Horizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shores DLC may require a bit of base game progress before being able to start. The expansion is yet another adventure in the story of Aloy. This time, the content is set in the area formerly known as Los Angeles County, so it will have many well-known landmarks, such as the Hollywood sign and even the Capitol Records building. However, many prospective players may be wondering if Horizon Forbidden West needs to be beaten in order to start the Burning Shores DLC.

The area has become an archipelago, with a lot of sea areas in between the islands. This will see Aloy exploring both skies and sea to some extent in the action-adventure game’s DLC. Unlike the base game itself, which is available for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores’ release is going to be exclusive to current-generation consoles, meaning PS4 s will not be able to experience the new content.

Complete Horizon Forbidden West’s Campaign To Start Burning Shores DLC

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores's key art, showing Aloy and an NPC flying on a Sunwing toward a giant machine.

To start playing the Burning Shores DLC, Horizon Forbidden West players will have to complete the main campaign. As mentioned on developer Guerrilla Games’ official website, the expansion’s story picks up immediately after the events that take place in the base game’s campaign. This means that they need to witness what happens in the base game to get a better sense of what will occur throughout the DLC and understand why Aloy is on the move once again, this time toward Los Angeles.

How Long It Takes To Beat Horizon Forbidden West & Start Burning Shores DLC

Horizon Forbidden West's key art showing Aloy facing machines in the lower part of the image, with her head in the sky while she holds her spear.

Luckily, it does not take too long to beat Horizon Forbidden West’s campaign and, therefore, start the Burning Shores DLC. The game’s main story takes about 30 hours to be completed if players do not deviate too much and mostly ignore side quests. This time investment should be enough to set players on the track to starting Horizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shores DLC, which can be triggered immediately after the base game’s final events.

Of course, it really depends on playstyle. Those who stop and accept secondary missions or who are determined on getting a Platinum trophy may actually spend 60 hours or more with the game. Regardless, simply completing the main campaign in Horizon Forbidden West is enough to allow players to start the Burning Shores DLC, so there is no need to go beyond the estimated 30 hours.

It is unlikely that Horizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shores DLC will set up Horizon 3, in the same way that Zero Dawn’s Frozen Wilds did not lead to Forbidden West. Nonetheless, the content will expand the franchise’s post-apocalyptic universe and give players an in-depth understanding of how the world was terraformed in different regions. Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores arrives on April 19.

Source: Guerrilla Games, PlayStation/YouTube