Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores is a 2023 expansion pack for the 2022 action role-playing video game Horizon Forbidden West, developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is a direct epilogue to the main campaign. The expansion is set in a post-apocalyptic volcanic archipelago constructed from the seismically fractured ruins of Los Angeles. The narrative follows the Aloy as she travels south to pursue Walter Londra, a rogue member of the technologically advanced Far Zenith faction, before he can flee the planet. Along the way, she allies with Seyka, a marine from the seafaring Quen tribe.

The expansion introduces an explorable map that is roughly one-third the size of Forbidden West's. It raises the level cap to 60 and implements a specialised economy to acquire and upgrade equipment. The flooded archipelago environment features water-based and aerial exploration and introduces a skiff, dynamic thermal geysers for gliding, and the Waterwing, a flying machine that can be used as a mount capable of diving underwater. The player gains access to new combat abilities and weaponry. The campaign places a greater emphasis on cooperative encounters, frequently pairing Seyka with Aloy to assist in combat and puzzle-solving.

Burning Shores's narrative was designed to shift the focus toward Aloy's emotional growth and her ability to open up to others. Generating the dense city environments, high-speed aerial traversal, and cloud formations required updates to the Decima engine, which were made possible by dropping previous generation hardware constraints. Burning Shores was Forbidden West's only expansion pack and was released as downloadable content for the game for PlayStation 5 on 19 April 2023. It was later ported, along with the base game, to Windows by Nixxes Software on 21 March 2024 as part of the Complete Edition.

The expansion received generally favourable reviews from critics, who praised its visual presentation, technical achievements, and the evolving dynamic between Aloy and Seyka. However, opinions were more divided on the storyline of its primary antagonist and the execution of the final boss encounter against a reanimated Horus war machine. Burning Shores's optional same-sex kiss was the target of review bombing on Metacritic. GLAAD considered the romance as authentic representation, earning the expansion a nomination at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards.