Oh boy, another game announcement from the PlayStation universe, and this time it’s not just another single-player snooze fest—it’s Horizon Hunters Gathering, a co-op action game that lets you and two of your closest friends (or two random strangers who will inevitably betray you) take on giant robot dinosaurs together.
So, Guerrilla Games—the masterminds behind Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West—have decided that solo robot-slaying just wasn’t cutting it anymore. Apparently, they’ve been dreaming about this since the very first ideas for the franchise. Director Arjan Bak says, “With the very first ideas that shaped the world of Horizon, we dreamed of players hunting machines together.” Oh, really? Because it seemed like Aloy was doing just fine on her own, but sure, let’s throw in two more people to complicate things. Who needs a deep, immersive single-player story when you can have three people arguing over who gets to loot the shiny robot parts?
The game promises tactical, reactive, and skill-based combat, which basically means you’ll spend half your time strategizing and the other half screaming at your teammates for not reviving you fast enough. The gameplay loop revolves around two modes: Machine Incursion, where waves of machines pop out of the ground like a mechanical Whac-A-Mole, and Cauldron Descent, a multi-stage trial that will test your patience, your friendship, and your ability to not throw your controller at the wall. Both modes feature brutal machine encounters and hidden doors that promise power and rewards—because nothing says “teamwork” like everyone sprinting to the same chest and elbowing each other out of the way.
Players can choose from a roster of unique Hunters, each with their own playstyle (melee or ranged, because apparently, we can’t all just use bows like Aloy). There’s also a rogue-lite perk system to craft the perfect build for your squad, which is code for “spend hours tweaking your character only to realize you’re still going to die in two hits.” The characters will have their own storylines that are completely canonical to the Horizon universe, but the developers are keeping those details under wraps. Why? Probably because they’re still figuring out how to make three people sharing a narrative not feel like a chaotic mess.
The game is opening a closed beta test at the end of February, and fans can sign up for the PlayStation Beta Program to potentially get in. Of course, signing up doesn’t guarantee access, because why would Guerrilla Games make it easy for us to play their game? They want to see us suffer first.
So, get ready to team up, strategize, and probably rage-quit with your friends in Horizon Hunters Gathering. Because nothing says “fun” like three people trying to take down a giant robot while simultaneously trying not to hate each other. 🙃
Pixel P. Snarkbyte, widely regarded as the “Shakespeare of Sh*tposts,” is a video game expert with a unique knack for turning pixels into punchlines.
Born in the small town of Respawn, Pennsylvania, Pixel grew up mashing buttons on an ancient NES controller, firmly believing that “blowing into the cartridge” was a sacred ritual passed down through generations.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte: proving that life, much like a buggy open-world game, is better with a little lag-induced chaos.
