. The book also has to balance content against spoilers, which means it has to be circumspect about some of the bigger pieces of the game.
So, fans of the game will love the images, but may find it less than satisfying. People who haven't played the game might be intrigued by the art, but don't really get a great sense of how the images interact with each other.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another beautiful game that I recently finished and wanted to check out the official artwork for.

The foreword was lovely; I especially liked the comparison of how producing the sequel felt like Aloys own journey into the Forbidden West. Relating to the challenges that the producers faced and ideas that they had throughout the different stages of the production.

I also like how it had chapters based on each location and it flowed very nicely in the simple chronological order, compared to the Ragnarok art book which felt jumbled up.

[James Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the art. Wish there was some more text about the development process itself, similar to the 15 year anniversary book for Assassins Creed. I wasn’t very interested in the character art but wow, some of those landscapes were amazing. It was also a really nice to reminisce about the game.

[Alexandria Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Georgeous artwork and can't wait to play the game but I wish there was a bit more explanation of the concept/ideas process and that at least some of the pieces were labelled with the artist(s) who made them.

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great look at the art and visual design that went into the game.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful art, and well laid out, but lacking in explanation and discussion of artistic choices. 3.5 stars. Not quite as good as the first art book.

[zhen 🧸 · Rating 5 out of 5]

words can’t explain how much I love this game 😭 and this book is GORGEOUS. I love reading about the lores and THIS IS PERFECT 💯‼️

[Cyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as amazing as the first Horizon art book. Interesting insights into the concepts as well as gorgeous concept art.

[Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m already a fan of this game and really enjoyed the opportunity to revisit some of its beautiful artwork.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool art book based on the second Horizon game. Be warned that it does give away aspects of the plot, so read after beat main story if you don't want things ruined.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although there is very little text, and no deep insight into the creation of the game, the concept art is really beautiful.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book via Libby/digitally and all the art was extremely pixelated? I have read 6 different art books from various publishers for video games and none of them have been pixelated the way this art was. It seemed super low resolution and again, the other art books on my tablet didn’t have that problem.