Horizon Burning Shores: DLC release date, how to access expansion quests, where to order it - is it on PS4?

The first DLC expansion for 2022’s Horizon: Forbidden West has arrived, with new challenges, enemies and storylines sure to have you on the edge of your seat.

Forbidden West was one of 2022’s gaming highlights. While it perhaps didn’t generate quite the buzz as its predecessor did five years earlier, the colourful, post-apocalyptic open-world action adventure once again presented a thrilling, technically astounding experience.

It saw players step into the shoes of Aloy once more, as she took on menacing, dinosaur-like robotic creatures across a far-future America ravaged by a rogue robot swarm, and its combat, vocal performances and technical advancements received praise.

Forbidden West did receive numerous early updates to address a variety of technical problems and quality of life features, but now it’s getting its first significant DLC package since its release in the form of the downloadable expansion, Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores.

So, grab your bow and hop on your trusty mount, and explore the new frontiers of the Horizon universe - here is everything you need to know about it.

What happens in Burning Shores?

In the Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores expansion, Aloy’s journey continues as the fearsome Nora hunter pursues a sinister threat through the untamed wilderness of a future Los Angeles that has been devastated by violent tectonic activity.

You must complete the main quest in Horizon Forbidden West (up to and including the final quest Singularity) in order to access the Burning Shores expansion.

Once you do, Aloy will get a call on her Focus, which will start the DLC, and you will be able to venture to a perilous new area south of the Tenakth Clan Lands, where players will engage in an exciting new plot with fresh characters, machines, and adventures.

When can I play it?

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores was released on Wednesday 19 April 2023. Unfortunately, the expansion is limited only to the PlayStation 5 version of the game, meaning players on the older PlayStation 4 console won’t get to enjoy ALoy’s latest adventure.

Guerilla Games explained that “to achieve this grand vision technically and creatively, we’ve made the difficult decision to focus all our efforts on making an incredible experience exclusively for the PlayStation5 console.”

Burning Shores includes the addition of fully exploring skies and clouds, which change dynamically depending on the time of day you visit them, and the lighting and weather conditions that accompany your journey to the heavens.

As such, realistic cloud rendering techniques were needed to add the same layer of immersion found in the game when you’re playing on solid ground. The PlayStation 5, with its improved hardware and graphics tech, could handle these techniques, but the ageing PlayStation 4 was unable to deliver the same experience.

Where can I order it?

You can order Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores from the PS Store. The expansion costs £15.99.