Videogames: Horizon Forbidden West - Language & Representations

Our second videogames CSP is Horizon Forbidden West (2022).

This is another in-depth CSP so will require two detailed blog tasks over the next couple of weeks. We'll start with an introduction alongside language and representation contexts.

Horizon Forbidden West: introduction

• Released in February 2022 as a sequel to the highly successful Horizon Zero Dawn (2017). 
• Available on PS4, PS5 and Windows platforms.
• Horizon Forbidden West sold over 8 million copies in its first year.
• Excellent reviews including 9/10 on IGN.
• Developed by studio Guerrilla Games which is based in Amsterdam and owned by Sony. 

 

Background and media language

• Genres: Action adventure / Action role playing / Sandbox / Open world
• Protagonist/avatar (character player controls): Aloy 
• Setting: Post-apocalyptic future version of USA following extinction event caused by a robot swarm. 
• Gameplay: Exploring open world, completing quests using weapons against hostile machine creatures.

Official release trailer: 

Official gameplay trailer: 

Representation: social and cultural contexts

Horizon Forbidden West has been both praised and criticised for the representations of different groups. Driven by a strong, independent female protagonist in Aloy, the game has been held up as an example of how gender in videogames is changing.

Horizon Forbidden West also has an LGBT storyline which can be seen as further evidence of Gauntlett’s view of the liberalising influence of the mass media, particularly in recent years.

However, the game has also been criticised for its representation of indigenous populations and Asian Americans with the accusation of lazy stereotypical tropes.

Key scene analysis

Watch the key scene where Aloy’s love interest storyline develops and think about how representations of gender and sexuality are constructed:

Edward Said: Orientalism 

Edward Said (1935-2003) was a Palestinian-American cultural theorist and academic best known for his 1978 book Orientalism.

In it, he argued that the west – particularly colonising Europe – constructed a meaning of the east that suggested it was exotic, dangerous and uncivilised.

East v West

Edward Said argues that the Europeans divided the world into two parts: the east and the west or the civilized and the uncivilized. This was a totally artificial boundary; and it was laid on the basis of the concept of ‘them and us’ or ‘theirs and ours’.

The Europeans defined themselves as the ‘superior race’ and they justified their colonisation by this concept. Media to this day contains particular tropes associated with these views.

Horizon Forbidden West & racial tropes

Videogames website Polygon has highlighted racial tropes in Horizon Forbidden West: 

“A plethora of racist tropes emerge within Forbidden West’s world. There’s a stereotypical angry Black woman named Regalla, for example, who leads a rebel army and would rather die than seek peace. There’s also constant belittling between tribes, who call each other “savage” or “uncivilized” — terms loaded with racial undertones. There’s also plenty of Orientalism.”

Horizon Forbidden West: Language and Representation blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Horizon Forbidden West: Language and Representation' and work through the following tasks.

Language

Introduction

Read this review of Horizon Forbidden West in the Financial Times (should be non-paywalled but you can read the text of article here if needed). Answer the following questions:

1) Why does Guerrilla Games have 'a serious case of bad timing'? 

2) What is the narrative for the original game Horizon Zero Dawn? 

3) How is the central character Aloy described? 

4) What is the narrative and setting for sequel Horizon Forbidden West?

5) What does the review say about animation and graphics?

6) What do we learn about the gameplay and activities in Horizon Forbidden West? 

Close textual analysis

Watch the trailer for Horizon Forbidden West:

Answer the following questions:

1) How is narrative, character and setting introduced in the trailer?

2) How is the game's open world / sandbox genre shown in the trailer? 

3) What representations can you find in the trailer? 

AQA recommends watching the following gameplay trailer in their CSP booklet:

Watch the gameplay video and answer the following questions:

1) How does the game use media language to communicate ideas about narrative and genre?

2) What representations of people, places or groups can you find in the gameplay video?

3) What audience pleasures are suggested by this gameplay trailer?

Narrative and genre

Read this excellent Den of Geek article that addresses elements of narrative and genre. You can find the article text here if the link is blocked. Answer the following questions: 

1) Read the opening to the article. How can we apply Steve Neale's genre theory to Horizon Forbidden West?

2) How many copies did the Horizon Zero Dawn sell and why did this influence the design of the sequel?

3) How does the article criticise the story in Horizon Forbidden West? 

4) What do we learn about the gameplay? 

5) What is the article's overall summary of the game?

Representations

Read this fascinating Polygon feature on why Horizon Forbidden West isn't post-racial and answer the following questions: 

1) How does Horizon Forbidden West use narrative to create a fully diverse cast of characters?

2) What is orientalism? 

3) How does the article suggest orientalism applies to Horizon Forbidden West? 

4) Who is the player encouraged to identify with in the game and how does this influence how representations are constructed?  

5) Finally, what did the writer of the article (an Asian American) feel when playing the game?

Focusing on Aloy and the representation of women in videogames, read this Forbes feature on the topic. Answer the following questions:

1) What is the debate regarding Aloy in Horizon Forbidden West? 

2) What examples are provided of other female characters and representations in videogames?

3) What are the issues facing the videogame industry in terms of gender?  

Due date: on Google Classroom

A/A* extension tasks

Read this interesting CBC article on indigenous representation in Horizon Forbidden West. How does it present issues regarding representations of Indigenous people both in terms of in-game and in the inudstry?