Horizon Forbidden West Gets ESRB Rating

Horizon Zero Dawn sequel Horizon Forbidden West from developer Guerrilla Games is currently set to release for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on February 18th, and ahead of that — and as expected — the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating for the video game has been made public. The ESRB rating is a good way, generally speaking, to get an idea of what to exact from a given game’s content and usually does not include direct spoilers of any kind.

More specifically, Horizon Forbidden West is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB with the following tags: Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol, and Violence. None of which is exactly surprising given the content in the first video game. You can check out the full ESRB rating for Horizon Forbidden West, straight from the source, below:

“This is an action-adventure game in which players assume the role of a hero (Aloy) traveling to discover the source of a mysterious signal. From a third-person perspective, players traverse post-apocalyptic environments/landscapes, complete quests, interact with characters, and engage in combat against enemy tribes and robotic creatures. Players use slingshots, bows, javelins, and spears to kill enemies in frenetic combat. Puffs of blood are depicted as human enemies are hit; blood stains also appear underneath bodies in some environments. Players can also perform stealth attacks (e.g., spear impalement) to eliminate enemies discreetly. Cutscenes depict additional acts of violence: a character impaled by swords or spears; a character crushed to death by a statue. The game depicts drunk characters stumbling around, and in one area stating, ‘I’m inebriated’; one cutscene depicts Aloy drinking beer from a mug; several background characters are seen drinking alcohol in taverns. The word ‘sh*t’ is heard in the game.”

As noted above, Horizon Forbidden West is officially set to launch for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on February 18, 2022. Despite initially announcing that the upgrade from PS4 to PS5 would require payment, PlayStation ultimately reversed course on that decision and it will be a free upgrade path instead. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the upcoming video game sequel right here.

What do you think about the ESRB rating for Horizon Forbidden West? Are you still looking forward to playing it when it releases early next year? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!

[H/T Game Rant]