Horizon Burning Shores needs Spider-Man Miles Morales' story quality By Kes Eylers-Stephenson, 09 Mar 2023 FollowtopicsPlayStation 5PlayStation 4Kes Eylers-Stephenson Horizon Forbidden West is soon getting a new slab of content with the Horizon Burning Shores expansion, but it really needs to take a leaf out of Spider-Man Miles Morales' book. At this point, either through PS Plus Extra or over the course of the last year, PS5 players have had the opportunity to collect those Horizon Forbidden West trophies. Now, with the Horizon Burning Shores expansion coming to PS5, we need to see that it's the story actually matters unlike Frozen Wilds and more like Spider-Man Miles Morales. Horizon Burning Shores needs to take a story leaf from the Spider-Man Miles Morales bookHorizon Burning Shores needs to show DLC stories actually matterWe know so little about Horizon Burning Shores aside from its LA location south of the Tenakth Clan Lands and that — as PlayStation has advertised — "Aloy’s story continues." Horizon Forbidden West, the base game, has a story that helps elevate it into the best PS5 games and its predecessor, Horizon Zero Dawn, equally had a story that helped it reach the best PS4 games. Obviously, the fantastic machine-killing gameplay helped, but the narrative added a wonderful and innovative sci-fi dystopian gloss to proceedings even when character work and some of the lore nuggets failed to land. There is one exception to this in Horizon's gaming universe, though — Zero Dawn's expansion Horizon Frozen Wilds. It features Aloy heading to the snowy mountains called The Cut, where the insular Banuk tribe live. As Aloy deals with old-world tech that is failing to hold back the Yellowstone Caladara from blowing everything to bits, it's clear that — while a well-told and fun expansion — it's nearly entirely cordoned-off segment of the story that has no bearing on the main plot nor providing character growth for Aloy. Since it was released well after the launch and the plot, most played it after the main game as though it was a flashback or as a really delineated side quest late in the main game. Again, while good, it just feels so irrelevant compared to the main plot. Horizon Burning Shores will feature a lot of Sunwing, it seemsIf Burning Shores wants to make a splash and not become a forgotten detail in the Horizon saga, it needs to take a look at the story-telling in another PlayStation exclusive. As anyone who has earned those Spider-Man Miles Morales trophies will tell you, one of Miles Morales' strongest aspects is its story. Having appeared in the main game in small playable sections, the massive Miles expansion blows open his story, places him next to the original Spider-Man for a bit before ripping the comfort blanket away, and gives him a character arc full of growth as he struggles with the burden of responsibility while Peter Parker is out of town. His family and friends are fantastic characters but really serve to push Miles' growth into the lovable hero he becomes by the end of the neat and tidy 20-hour expansion. Burning Shores needs Miles Morales' narrative energy and zip, while maintaining the stakes and weight of the travails that the main Forbidden West plot does so well. Aloy's best moments, as I noted in my Horizon Forbidden West review at launch, were her uncertainty creeped out when she felt under pressure to save the world because literally only she could. The plot, for me at least, really weakened when Aloy was too mentally strong and inhuman, falling back into the arms of the traditional silent and gopher-like invincible video game hero.Aloy riding high ahead of Horizon Burning ShoresGuerrilla's announcement promised that Burning Shores has a "compelling storyline following from where Horizon Forbidden West ended, new characters, adventures, and more." The fact that Burning Shores is a continuation of the end of Forbidden West might solve the 'irrelevant side-quest' vibe that Frozen Wilds had, but it still needs to push character growth and a meaningful story like Spider-Man Miles Morales did. If this expansion can truly flesh out Aloy and put that uncertainty back into her psyche, then that might make Burning Shores something truly special. Horizon Burning Shores is coming to PS5 only on April 14th, 2023. Are you looking forward to it? Are you, like Staff Writer Lee, hoping the Sunwing is more fun to fly in this expansion? Let us know in the comments below, and see you there!Related stories: Sony delays six PS5 games as live-service future stumbles God of War Ragnarok story expansion could be announced for PS5 soon PS Plus Premium subscribers can now stream some PS5 games right now Top PS5 games — Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is the biggest game for PS5 Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition officially unveiled for PS5 PlayStation 5PlayStation 4 ProPlayStation 4 Written by Kes Eylers-StephensonEditor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about PS5 exclusives like The Last of Us and Horizon, PS Plus news, and his favorite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and God of War — before an evening swim.