Imagine coming across an unexpected blue beacon flickering in Horizon Forbidden West, which carries with it a tragic tale of profound loss and eternal remembrance.
This beacon, as it turns out, is a touching tribute to the late Lance Reddick, which was recently added to the award-winning sequel by Guerilla Games.
An irreplaceable part of the Horizon series and a titan in Hollywood, Lance Reddick is a name etched in the annals of entertainment. So, you can only imagine the shock that reverberated across the world when news broke out that Reddick, who was 60 at the time, had passed away.
A phenomenon both on the screen and behind the mic, Reddick's list of captivating performances includes HBO's The Wire, the gritty John Wick franchise, and video games like Destiny and Hrozion.
In Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, Reddick brilliantly breathed life into Sylens. This intriguing character is a wandering scholar, archaeologist, and leader of Horizon series' Eclipse and Sons of Prometheus.
With Reddick's voice and likeness, Sylens transforms from a mere code of pixels to a living, breathing presence. His quest for the technological power of the Old Ones, his complicated love-hate relationship with the game's protagonist Aloy and his transformation from an ally to an antagonist and back to being an ally again created a narrative tapestry that was as rich as it was riveting. The abrupt end to this journey sparked a universal question - what would become of Sylens?
