Users Are Review Bombing Horizon Forbidden West On Metacritic

Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Horizon Zero Dawn. The game continues the story of Aloy as she travels into the Forbidden West to deal with an extinction threat. She encounters many challenges and hurdles that stop her from achieving her goal on her way. The game is on a grander scale than the previous entry in terms of map size and variety of enemies. However, after being out for a few days, Horizon Forbidden West finds itself being reviewed bombed by Metacritic users. 

Despite its fair share of leaks – such as the trophies and the main menu– the game’s main story has remained spoiler-free. Considering that this is an open-world game and an RPG, it’s naturally going to be a lengthy one. Credit where credit is due, the game – for the most part – runs brilliantly and is well-optimized. However, there are specific bugs and glitches, especially in the performance mode on the PS5. But, that’s not what most negative reviews are for the game. 

Much like The Last of Us Part 2, players are seemingly review bombing the game without even playing it. Users are review bombing the game by saying, “Probably the biggest disappointment in a while… The story is bland and unimaginative.” Keep in mind that this “review” was made not even 24 hours after the game came out – and the game’s main story length is at least 30 hours minimum. 

While people might be inclined to believe that the story is “bland and unimaginative,” Metacritic implemented a new system to help games from getting review bombed. I can guarantee that the same comment would have been made on the same day of the game’s release if Metacritic didn’t introduce its new reviewing policy. Now, users have to wait at least a day before they can start reviewing the game. After the horrendous Last of Us Part 2 reviews from users who didn’t even play the game, this system was put into place.

https://twitter.com/NextGenPlayer/status/1284235994666016770

Unfortunately, this hasn’t stopped players from giving bad scores to the game for no reason at all. I’m not saying that the game is free from all criticism, though. As aforementioned, it has its issues regarding the performance mode. However, these issues are not enough to make someone stop playing the game entirely. While some users have reported that the game “can barely even play on 60 FPS,” an in-depth review from Digital Foundry suggests otherwise.

Most complaints about the game seem to be related to a buggy performance. However, players might have forgotten what a genuinely buggy experience feels like – looking at you Cyberpunk 2077 on launch. While Horizon 2 does feature some immersion-breaking bugs and glitches, they are not as bad as some of these reviews make them out to be.

So far, I’ve enjoyed my adventures in the Forbidden West. We would love to know your thoughts on this matter and your experience of the game. Let us know in the comments below if you’re having fun and was the game worth the hype?