The world ofHorizon Forbidden Westmay, at first glance, appear to be set entirely in a fictional landscape. With its vast, gigantic machine-filled landscapes populated with relatively new tribes and cultures,Horizon’s world can seem like it’s a completely original setting, such as the fictional worlds ofGod of WarorHalo. It’s not until players delve deeper intoHorizon’s story and look closer at its varied locations that its real-world influences are revealed. BothHorizon Zero DawnandHorizon Forbidden Westin particular are based heavily on the western United States, including Utah, Nevada, and California.
Horizon Forbidden West’s Mainland Real-World Inspirations
Horizon Forbidden Westis filled to the brim with references to real-world locations to the point that players have probably encountered and even walked on top of them without ever realizing these locations can be seen today. WhileHorizonis set in the 31st century, many of the western states’ iconic locations managed to survive the millennium even afterthe Faro Plague destroyed the world in 2066. The landscape of these locations may have changed drastically, especially with the presumed collapse of the San Andreas Fault around 2150 leading to the flooding of coastal municipalities, but their ruins remain for future tribes to build around.
FollowingForbidden West’s prologue, players venture to Barren Light in an area called The Daunt to cross the Carja border into the Forbidden West to trackthe rogue A.I. HADES. This red rock canyon can actually be walked in today, as Barren Light is located in today’s Zion National Park found in southern Utah. After players find the remnants of HADES, they may venture a bit southwest to a foggy water barrier on the edge of the map. While most of this setting is underwater in the Jagged Deep lake, it’s actually the Hoover Dam found on the border of Nevada and Arizona today.
Nevada Locations in Horizon Forbidden West
A bit north of Jagged Deep, players will find the more easily recognizable Las Vegas strip ruins in what is called The Stillsands. Here, players can find remnants of many iconic locations, such as the top of theStrat and Paris Hotels and Casinos. More of these locations can be seen and entered underground in what is called the Dunehollow. Directly north of The Stillsands, players can venture through some salt flats in Death Valley to get to the remnants of Nevada’s Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project. The project and its many solar panels were turned into the Desert Tenakth’s capital, Scalding Spear.
Not every real-world location inHorizon Forbidden Westis made to scale or is positioned at correct distances from one another to make areas smaller and easier to travel through.
Horizon Forbidden West’s Coastal Real-World Inspirations
Eventually, players will be able to travel to a collection of islands off the coast of the Forbidden West’s mainland called the Isle of Spires. While this area of California is mostly underwater 3,000 years in the future, these islands are actually the remnants of the city of San Francisco. Here, players can still find many of its iconic locations, with the most notable one possibly beingthe remains of the Golden Gate Bridge. A gigantic Horus combat machine’s corpse can be seen resting on one of its towers near the northwestern edge ofForbidden West’s map.
Near the Quen settlement of Legacy’s Landfall, players may see a tall, pyramid-like tower used as the base for the Digsite ofTed Faro’s Thebes bunker. In reality, this skyscraper is known as the Transamerica Pyramid, which used to be the tallest building in the city and the eighth-tallest building in the world until 2018. If players fly near the Pyramid, they’ll also see the remains of the historic Church of Saint Francis of Assisi and Coit Tower.
South of Legacy’s Landfall, players may find the sunken remains of Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. Some locations can even be found underwater, such as the Palace of Fine Arts near the remnants of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Burning Shores’ Los Angeles Locations
From its 2022 announcement trailer, most players knewForbidden West’s Burning Shores DLC would take place inthe ruins of Los Angelesthanks to its inclusion of the damaged Hollywood Sign. Several more iconic LA locations can be found in the Burning Shores, albeit in island form or a bit more covered in lava than they are today. Some of these include the TCL or Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the U.S. Bank Tower, the Angels Flight Railway, the Los Angeles International Airport, and the Griffith Observatory. While these are some of the more notable real-world locations that can be found inHorizon Forbidden West, there are dozens more for players to discover and learn about.
