Horizon Forbidden West on PC is the definitive way to experience this game

Welcome

Despite the fact that numerous PlayStation exclusives have been released on PC in the past 18 months, their transition has not been smooth sailing. Many of these games have faced performance issues and numerous bugs upon launch. This trend of new PC games having major technical problems has even become a meme within PC gaming communities.

The developers of The Last of Us Part 1 spent several months patching the game to address the shader compilation stutter and mouse movement jitter problems. Similarly, Dead Space Remake continues to have issues with traversal stuttering and appears to have been abandoned by its developers. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor also suffers from shader compilation stutters, while Hogwarts Legacy exhibits broken ray tracing and looks better on High settings than on Ultra.

Despite its recent release, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is already encountering difficulties. Fans are having to resort to using DLSS Frame Generation mods in order to improve the game’s poor performance at launch. As a result, CAPCOM has issued a public apology for the negative Steam reviews.

Despite the lack of reviews being published even 24 hours before the launch of Forbidden West, many of us remained skeptical. This is a concerning indication, especially considering Horizon Zero Dawn’s initial release with numerous technical problems that required multiple patches to fix. However, it should be noted that Nixxes, who joined the development team during later patching stages, was not responsible for the original port of Zero Dawn.

Despite playing Zero Dawn a year after its release in 2021, I quickly grew tired of exploring the vast open world after approximately 9.5 hours; it felt like a tedious chore. While I did occasionally revisit the game, I never fully immersed myself in the gameplay and mechanics, causing me to initially hesitate when considering purchasing Forbidden West. However, after watching the Digital Foundry technical preview right before its launch, I became convinced that my pre-order was a wise decision and saw no reason to cancel it.

The events of the story take place 6 months after the conclusion of the first game.

Minimum system requirements

At the beginning of the month, we covered the requirements that Nixxes had published. These specifications have not changed since the launch and are still quite modest.

According to Nixxes, who spoke to Eurogamer, the game does not incorporate any ray-tracing effects. While they initially considered using them, they ultimately decided that the game already looked fantastic without them. This also clarifies the reason why a powerful RTX 4080 is necessary to achieve 60 fps at 4K resolution with rasterised effects. The demands on the GPU at this resolution are significant, and although the RTX 4080 outperforms the 7900XTX in many areas, the AMD cards tend to have better raster performance, which is why the RTX 4800 is accompanied by the 7900XT in these requirements.

My i7 12700KF and RTX 4090 system has been my go-to for playing this game. The display, an ultrawide QD-OLED, runs at its native 3440×1440 resolution with a refresh rate of 144Hz.

Loading and Streaming Textures

Like most PC games nowadays, many require users to add a startup parameter to the Steam shortcut in order to bypass introductory titles and other unnecessary elements. In some cases, players may even need to download modified game files to avoid these interruptions. However, this is not the case with Forbidden West. Simply pressing the escape key allows players to skip these unwanted parts and jump straight to the title menu.

If the game is being launched for the first time or if the graphics card driver was recently updated, a shader compilation process will take place, which took approximately 30 seconds on my i7 12700KF.

The default option on the title menu is continue, meaning that if you press the spacebar when the title screen appears, your save will be loaded into the game within 5 seconds. This is one of the quickest click-to-game loads I have ever witnessed.

Upon launching the game, there are no visible stutters present. Nixxes has stated that they have not utilized the complete range of DirectStorage capabilities, but have instead focused on implementing the most effective components for Forbidden West. The technical aspects are discussed in the Eurogamer article, but in summary, the game will seamlessly load assets as you progress, without any significant impact on performance.

Alternative input options

Forbidden West offers complete compatibility with controllers, including the PS5’s dual sense with adaptive triggers (only in wired mode). I tested motion controls for aiming a shot using the 8BitDo Ultimate and experienced no issues using Steam Input, which worked seamlessly.

Despite the advancements in gaming technology, the unbeatable combination of a mouse and keyboard still reigns supreme due to their quick reaction times and unparalleled camera movement capabilities.

Efficiency

Despite having an RTX 4090, the point I made in the introduction about poorly optimised games still applies to other high-end GPUs. A perfect example of this is The Last of Us, which faced difficulties reaching 100 fps even after enabling upscaling. On average, it only managed to reach 115 fps with occasional drops to 80 fps for unknown reasons.

There are no concerns with Forbidden West, as it offers a variety of video and graphical options for customization. The Video settings available are as follows:

The current graphics options only reach a maximum of Very High. It is uncertain if Nixxes will introduce an Ultra preset or potentially a ray-traced option in a future update. They have hinted at this possibility by encouraging readers to keep an eye on any updates in this area.

If I open a saved file and access the settings screens, I have the ability to modify each setting and witness a real-time update of the game’s appearance based on the changes made. These well-executed GFX settings greatly enhance the overall gaming experience.

Regardless of whether I am using DLAA, DLSS, XeSS, or FSR 2.2, the framerates remain consistently high and evenly matched across all of them. The only exception being DLAA, which falls slightly behind due to its use of a native resolution AA method.

Nvidia users will find that the game comes with version 3.5.10 of the DLSS dll file, however, the latest version (3.6.0) can easily be obtained from Techpowerup and swapped out. While I have not observed any changes in visual or performance, I find it reassuring to have the latest version.

The above data on customized benchmark results was obtained by utilizing the highest graphics settings at 3440×1440 resolution in a controlled outdoor area during daylight hours, with AI machines in operation.

Upon closer inspection at a magnification of 300%, it became apparent that DLSS Quality had a slight edge in sharpness over DLAA. The game does not have a universal sharpness slider, with the only option being a global sharpness filter on the Graphics screen set to a default value of 5.

Overall, DLSS’s image reconstruction capabilities are impressively on par with DLAA. I have noticed this trend in other games as well, where DLSS can deliver visuals that rival or come close to native resolution. This highlights the importance of proper implementation of an upscaler by developers. It’s reassuring to know that regardless of your preferred resolution method, whether native, upscaled, or dynamic, you can expect top-notch picture quality in this game.

It is notable that FSR 2.2 has been implemented in a successful manner here. Typically, FSR tends to underperform in games with noticeable temporal stability problems and motion blur of moving elements on the screen. However, in the case of Forbidden West, none of these issues were apparent.

A video is available which demonstrates the comparison of each upscaler in a static scene.

The link to the video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUuqyhTODfs.

Despite being barely noticeable, there is a slight temporal instability that can be observed in the far distance and certain lighting situations around Aloy. It is most prominent when closely zoomed in. Upon recording a video of a stationary scene with butterflies flying by, there is a subtle fizzling effect on the moving particles. However, this issue is not present in other upscalers.

Frame Generation, whether through an upscaler or native rendering, does not result in ghosting. However, there may be slight motion juddering, which has been observed in other games in the past and was later resolved through a patch. One example is The Last of Us Part 1. It is important to note that some players may be more sensitive to this issue, so it is something to consider.

The CPU optimisation is effective, as all available cores are being utilized without any being either overworked or underutilized. The use of multi-threading in a game like this likely contributes to the absence of stutters. However, this may also increase the likelihood of being limited by the CPU. Having a higher number of cores available will result in a higher average framerate.

At a resolution of 3440×1440, I observed that the CPU usage ranged between 40% and occasionally spiked to 70%, while still maintaining consistently high framerates and stable frametimes. This can most likely be attributed to the continuous streaming of assets in the game.

Recently, a few gaming forums have mentioned some concerns regarding Frame Generation and potential inconsistency in frametimes. These issues seem to be linked to loot windows and cutscene stuttering, where Frame Generation may briefly disable itself, causing a hitch in frametimes on the screen. I have personally noticed this hitch when I enable Frame Generation and open a loot window after defeating an enemy, but it does not seem to affect the actual rendering performance on the screen. In my experience, cutscenes are still smooth and I have not observed any stuttering.

Despite any potential underlying issues, the 4090 appears to be performing well based on overall feedback from the same forums. This suggests that the game is generally running smoothly and efficiently.

Mechanics

The gameplay mechanics in Forbidden West remain unchanged from Zero Dawn, making it easy for fans of the previous game to feel right at home. However, what sets this game apart is how much more enjoyable it has become. As mentioned earlier, I grew bored of Zero Dawn after 9.5 hours of gameplay due to the lack of dynamic landscape traversal. In Forbidden West, each area boasts its own unique biome and the verticality is utilized more effectively, providing ample exploration opportunities without getting repetitive or dull.

I find the combat in the sequel to be more enjoyable than in the first game. The machine AI seems to be more aggressive, making it more challenging and requiring me to use both pre-planning and on-the-fly strategy, which adds to the fun.

Overall, the main focus is on enjoyment. Forbidden West contains various parkour elements, plenty of opportunities for exploration and crafting. Once you have reached a certain level, you are ready to conquer the game.

Despite some players wanting more control, it is impossible to avoid the handholding that occurs when climbing in the game. Aloy will always accurately navigate and reach for the correct path, eliminating the tediousness often found in other games.

A feature of the mechanics that I find frustrating is the default setting of disabling the double tap function for direction keys to dash/roll. I suggest adjusting this setting in the mouse/keyboard options. I have accidentally double-tapped numerous times, causing me to roll off a cliff or ledge in a cavern.

The combat is exceptional, and using a mouse and keyboard only enhances the experience. Playing on an ultrawide monitor adds to the immersion, thanks to the wider field of view. It truly feels like this is the optimal way to play the game.

Final Decision

With Nixxes handling the porting, it was natural to expect a high level of polish considering their track record for producing solid PC ports. However, the absence of pre-launch reviews and communication, apart from the release of PC system requirements, left many wondering if it would follow the trend of Zero Dawn’s technical problems at launch.

I am grateful to say that my expectations were surpassed, and I am now struggling to find any flaws in this exceptional PC port of an already outstanding PS5 game. The addition of ultrawide support, improved framerates, and higher resolutions has elevated the gaming experience even further.

However, there are a few flaws that are not the fault of Nixxes. The primary issues are with screen space shadows and reflections. While they generally look fantastic in the base game, as a PC gamer, they can catch your attention when walking by certain common scenes in the game.

For example, when you rotate the camera around a large body of water, the common issue with screen space reflections becomes apparent, as in the case of water reflections.

The disappearance of reflections from faraway scenery is a common occurrence in all games that utilize screen space reflections, with some being more noticeable than others.

I wish there were more camera placement options available for Aloy in Forbidden West. Currently, there are only two choices: left-sided and dynamic. In other games, you can cycle through different camera placements by pressing a keybind, but this feature is not included in Forbidden West. This would have been especially useful on an ultrawide display.

On certain occasions, screen space shadows can also have a subtle impact. As shown in the GIF below, when I zoom in on a dark section of the rocks where light is not present, the crevice becomes brighter. This phenomenon is more pronounced in larger environments, such as entering a dark cave during daylight. Additionally, I have noticed that shadows of non-playable characters may disappear when they are right in front of me, but reappear as the camera moves, particularly in the Plainsong region.

Overall, this new release is a fantastic addition for PC gamers to enjoy. If this is an indication of the quality of future PC ports, I am extremely satisfied.

Revision – 2024.03.29

This week, Nixxes released a patch that aims to address several reported problems. The update brings the game version to 1.0.43.0 and the accompanying release notes indicate:

• Numerous crash fixes and enhancements to stability have been implemented.
• An issue that was preventing players from claiming rewards at the Hunting Grounds when using the mouse has been resolved.
• The HDR Max Luminance slider is now working properly.
• The game can now be saved if the Documents folder is redirected to the root of a drive rather than a specific folder.
• DLSS 3 Frame Generation is currently enabled during cutscenes and when UI screens, such as the weapon wheel, are being shown.
• The correct ‘Hide UI’ button prompt now appears when using a controller in Photo Mode.
• A bug was addressed that may have caused multiple Quest categories to be simultaneously highlighted.
• Fixed an issue where the map would have a mouse cursor offset on resolutions other than 1920×1080 pixels.