Last month, Steamforged Games unveiledHorizon Forbidden West: Seeds of Rebellion- a co-operative tabletop adventure set in the titular Forbidden West several years prior to Aloy’s arrival.
In fact,Seeds of Rebelliongets its namesake as it takes place during the early onset of Regalla’s rebellion - a character longtime fans will know as the rebel Tenakth leader. You’ll play as a Tenakth loyalist, under the guidance of Chief Hekarro.Seeds of Rebellionconsists of a series of ever-changing combat encounters with narrative ‘scenes’ weaved in between. Steamforged Games is keeping tight-lipped on the story for now, but during these narrative sections, you’ll be required to make decisions that’ll impact the strength of Regalla’s rebellion, the machines you face, and the spread of the Forbidden West’s Red Blight.
Take a look at our recent hands-on experience withSeeds of Rebellionbelow.
With that in mind, the decisions you make are going to be crucial with each one having a major impact on the campaign - something we should hear more about from the team soon. What we do know is that Steamforged createdSeeds of Rebellionin close partnership withGuerrillaso you should expect a canon narrative that compliments that of the video game series.
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Very similarly to the video games, you’re able to make a series of melee and ranged attacks, or you can play stealthily, stick to the tall grass, and set up environmental traps. Both your actions and where you’re placed on the board affect the machines’ alertness to your location - similarly to the game. You’re going to want to pay close attention to your location because it’ll do you no good going in for the kill on your own.
Between each player’s turn, the machines get their own turn. If you happen to be in their vicinity (and they’re aware of it), you’ll suddenly have to defend yourself against some pretty powerful attacks. In these instances, it helps to be located near your fellow soldiers. While my group found the Burrowers relatively simple to dispatch of - after all, they are one of the franchise’s weaker machines - the Clawstrider proved to be much more taxing. It boasts an XP around five times that of the Burrowers. Thankfully, our band of Tenakth warriors came out on top, although one or two of us were desperately on the verge of requiring a health potion.
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In the game, we each had our own skills as characters. My character specialised in melee attacks, another in ranged attacks, one in stealth and so on. It just so happens that as we were all experienced in playingHorizon Zero DawnandForbidden West, it didn’t take us long to come up with strategies that made the best of our combat strengths, but the game is accessible to new fans too.
I was somewhat nervous about diving intoSeeds of Rebellion, but I needn’t have been. I’m not particularly well experienced in playing tabletop games of this kind, but I am well versed in the Horizon video games - and I cannot express enough what a natural extension of that video game worldSeeds of Rebellionis. It offers new challenges, namely working together, which is also one ofSeeds of Rebellion’s greatest strengths - and yet while the game was brand new to me, it felt so familiar.
In addition to the cards which explain your character’s armour and various weapons, you’ll also have an extra hand made up of five cards that can be used once and replaced at the end of your go. These cards sometimes offer up specialised ammo, perhaps leading to your bow dealing extra damage or layering an attack with elemental damage. There are familiar corruption, shock, freeze, and fire tokens to represent these conditions. In other instances, the cards may permit extra movement, or provide a benefit to the next player if you fulfil a certain condition.
The fact that this hand of cards changes on almost every turn means thatSeeds of Rebellionnever felt stale. I could imagine myself diving into a combat segment for several hours and never getting bored of the gameplay. It’s dynamic and despite the frightening appearance of the vast number of cards, tokens, and dice that lay before you, it’s incredibly easy to get to grips with.
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The miniatures truly do these colossal machines justice. Eventually during play, you’ll come up against Slitherfangs and Tremortusks. While I didn’t get chance to play a segment featuring these machines, I already have a pretty good idea of just how tough they’ll be to defeat. The Clawstrider miniature was miles bigger than the Burrowers. The Slitherfangs and Tremortusks? They’re enormous. There’s certainly nothing miniature about these miniatures - and the team at Steamforged deserve major props for the incredible attention to detail.
There are even expansions planned forSeeds of Rebellionand having seen the size of the Slaughterspine included in one, I’m pretty confident that players will be itching to get their hands on it as soon as possible. I know I am.
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I had heaps of fun playingHorizon Forbidden West: Seeds of Rebellion. I’ve pretty much spent the past couple of days thinking about how excited I am to dive back in when the game is finally released. If you’re a fan of Guerrila’s Horizon series,Seeds of Rebellionis a flawless extension of this world both in terms of lore and mechanics. Playing a board game may be very different to playing a video game and yetSeeds of Rebellionfelt so familiar to me, and I know many other longtime franchise fans are certain to feel that way too. This game offers endless hours of fun and is most certainly one to keep an eye on.
Horizon Forbidden West: Seeds of Rebellion launches on Kickstarter on 21 November. Assets are in development and subject to licensor approval.
Topics:Horizon Forbidden West,Horizon Zero Dawn,Board Games,Preview
