Horizon Forbidden West Is Reportedly 'About As Long' As Horizon ...

Maybe your like

How many hours does it take to beat Horizon Forbidden West? While we don't have a definitive answer to that question, we now have a pretty big clue as to how long we can expect the sequel to be. German site GamePro managed to glean some information about Aloy's upcoming adventure from game director Mathijs de Jonge, including a rough idea of how many hours we'll spend hunting robots.

After running the webpage through Google Translate, we learn that Forbidden West is apparently "about as long as its predecessor". Horizon Zero Dawn is a fairly meaty action RPG you can put dozens of hours into if you want to see everything. It sounds like the sequel will be more or less of equal scope.

The publication went a step further and pulled some data from HowLongToBeat. According to the site, Horizon Zero Dawn takes (on average) about 22 hours to finish the main story, 44 hours if you also include side quests, and 60 or more if you do absolutely everything. By the sound of it, we can expect Horizon Forbidden West to be approximately the same, so at least 20 hours if you're only concerned with the main path.

Being basically the same length is what we were expecting from Forbidden West, really. It doesn't need to be hundreds of hours long, but it is nice to know it's a full scale entry that'll last fans a good while. What are your thoughts? Is this about what you were hoping for from the sequel's length? Clear those diaries in the comments section below.

[source gamepro.de]

Related Games

Horizon Forbidden West (PS4)
Horizon Forbidden West (PS5)

See Also

Horizon Forbidden West Guide: Walkthrough, Tips, and Tricks
Horizon Forbidden West (PS5) Review

Stephen has been part of the Push Square team for over six years, bringing boundless enthusiasm and a deep knowledge of video games to his role as Assistant Editor. Having grown up playing every PlayStation console to date, he's developed an eclectic taste, with particular passion for indie games, arcade racers, and puzzlers. He's also our go-to guy for Sonic-related matters, much to his delight/chagrin.

Author Profile
Bluesky
Reply

1
Voltan
Wed 26th Jan 2022

Zero Dawn's length pleased me and this pleases me as well.

2
Shepherd_Tallon
Wed 26th Jan 2022

Yeah Zero Dawn had a nice length. I'll be happy with a similar structure.

3
frabbit
Wed 26th Jan 2022

I think I hit the plat after about 70 on the original, not including the DLC which I have saved for the next couple of weeks. Sounds good to me!

4
Just2Milky
Wed 26th Jan 2022

Yeah, as long as it’s a good story (no padding) I wouldn’t care if it was half of ZD’s.

Maybe I would care a little

5
dasd2
Wed 26th Jan 2022

It's a sequel, so I wanted a bigger volume. I'm a bit disappointed.

6
CynicalGamer
Wed 26th Jan 2022

Yeah the whole bigger is better marketing approach that happens so much gets annoying. This sounds good to me!

7
ItsBritneyB_tch
Wed 26th Jan 2022

This is good news. As much as I loved the first game (and am looking forward to the second), I don’t wanna be spending 500 hours with it.

8
FatalBubbles
Wed 26th Jan 2022

This is good news. I was concerned from some of the comments we’ve see that it would be a lot bigger. I felt the first game felt just about perfect in length.

9
Shinnok789
Wed 26th Jan 2022

20-45 hours of very good content is much more preferable than over 100h of boring game (yeah, Valhalla, looking your way). So i completely agree with their choice.

It seems Elden Ring will be just a bit bigger but in the same ballpark, 30-35h of main quests (just like Bloodborne), and ~45h of side content.

Very good month for gamers this February will be, the best after a long time of delays! Eagerly waiting for their respective launch dates!

10
XOF
Wed 26th Jan 2022

I thought it would be lengthier than Horizon Zero Dawn, but I can't say I'm disappointed. I like how committed Guerrilla Games are to quality over quantity.

This game is going to be an amazing experience. The wait is almost over!

11
ProfessorNiggle
Wed 26th Jan 2022

I won’t lie, I hate how long HZD is. Games like Spider-Man (not miles morales) have the perfect length. Not 200000 hours like assassins creed and rdr 2 but not 2 minutes long like miles morales.

I realise I’m in the minority so don’t come for me! I just don’t have the time to sink endless hours and hours into a game. That’s why stuff like Returnal, Hades, Spelunky are great for me as I’ll put some hours into it and come back another time, knowing my progress is more or less restarted everytime. With story games like Gow or Horizon, I can come back to it 3 months after not playing it and I’ll be lost because I forgot what I was doing etc. Again, I realise I’m in the minority.

12
AFCC
Wed 26th Jan 2022

I'm glad. These bloated games, like Valhalla for example, are getting boring...

13
shamirqushairi
Wed 26th Jan 2022

"...60 or more if you do absolutely everything."

How the hell did I clock in at 150 hours?! And I'm still missing a few datapoints.

14
ThroughTheIris56
Wed 26th Jan 2022

That’s good to hear. Tired of all the “this new thing is 3x the size of the original!!!!!!”

15
BeenGamingSince_83
Wed 26th Jan 2022

@shamirqushairi same, so you probably sucked at it like I did

16
MightyDemon82
Wed 26th Jan 2022

Put about 120 hours into HZD and will probably do the same for the sequel.

17
Keyblade-Dan
Wed 26th Jan 2022

Spent about 40-50 hours on Zero Dawn to do everything that's pretty much perfect 😁

18
theheadofabroom
Wed 26th Jan 2022

@shamirqushairi Seems like you repeated a few things?

To be fair, I have spent 127 hours in the game which was three playthroughs.

1) Going in blind, doing what I came across, playing at default difficulty

2) NG+ on the hardest difficulty

3) Completionist run doing every quest and earning every remaining trophy on Easy

I'll probably have another run through the Frozen Wilds before I play the sequel, just to get back into the world and the combat system.

19
Humaniac
Wed 26th Jan 2022

If you complain that games are too long, how about sticking to the main story and ignore the rest? That way you only get the best part and spend way less time playing it. They create games for a ton of people, not only you..

20
Deadlyblack
Wed 26th Jan 2022

The first game had a perfect length. I actually wanted more after platinuming it.

Just never got around to playing the expansion yet. Whoops.

21
ApostateMage
Wed 26th Jan 2022

Whenever a game has a completion time, I always manage to double or triple it. I like to explore stuff.

22
RadioHedgeFund
Wed 26th Jan 2022

I am 40 hours in and only just climbed Ted Faro's tower. I am happy to potter around doing side quests, photograph the sunrise and generally just enjoy being in the world.

I do hope they've cut down the amount of forced fights in this one. I don't mind the robots being tough to take down out in the wild because you have all manner of options for taking them down but when you're trapped in an arena spamming arrows or melee attacks it really isn't fun. Knocking the difficulty down to 'story' during these events does make them a lot more bearable. If the game does still have bosses at least make them boss-level enemies with weak points and attack patterns rather than just fights against normal enemies.

23
jmac1686
Wed 26th Jan 2022

This goes directly against what the developers just revealed, saying the game is larger than the first and takes hundreds of hours to complete the main story and side quests.

24
Juanalf
Wed 26th Jan 2022

If they had said the game was longer "Perfect! I get to immerse my self in this incredible world for longer" If they had said the story was shorter "Perfect! we don't need the story to drag on forever" 🙂

25
Octane
Wed 26th Jan 2022

As long as three Tallnecks.

26
KnightRider1982
Wed 26th Jan 2022

Guessing that one of the missions in the game will take at least an hour to do, just like HZD.

27
TooBarFoo
Wed 26th Jan 2022

I think I played around the 40 hour mark. It was about perfect for me. Still more to do for those that wanted but could have blasted though quicker if I had less time or inclination. It's a good sign HFW is confident in the game. I feel a lot of the grindy games like the new AC's swap quality for quantity.

It also looks like they gained a bit with he engine being used for Death Stranding. The animations look much tighter and more nuance than the original. I'm not going to pick it up on launch, I've set £50 as my cap on game costs, so I'll probably hold off until it drops on PS+ with DL2 and Elden Ring taking Feb's main single player slots with a bit of CrossfireX and Warhammer 3 filling in the dead spots.

28
themightyant
Wed 26th Jan 2022

Great. Not too short, not too long. Although i'm replaying the first on NG+ now and when mainlining the game it's actually quite short which I quite like.

29
Col_McCafferty
Wed 26th Jan 2022

I always think these estimates are conservative in nature, my firs play through was over 80 hours!

I'm sure I'll enjoy almost every single second I'll spend in this game.

30
Barryburton97
Wed 26th Jan 2022

The ideal length for a AAA game in my opinion- 25ish hours to complete and the same again for all the optional extras.

Really can't wait for HFW. The original was my joint favourite game of the generation and the only thing I played through more than once that wasn't set in Raccoon City. Horizon's story and world building doesn't get enough credit in my opinion.

31
Barryburton97
Wed 26th Jan 2022

@theMEGAniggle I don't really understand your point, how can you 'hate' the 22 hour length of Horizon Zero Dawn but find the 17 hours to complete Marvel's Spider-Man to be perfect? Yes HZD has a lot more side quests and collectibles but they are totally optional.

32
ProfessorNiggle
Wed 26th Jan 2022

@Barryburton97 optional yes but doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it?

Completed all Spider-Man side quests and story in around 30 hours

I’ve sunk in like 120 hours into HZD, I haven’t finished all the side quests, haven’t finished frozen wilds. I like to take my time and there’s not a single game where I’ll only do the main quests

Edit: all collectibles in Spider-Man

33
Barryburton97
Wed 26th Jan 2022

@theMEGAniggle I've completed it twice, including 100% and Platinum the first time and Main Story + 100% of Frozen Wilds the second time, and that's taken 110h in total. That was on Hard throughout, and I'm no hardcore gamer so died plenty. I can imagine it feeling rather long if you've done 120 hours and haven't even finished it once.

34
ProfessorNiggle
Wed 26th Jan 2022

@Barryburton97 that’s pretty impressive. I’m playing it on hard as well but I think for the next one I’ll crank it down to normal difficulty.

It does feel incredibly long but when I get there I’m celebrating

35
Jayofmaya
Wed 26th Jan 2022

This is exactly what I was hoping for. I 100% the map icons and did everything except world data logs (didn't need for platinum trophy). Then I had a break for a bit and then completed the dlc in the same way. Really fun and plenty to keep you occupied. I was very stealthy in main game (bandit camps I made sure to not be caught) so I probably took longer than most people did to work through it, though. I will hope for DLC again later down the line.

36
shamirqushairi
Wed 26th Jan 2022

@theheadofabroom My 150 hours was for one playthrough! Maybe I spent too much time in Photo Mode 🤷‍♂️

37
shamirqushairi
Wed 26th Jan 2022

@gamer_since_83 Yeah, nope 😂

38
Flaming_Kaiser
Thu 27th Jan 2022

@Salt_AU You do your name proud you know. The main campaing of dying light 2 can be finished in the same amount of time you know. 🤪

39
Flaming_Kaiser
Thu 27th Jan 2022

I will have the game day one i took 120 hours to Platinum the game and thats without the extra trophies and im missing a few collectibles still need to finish the expansion. 😁

40
KidRyan
Fri 28th Jan 2022

Works for me! My gaming backlog keeps growing every month so I prefer shorter length games.

Show Comments

Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...

70+ PS5, PS4 Games to Buy in PS Store's Critics' Choice Sale

Top PS5 and PS4 games going cheap
You'll Want to Play Crimson Desert on PS5 Pro for Dedicated Enhancements

The best version on consoles
Nioh 3 (PS5) - Superb Action Fronts a New Team Ninja Gem

Ninja in more than name
Poll: What's Your Reaction to Horizon Hunters Gathering?

On the hunt
The Division: Definitive Edition Out Now, But Not on PS5

It's just a PS4 complete edition

Horizon Forbidden West PS5
Horizon Forbidden West PS4

4

News PS5's First State of Play of 2026 Tipped for Later This Week
1

News Honkai: Star Rail's Humongous Sequel-Sized PS5 Update Embraces Otaku Culture
16

Guide These 11+ PS5, PS4 Games Are Coming Out This Week (9th-15th February)
10

Feature Going Platinum #11: Spyro the Dragon
23

News Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Permanently Cheaper on PS5 from Next Week