Oh dear, the screaming is big again. Poor ratings due to an optional (!) kissing scene make the new DLC Horizon: Forbidden West – Burning Shores look pale at Metacritic.
With Burning Shores, the DLC for Horizon: Forbidden West was released last week and that promptly led to lively Review-Bombing auf Metacritic. An optional (!) dialogue at the end of the game offers the possibility of a lesbian kiss between Aloy and Seyka and everything that is “anti-woke” or homophobic is therefore once again on the barricades.
Horizon: Forbidden West – Burning Shores currently scores a mere 3.2 out of 10 on Metacritic because a small but noisy part of the gaming world doesn’t seem to get along with two ladies kissing. Of course with the usual sayings of “Woker Agenda” and “LGBTQ+ propaganda”.
Absurdly, the kissing scene is one of several dialoguesoptions, ultimately allowing players to decide for themselves whether Aloy is interested in Seyka at all. But the presence of the option alone seems to be enough for some “sensitive” minds to insult the game and the studio and badmouth the entire game.
All the more embarrassing because LGBTQ+ characters are nothing new in the series – think Elisabet Sobeck, Tilda von der Meer, Brageld, Janeva or Petra’s violent flirting with Aloy.
Regrettably, review bombing is an increasingly common phenomenon on the Internet by vocal individuals and groups who “characterize” themselves primarily through mysogyny, racism and homophobia. For example, we remember the third episode of The Last of Us series, in which the homosexual relationship between Bill and Frank was the subject. Or the outcry when Ellie turned out to be a lesbian in The Last of Us: Part II DLC.
We can only recommend that you don’t pay any attention to the screaming. Burning Shores may not be the most extensive DLC in history, but it offers fine gameplay and another story worth seeing and playing, as colleague Grimm found in his test for Horizon: Forbidden West – Burning Shores.
Next week the add-on “Burning Shores” to Horizon: Forbidden West will be released; the launch trailer sets the mood for the release in advance.
