Horizon Forbidden West Is Being Review-Bombed by Hate Groups
Haters are dragging down the reviews for Horizon Forbidden West because of a cutscene featuring a same-sex kiss.
Aloy kissed a girl, and she liked it! The very successful 2022’s Horizon Forbidden West—which previously split the critics—finally received its long-awaited DLC. The ratings of the Horizon Zero Dawn sequel have since plummeted on Metacritic to 2.7/10 due to the fact that one of the cutscenes features a kissing scene between the game’s protagonist and another female character. It’s hard to imagine that a kiss between two people of the same biological sex would cause such controversies in 2023, but the actions of hate groups prove us wrong.
According to Kotaku, the new Horizon Forbidden West DLC, titled Burning Shores, takes Aloy, whose “other-self” was a huge problem to write, to the remnants of Los Angeles. There, she meets another female character named Seyka, and it’s pretty clear that the two take a liking to each other. The game then offers a romantic choice that leads to Aloy and Seyka kissing, which apparently upsets a great number of players. The scene was received so badly that it generated three times as many negative reviews as positive ones, most of which were about the kissing scene.
Furthermore, many are now claiming that they’re dropping Horizon Forbidden West entirely, along with their support for Guerilla Games. Really, over a same-sex kiss? The game’s Metacritic score, which is currently at 82 (based on critics’ reviews), has only a 2.7 user score due to the nature of the kiss, which many apparently consider offensive. What’s more interesting about the whole thing is the fact that the game offers players a choice regarding the kiss, and those who are uncomfortable with the idea of two ladies kissing can make choices other than the kiss.
Even more, it’s quite evident that Aloy and Seyka have chemistry between them throughout the entire Horizon Forbidden West DLC, and the presence of “offensive content” could be assumed almost from the moment the two met. Actually, Aloy’s affection towards Seyka is so apparent throughout the DLC; it’s nearly palpable. To be honest, the reaction is entirely unreasonable since the game is rated PEGI 16, which means that the title may contain erotic nudity or even intercourse without visible genitals. So, some “action” was to be expected.
Horizon Forbidden West reviews are currently filled with hate speech and conspiracy theories about LGBTQ+ lobbyists pushing their agenda into what could’ve been a beautiful story and how gamers shouldn’t be forced to see gay women exist in the world of Horizon Forbidden West. Just like the world of Horizon Forbidden West, humanity—in both fictional and real-world—come in all colors and flavors. In other words, we’re diverse, and there’s nothing wrong with a bit of representation in gaming. Let’s focus on the overall quality and not the petty details.
Don’t get us wrong; we’re not advocating for or against anything; our policy is live and let live. Besides, there’s plenty of other stuff in gaming to be upset about other than the gay kiss in Horizon Forbidden West. For example, let’s discuss the sub-par quality releases, such as Battlefield 2042; we’ve been bombarded with in the past couple of years and the fact that gaming companies are ripping us off for games that are both expensive and don’t work instead of hating the ones that offer us an actionable choice, and then getting mad when we dislike what we chose to see in the first place.
