Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores is an action-adventure expansion for the Horizon Forbidden West game that continues your journey into post-apocalyptic Los Angeles and Hollywood. Play is similar to the main game: close and ranged combat, exploration, and traversal. But now there are new enemy types, weapons and items to use and discover. It continues the grand story of the franchise while offering additional graphical and performance improvements and an expansion of the core mechanics.

The game's story picks up where Forbidden West's ends, as you play Aloy once again and venture south from the San Francisco area towards the ruined wilds of Los Angeles, now a tropical volcanic archipelago. In this new location to the south of the Tenakth Clan Lands, you discover a new threat in a monstrous machine that will take all of your skill and ability to overcome. As you explore by earth, sea, and air, you encounter strange new enemies, characters, weapons and items you can use in your mission.

Gameplay is largely similar to the main game, as you traverse wild landscapes and use a multitude of weapons to fight machines and enemies with both long-range attacks using your bow and various arrows and close-combat melee weapons. You can swim below the water and glide through the skies on the back of a Sunwing robot, and using all traversal options available to you is key to success in both uncovering secrets and progressing through the story.

The result is a unique addition to the Horizon franchise, not only in terms of location and setting but also in its scope and scale and the greatly expanded combat, enemy types, and items you can use, making for a novel and engaging experience.