That’s because next April, players will be able to return to Horizon Forbidden West via the game’s Burning Shores expansion. Based on the DLC’s debut trailer and the cliffhangers Guerrilla Games teased at the end of the main title, they will likely be in for an explosive time. Even though the map will seemingly be a brand-new location, the door is still open for established characters to return. One that would make particular sense is the AI known as CYAN.
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CYAN’s Role Explained
During Horizon Zero Dawn’s Frozen Wilds story expansion, Guerrilla Games took Aloy and the player to a previously unexplored region of the title’s universe. Within the titular location in question, a mystery involving its inhabitants, machines, and climate, played out. Over the course of the DLC, it was gradually established that the Old World AI known as CYAN was connected to everything that was going on.
Thanks to some keen sleuthing, Aloy was able to learn that CYAN was created before the Faro Plague broke out in the mid-21st century. Developed to have emotions on a smaller scale to GAIA, the AI was put in charge of monitoring and maintaining the Yellowstone Caldera. Like the scientists who study the area in the real world, the humans of the time feared the destructive capability of its supervolcano.
Having been commandeered by HEPHAESTUS and forced to spread havoc instead of protecting the region, Aloy was able to free CYAN towards the end of the Frozen Wilds DLC. Even though the events of its possession left the AI with a nervous disposition toward outsiders, it still showed a willingness to help the Nora Hunter and the local Banuk. So much so that it appeared as though Guerrilla Games had set up its return in the future.
Burning Shores’ Premise and Guerrilla’s Missed Opportunity
Outside the teaser trailer that Guerrilla Games shared at this year’s Game Awards ceremony, little is currently known about the plot of Horizon Forbidden West’s expansion. As its Burning Shores moniker suggests, it’s at least been confirmed that Aloy will be grappling with volcanoes and lava in the DLC. In the trailer a reactivated Horus machine was shown wreaking the remnants of Los Angeles, suggesting it will play a role on this front.
From a premise perspective, that sounds a lot like the scenario CYAN was meant to prevent. Even though the AI’s focus is on the Yellowstone Caldera that’s 820 miles away from L.A., it’s easy to imagine its programming accounting for eruptions more generally speaking. As a result of this, it’s not hard to envision Aloy calling upon its expert knowledge in her adventure. The Nora Hunter is going to need all her allies for Nemesis’ arrival in Horizon 3, and it’s also likely that this is the most natural scenario the studio could create to make it happen.
In a lot of respects, it’s easy to imagine the Burning Shores expansion being a worthy sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn’s Frozen Wilds. Not only are the scenarios involved seemingly related, but their names and locales are directly polar opposite to each other as well. For all of these reasons, CYAN’s return feels like a fitting route for Guerrilla Games to explore. Some fans had hoped the AI would return in Forbidden West’s main story, so there’s a chance to rectify a missed opportunity, too.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now for PS4 and PS5.
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