A new gameplay footage on Horizon Forbidden West on the Slitherfang, one of the game’s most impressive new machines. We all saw this machine on The Game Awards for the first time, this enormous serpent is a terrifying cross between a cobra and a rattlesnake.
Our understanding of this mechanical serpent’s capabilities was greatly enhanced by a new, detached perspective on a jaw-dropping boss battle.
Publisher Guerrilla Games has given Game Informer a first look at what gamers will expect fighting against a Slitherfang. First seen in the “Machines of the Forbidden West” trailer, the Slitherfang is a terrifying boss encounter that is capable of launching sudden strikes and spitting acid.
Horizon Forbidden West Snake Boss Fight
The 26-second clip from Game Informer’s website reveals to us more about Slitherfang’s attacks, as well as the intricate detail painstakingly put into the creature’s design and animations.
A tank located near the creature’s throat serves a reservoir for its acid. This is a priority target should the player be interested in stopping future acid attacks. But that’s not the only thing that’s inside its bag of tricks. Players will have keep an eye out on both ends of the snake. The rattle on its tale is capable of discharging wide-reaching electricity.
Fortunately for Aloy, the tail can be removed with a few well-placed arrows, allowing her to pick it up as make-shift weapon, and giving that snake a taste of its own medicine. (Not much though. It is apparently resistant to shock damage.) Let it be also noted that stealth attacks don’t particularly work on it, and its attack patterns change up depending on how much health it has left.
To top it all off, Slitherfang’s “hood” conceals a hidden sonic pulse emitter that temporarily deafens Aloy, slowing her movements, and leaving open long enough for follow-up attacks. It is for this reason that game director Mathijs de Jonge described the attack to Game Informer as “hard to dodge”. That doesn’t sound too encouraging now, does it?
“The snake has a whole heap of attacks,” says de Jonge in a follow up statement. Implying to Game Informer that we haven’t seen everything the snake is capable of. I guess that’s something to look forward as the game nears its February 18th, 2022 release.
Source: Game Informer
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