Horizon Forbidden West sees Aloy traverse dangerous and harsh environments in search of Gaia’s sub-functions, with hopes of restoring the planet’s terraforming system, rebalancing the biosphere and saving life on Earth. Though our story is set 1,000 years into the future, players will uncover and recognize many iconic locations from our real world today.

DISCLAIMER: Please note that this behind-the-scenes feature contains major spoilers for the storyline and many gameplay elements of Horizon Forbidden West. To get the most out of this in-depth article, we would strongly recommend completing the quest The Sea of Sands prior to reading.

During the quest The Sea of Sands, Aloy ventures into the arid Stillsands Desert in her search for Poseidon, one of Gaia’s sub-functions. At first, the desert appears desolate, however, hidden under the sands are the flooded ruins known as Dunehollow, formerly Las Vegas.

It is up to Aloy to piece together data fragments left behind a millennium earlier by a businessman called Stanley Chen and reactivate the city’s long-forgotten water systems in order to gain access to Poseidon.

Creating the Vegas ruins

Guerrilla Quest Designer Samantha Schoonen led the development of this quest, The Sea of Sands, from start to finish. To bring this vision to life, she did a lot of research on Vegas’ iconic Strip. 

“We looked into casinos and ideated on crazy ideas for far-future Vegas buildings,” says Schoonen. “I drew a lot of inspiration from our concept art as well, and we thought of things like a broken-down roller coaster area, remnants of a pirate ship, and a rooftop swimming pool – we worked a lot with our art departments to figure out what would work, though of course not everything made it into the final game.”

Designing this epic questline was a long process full of iteration and collaboration, says Samantha. “For main quests, we always start out with a story summary provided by our Narrative team,” she says. “Based on that summary, we write a design document containing all information, like story beats, quest objectives, a world map of the area to provide an overview of the quest flow and locations, and a detailed description of these areas.

“We then make an outline of the space. I use in-game reference images to get an idea of the level design and space itself, the outlines. But it’s hard to get a scale of the place while only working in 2D, so as soon as possible, I create a 3D layout in our Decima Engine. We then continue to iterate on flow and level design until everyone is satisfied.”

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Hey PlayStation Nation! The launch of Rumbleverse — the free-to-play, 40-person brawler — is nearly here! On August 11 the Battle Barge will officially open its slipway to all Rumblers as a free download on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Get ready; this is the start of your exciting career as a Rumbler!  

You’re invited to Grapital City, where everyone lives for the fight and dreams of becoming a champion. Create your unique fighter and prepare to be shot out of a cannon, where you and 39 other contestants are launched into the streets of Grapital City to rumble. Dash through streets and scale buildings in search of upgrades, found on every corner and rooftop in the city. Then pick a fight, flex your moves, knock out your opponents, and be the last Rumbler standing.

So, what’s new for launch?

Introducing Duos Mode

We really enjoyed watching you all strive to be a Solo Mode champion during our playtest sessions. The fun really begins on August 11th, when Duos Mode goes live. Fight side by side with a friend, share loot, protect each other, and win together! 

Duos Mode takes all the moment-to-moment gameplay you know and love from our Solo Brawler Royale experience and twists it into something brand new.  Every situation takes on a new set of strategic questions for you and your partner to answer. Want to risk landing on a hotspot like the Trophy Heights Water Tower to get all that loot?  If one of you gets thrown off, the other will be left without backup, raising the stakes. Want to move and loot together? If you stay too close, you’ll be collecting and sharing one player’s worth of items.  If you separate too much, you may be vulnerable to sneak attacks from aggressive Duos that leave you outnumbered.

In Duos Mode, you start with only eight slots for your stats, and a bit less Max Health than you do when you play alone. Additionally, you won’t have access to the Superstar Comeback system. If your teammate gets eliminated, you will get additional Max Health and Stat Slots awarded to you to help keep you in the fight.  Don’t worry though, as running out of Health in Duos mode won’t KO you right away.

If your teammate runs out of health, they’ll be Downed and in need of Help. To Help your teammate, simply stand near them and press the Interact button (Circle) to cheer them back to their feet. You’ll have 30 seconds to do so, but if your teammate is Downed again, you’ll get progressively less time to help them. Sounds simple?  It is… until enemy teams are hovering over your friend trying to stop you.  Try using the Vicious Blast (hold Triangle) or activating your Superstar Mode to push opponents away from your friend, and then help them up as quickly as you can. As a bonus, if you attempt to help a teammate while Superstar Mode is activated, you’ll help them up twice as fast.

Communication and teamwork are the key to victory. Share items. Go for complimentary builds. Help each other when enemies are attacking. You can knock your teammates down, but you won’t hurt them (unless water is involved). If you want a real thrill, try tossing an enemy into the air and letting your teammate connect a follow-up attack.  Create the team combos of your dreams and get your fans really amped up.

Introducing Playground Mode

Want to explore the city at your own pace and perfect your moves? Looking for a few lessons on how to play before you launch head-first out of a giant cannon?  Check out our free roam experience, Playground Mode. The city will be fully open to explore. Seek ou

DreamsCom ‘22 – our giant community-first games expo, made entirely in Dreams, by the way – has now wrapped up for another year. It’s been a blast checking out all of our player-made booths on the virtual show floor, and interviewing Dreams developers live on our Twitch channel. So much good stuff! Who knew? (Us. We knew. Now you do, too!)

No worries if you missed out, though, because the show floor is still playable in Dreams! Go check it out*, poke around, maybe discover some secrets… We won’t spoil too much, but suffice it to say there are some pretty cool surprises for those of you that hunt down every hidden treasure.

And guess what? All these amazing creations that featured at DreamsCom ‘22 are still playable in Dreams today, too. We’ve selected just a few highlights from this year’s lineup – check them out below. (If you’d like to see them in action, you can catch up with our VODs over on Twitch, and even hear the creators themselves talking about their games!)

Protoland
By Paulo-Lameiras

Dreams’ prince of pixels returns – this time, in 3D. Yes, the creator of Impy-winning side-scrolling shmup Solar Blast has turned their hand to the third dimension, and the results are mesmerising. Against an uncanny backdrop – a skyful of stony repeating cloud textures, a nostalgia-inducing field of flat green – we cycle through the weapon wheel, firing shots at drones. Things get even more unreal when we discover we have the ability to freeze time. We slow everything to a crawl in areas where we find ourselves suddenly surrounded so we can aim shots better, calculate platforming routes quicker. It’s clear from these two taster levels that Paulo’s understanding of level design is translating across dimensions well – as diligent secret hunters looking to get the most out of this demo will discover.

Strain
By Orksom

A concept so good it needs no set-dressing: in this puzzle-platforming demo, you’re physically linked to a corpse. Your goal is to navigate a mysterious seaside bunker, all while carrying this dead weight (apologies, old bean, but the truth hurts). Still, they’re not totally useless: the gas mask that links you to the body is perhaps your first clue that your stamina meter is linked to it, so you’re in this for the long haul together. Thanks to some weighty animation and physics, the process of learning to cleverly navigate obstacles and threats while picking up and putting down your floppy sidekick is curiously arresting.

Community Garden Showcase
By Nephrendil

Gardens are meaningful places. In a garden, growth is everything, small victories are celebrated, and communities gather to share knowledge – even to sustain themselves. Asset artist Nephrendil has a deep understanding of this, and it’s a joy to behold; they’ve been running community asset jams to populate the Dreamiverse with a huge variety of low-thermo (read: easy on scene memory limits) flora that anyone can use in their own creations. All entries are presented in interactive showcases that display what’s possibl

Hi, I’m Bruce from Idea Factory International and I’m here to teach you everything you need to know about helping Yumo and her friends stomp out the menacing Chaos Beasts in the world of Dusk Diver 2. Speaking of Yumo’s friends, let’s start with taking a look at how Leo, Bahet, and Le Viada all support Yumo in this sequel to the action RPG adventure, Dusk Diver. That’s right! Leo, Bahet, and Le Viada are back and better than ever.

Yumo, our protagonist, is a college student who doesn’t mind making a little cash taking down Chaos Beasts for Boss, the overbearing owner of Tumaz Mart. Leo might look intimidating, but he is actually kindhearted and protective of his teammates. Bahet is a talented musician that brings his guitar into battle. Le Viada is an interdimensional entity turned successful theatre actress and model. 

It’s been a year since we’ve last seen the Guardians, but Yumo and the gang are ready to jump back into the fray and smack some Chaos Beasts down with a bunch of improved moves that new and old players will enjoy alike. Fans of Dusk Diver will have a particularly good time exploring all the ways the combat system has been overhauled for Dusk Diver 2. 

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This might come as a shock, but Yumo keeps her signature electrified melee attack style in Dusk Diver 2. Only this time, she has some new tricks up her sleeve. Extend Yumo’s combos with the SP Skill Shining Rush, which quickly closes the distance on your foes and delivers a thundering blow that sends your enemies flying. Try setting up Wall Launches and Break Strikes with a well-placed Shining Rush. Wall Launches stun your enemies and leave them wide open, while Break Strikes extend combos and add damage. 

Surrounded by enemies? Let Leo show his lion heart with one of his signature ground pound SP Skills, like Earthquake – Flame. Use it with Leo’s air heavy attack for a roaring combo.  

Fresh off the streets of Evo 2022, two more characters have been announced for Street Fighter 6, the next evolution of the Street Fighter franchise, launching in 2023. Juri returns with her playfully sadistic ways along with new ninja Kimberly! We sat down with Game Director Takayuki Nakayama to ask him how Kimberly and Juri were designed along with quick bios for the duo. 

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A new era is here

Bust out some beats and shake up your spray cans to welcome the newest ninja to Street Fighter 6. Kimberly invited herself to become Guy’s student, who is the 39th Successor to Bushinryu after defeating his master Zeku, the 38th Successor. Kimberly had an ordinary upbringing, but she’s a prodigy who graduated college early and now wants to be a full-fledged ninja. She is infatuated with ’80s pop culture when the portable cassette player was at its peak popularity, hence why she always carries one with her.

Takayuki Nakayama: In terms of Kimberly’s design, we aimed to create an outfit suitable for her speedy and acrobatic movements since she excels in sports like track-and-field and cheerleading. Pair her brightly colored gi with sneakers suitable for moving around quickly, and you have Bushinryu-like ninja attire, don’t you think? We tried to make her hairstyle and outfit beautifully showcase her striking silhouette since she is an expert at running and airborne attacks. The spray can and portable cassette player on her waist are also used for special moves.

The music she listens to originates from a certain person, but you will have to wait for the story to find out who that is. Let’s see how Kimberly, the Ninja + Pop Star = Ninja Star, performs.

Roll7’s upcoming skater-shooter, Rollerdrome, features a fully original soundtrack, featuring dark retro-futuristic synth beats by the incredible Electric Dragon. I spoke to Ian, the artist behind Electric Dragon, to discuss the process of working on the project and creating this all-new album.

Jemima Tyssen Smith: Hello Ian! I had the pleasure of working with you while you created the incredible all-new music for Rollerdrome. This was such an exciting project for Roll7. What was it that drew you to the project?

Electric Dragon: You summoned me!

Haha – it’s true! Yes, I was actually the first person to reach out to you – we initially wanted just the one track, right?

Yes, that’s just it – I didn’t know the full details of the game at the time, but what I saw was super interesting to me, and I actually offered to do some original work at that point. After that I had a meeting with some of the team and we talked through what was needed in more detail. I’d been in a rut with the album I was working on, and talking to the folks at Roll7 really gave me a burst of inspiration. I think it just all came together really well for everyone involved, actually. I’d always wanted to work on a game soundtrack, and Rollerdrome is an incredible game to be involved with.

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I think when you spoke about the possibility of original tracks that felt perfect for us since we wanted such a specific vibe to the soundtrack. Could you talk a bit about that?

Yeah, so the energy we were after was a soundtrack with the power of synthwave but a distinct 70’s flavour. It felt like it might be quite tricky to balance as we really wanted to avoid going too disco as well – the game has a darkness to it that needed to be echoed in the music. In the end it actually came together quite naturally, though. I basically tackled the soundtrack as if it was sort of from the angle of the 70’s looking forward – very BBC ‘Tomorrow’s World’, you know? And then I was inspired a bit by lots of different things really: 70’s pioneers like Vangellis, Wendy Carlos, Philip Glass, Giorgio Moroder, Tangerine Dream… lots of inspiration from lots of places!

Seeing all of the cool kit you have is so inspiring – it’s all really interesting stuff. What was it that drew you to music and to synthwave in the first place?

I used to have a Commodore 64 as a kid, and my uncle bought me some software for that which was called ‘Utilisynth’. It was very complicated, but I managed to make some awesome wibbly-wobbly noises, and from there on I was sort of hooked

It’s August and things are really heating up—and we don’t just mean outdoors. There’s a tidal wave of new indie titles coming to PS4, PS5, and PS VR this month*, covering a wide variety of genres and playstyles. Here you’ll find wacky sports action, death-defying stunts, alien words, and even a terrifying “vacation” to a secluded cabin… all without the risk of sunburn. Take a look at some of this month’s indie highlights to plan your next adventure.

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Gigabash

It’s time to cause some combat carnage on a gargantuan scale. Passion Republic Games is debuting Gigabash, an all-new multiplayer arena brawler for PS4 and PS5. Humanity has screwed up big-time by uncovering ancient forbidden technology that’s caused massive monsters to pop up across the globe. They’re looking to brawl and party in the only way they know: by causing massive destruction. Fight as a giant mech or monster with up to three other players. Utilize quick movement and unique skills to prove your might, repurpose buildings, landmarks, and infrastructure as your personal beatdown tools, then use your amassed Giga Energy to morph into the ultimate S-Class monster. Come August 5, no city is safe.

Release Date: August 5, 2022 | Publisher: Passion Republic Games | PS4, PS5

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Cult of the Lamb

When a helpless little lamb finds itself saved from doom by a mysterious stranger named “The One Who Waits,” they are awakened to a newfound religious zeal for their savior. Now, they must build their own flock of devoted followers. This dark and humorous action/adventure/strategy game fr