Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

A couple of poor boss battles aside, Burning Shores is a great new chapter with enough creative new bells and whistles to keep Horizon fans more than happy.

Aloy returns to explore the wreckage of Los Angeles, and it's just the right amount of Horizon to scratch that itch.

Burning Shores is an entertaining epilogue for Aloy’s sophomore outing. It’s more Forbidden West with a few cool wrinkles, meaning it’s a good reminder of the things that the game did right while retaining a few old headaches (like the hand-holding during puzzles). More than anything, Aloy’s trip to Hollywood justifies its existence by meaningfully building upon the base game’s story, paving a solid runway for the next title to take off.

Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.

Like Frozen Wilds did with Horizon Zero Dawn, Burning Shores takes what was already great about Forbidden West and gives you a sizeable new playground and a bunch of extra toys to play with. The archipelago is great fun to explore by land, sea, or air, with plenty of interesting things to see and do. Certain areas feel a little underutilised, but overall this is a great expansion that continues Aloy's story and sets up for things to come in Horizon 3.

Burning Shores feels more like a side story than an epilogue, but it’s still a fun adventure with a wonderful new ally and some memorable moments.

Burning Shores really is a must-buy, must-play experience for Horizon fans. While this review is unscored, take this as my strongest of recommendations to pick up and play Burning Shores. I promise you’ll be able to finish it before the release of Tears of the Kingdom, and I promise that if you love Horizon, you'll find Burning Shores to be well worth your time.

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores is a light, but crowd-pleasing DLC chapter that sets the stage for Aloy's next adventure.

Guerrilla Games already proved once they could deliver a compelling expansion and they have done so again.

Burning Shores gives Aloy the emotional evolution she needed, pairing one of Horizon’s best stories with a gorgeous PS5-exclusive playground built for flight, discovery, and spectacle.