Written by: Kevin Berge
Aloy does not care about a Thunderjaw staring at her. It can wait its turn to die. (Image Courtesy of: guerrilla-games.com)
Quick Take: Horizon Zero Dawn is an action adventure title guided by a richly expansive world and emotional story. Its open world is one of the most expansive and detailed ever built, and its smart gameplay frames the potential of modern gaming.
***This review will only contain spoilers when directly discussing the story of the game. That section The Story of Horizon Zero Dawn will be noted and can be avoided by those who have not played the game yet to dodge spoilers.***
Video games are built to immerse you in an experience. You accept control of a situation that drives you forward and forces you to make every decision along the way that the gameplay allows. Open worlds particularly engrossed me when I was younger due to the amount of freedom you were given in these sandboxes.
A couple years back, I thought I would never find the time to play open world games again. Life makes 30+ hour games difficult. Horizon Zero Dawn took me over 60 hours with its complete edition including The Frozen Wilds DLC, yet I was in for every single hour of the experience.
The reason Horizon did what so many other franchise sequels and fascinating original titles could not is not singular. From its expansive gorgeous world to its deeply cinematic storytelling in and out of cut scenes to the tactical-rich combat, Horizon is a tour de force in modern open world gaming.
So many games over the years have transitioned to an open world setting. CD Projekt Red touted The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2049 as having the most expansive and immersive worlds possible. Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, Just Cause, Assassin's Creed, even Spider-Man and Legend of Zelda have transitioned to this style.
Video games are built to immerse you in an experience. You accept control of a situation that drives you forward and forces you to make every decision along the way that the gameplay allows. Open worlds particularly engrossed me when I was younger due to the amount of freedom you were given in these sandboxes.
A couple years back, I thought I would never find the time to play open world games again. Life makes 30+ hour games difficult. Horizon Zero Dawn took me over 60 hours with its complete edition including The Frozen Wilds DLC, yet I was in for every single hour of the experience.
The reason Horizon did what so many other franchise sequels and fascinating original titles could not is not singular. From its expansive gorgeous world to its deeply cinematic storytelling in and out of cut scenes to the tactical-rich combat, Horizon is a tour de force in modern open world gaming.
So many games over the years have transitioned to an open world setting. CD Projekt Red touted The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2049 as having the most expansive and immersive worlds possible. Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, Just Cause, Assassin's Creed, even Spider-Man and Legend of Zelda have transitioned to this style.
The World of Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon does something that even the best of those games often fail to do: it makes every inch matter. Travel from location to location is never an ordeal, even though the game somewhat limits the option to fast travel. This is because you are always finding things whether they be machines to fight, people to meet, or collectibles to sell.
The adventures up mountains and down into dungeons to gain resources and collectibles are constantly engaging. When not in cities or towns, land is dominated by threats. The machines march and swarm constantly. No matter your level, these machines are always a threat to those not paying attention.
On top of that, the game is just gorgeous. The environments are some of the best and most detailed I have ever seen in a video game, and that is every inch of the game from its wildlands to its technological ruins. I was constantly in awe and just wanted to sit back and enjoy.
This gorgeous land is built on a wonderfully vibrant world. Guerilla Games' team shows such attention to detail with a wealth of optional journal entries both written and voiced that give life to centuries of history that went by to frame this story of a world after the end.
The adventures up mountains and down into dungeons to gain resources and collectibles are constantly engaging. When not in cities or towns, land is dominated by threats. The machines march and swarm constantly. No matter your level, these machines are always a threat to those not paying attention.
On top of that, the game is just gorgeous. The environments are some of the best and most detailed I have ever seen in a video game, and that is every inch of the game from its wildlands to its technological ruins. I was constantly in awe and just wanted to sit back and enjoy.
This gorgeous land is built on a wonderfully vibrant world. Guerilla Games' team shows such attention to detail with a wealth of optional journal entries both written and voiced that give life to centuries of history that went by to frame this story of a world after the end.
I want a sequel where you can make friends with the giraffe robots (Longnecks). (Image Courtesy of: gq-magazine.co.uk)
The Story of Horizon Zero Dawn
***If you wish to avoid spoilers, skip ahead to The Mechanics of Horizon Zero Dawn.***
This world is far into the future where the world has been taken over by strange, dangerous machines. Human society has devolved back to tribal focus at the end of a recent war where each tribe trusts no others easily.
Horizon Zero Dawn begins with a young Aloy (Ashly Burch), an outcast of the Nora tribe at birth, raised by the outcast Rost (JB Blanc) into an incredible hunter. During her adventures, she falls into a forbidden ancient ruin where she finds a Focus, an item that allows her track and learn about the machines one by one.
This Focus makes her even more a honed warrior in combat, learning and growing until the Proving where she is to win and earn the right to be called a Nora Brave. After she wins, a mysterious cult, The Eclipse, kills the other contestants. Aloy barely survives thanks to Rost, who dies in a battle with Eclipse leader Helis (Crispin Freeman).
Both for revenge and knowledge, Aloy leaves her lands and head west, meeting the Carja, Oseram, and Banuk. Through a series of impressive and sympathetic feats, she brings these people together in a shared fight against The Eclipse, the leaders in the attack of The Shadow Carja.
However, the greater threats are the machines. Aloy finds the truth of what destroyed society, the corruption of machines that took over the world only stopped by the project Horizon Zero Dawn, which rebuilt the world after the end. However, even that system could be corrupted, ready to once more stop life on Earth.
Aloy finds out it has always been her destiny to stop the corruption of Horizon Zero Dawn, created as a clone of Dr. Elizabeth Sobeck, the creator of this project. She brings together the people of this land, working with the mysterious Sylens (Lance Reddick), and stops HADES, the corrupted element of the machine to save everyone.
This story is well told and emotionally delivered. Aloy's struggles with her own identity from outcast to Nora to clone to savior develop so naturally. Ashly Burch (Borderlands) is the best she has ever been. Her story is never hampered by unnecessary romance. This is about her and no one else.
Even side characters are well voiced to sell the living reality of this world. Everyone has their own story, separate from the rest, but Aloy does what she can for each of them. She becomes far more than anyone ever gave her credit that she could be. While she had a destiny, it was her own force of will and empathy that made her great.
This world is far into the future where the world has been taken over by strange, dangerous machines. Human society has devolved back to tribal focus at the end of a recent war where each tribe trusts no others easily.
Horizon Zero Dawn begins with a young Aloy (Ashly Burch), an outcast of the Nora tribe at birth, raised by the outcast Rost (JB Blanc) into an incredible hunter. During her adventures, she falls into a forbidden ancient ruin where she finds a Focus, an item that allows her track and learn about the machines one by one.
This Focus makes her even more a honed warrior in combat, learning and growing until the Proving where she is to win and earn the right to be called a Nora Brave. After she wins, a mysterious cult, The Eclipse, kills the other contestants. Aloy barely survives thanks to Rost, who dies in a battle with Eclipse leader Helis (Crispin Freeman).
Both for revenge and knowledge, Aloy leaves her lands and head west, meeting the Carja, Oseram, and Banuk. Through a series of impressive and sympathetic feats, she brings these people together in a shared fight against The Eclipse, the leaders in the attack of The Shadow Carja.
However, the greater threats are the machines. Aloy finds the truth of what destroyed society, the corruption of machines that took over the world only stopped by the project Horizon Zero Dawn, which rebuilt the world after the end. However, even that system could be corrupted, ready to once more stop life on Earth.
Aloy finds out it has always been her destiny to stop the corruption of Horizon Zero Dawn, created as a clone of Dr. Elizabeth Sobeck, the creator of this project. She brings together the people of this land, working with the mysterious Sylens (Lance Reddick), and stops HADES, the corrupted element of the machine to save everyone.
This story is well told and emotionally delivered. Aloy's struggles with her own identity from outcast to Nora to clone to savior develop so naturally. Ashly Burch (Borderlands) is the best she has ever been. Her story is never hampered by unnecessary romance. This is about her and no one else.
Even side characters are well voiced to sell the living reality of this world. Everyone has their own story, separate from the rest, but Aloy does what she can for each of them. She becomes far more than anyone ever gave her credit that she could be. While she had a destiny, it was her own force of will and empathy that made her great.
Many of this game's characters would like you to know that Aloy's hot. They also have zero chance with her; pretty much no one does. (Image Courtesy of: eurogamer.net)
The Mechanics of Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn is not a traditional hack-and-slash nor a shooter. It is a carefully organized action game that requires the player to play smart, learning and growing with new challenges. Even the mightiest machine can be taken down, but even the smallest can kill you if you're not learning and growing.
You get a variety of unique weapons: bows, slings, trip wires, power tools, and your spear. Each plays its role in defeating major enemies, and the game does not let you slack. It requires precise focus and knowledge that can make even overleveling an ineffective strategy if you're not playing at the easiest difficulty.
The higher difficulties reward creative problem solving. You are a hunter with a variety of tools for the hunt. Every machine has a weakness, weapons that can be broken even used against it, tools that can be smashed, limps that can be weakened. Learning the unique answers to machines makes the game enthralling.
The game does have many small glitches, nothing gamebreaking, at least on the Playstation 4. It is possible to get stuck in environments or lose people/resources for a time due to how they get stuck in pieces of the environment. It never once truly cost me anything, though I had one scare where an enemy got stuck in a grate, convincing me I'd have to restart the entire mission until I found an out.
You get a variety of unique weapons: bows, slings, trip wires, power tools, and your spear. Each plays its role in defeating major enemies, and the game does not let you slack. It requires precise focus and knowledge that can make even overleveling an ineffective strategy if you're not playing at the easiest difficulty.
The higher difficulties reward creative problem solving. You are a hunter with a variety of tools for the hunt. Every machine has a weakness, weapons that can be broken even used against it, tools that can be smashed, limps that can be weakened. Learning the unique answers to machines makes the game enthralling.
The game does have many small glitches, nothing gamebreaking, at least on the Playstation 4. It is possible to get stuck in environments or lose people/resources for a time due to how they get stuck in pieces of the environment. It never once truly cost me anything, though I had one scare where an enemy got stuck in a grate, convincing me I'd have to restart the entire mission until I found an out.
The Modern Impact Unmatched
I have never played a game like Horizon Zero Dawn, no matter how much it feels like a natural evolution of earlier open world titles. I played for 60+ hours including the fun DLC The Frozen Wilds, and I never grew bored. I just wanted to play more at every turn.
This subtly feminist work sets Aloy on a path that is entirely her own. She is supported by those she meets, improved by her experience, but ultimately no one else defines her. She brings down the greatest threats this world could face and does not shy away from responsibility, even as she begins to doubt herself.
While there have been many great games to come out in the last few years, none have made the impression Horizon Zero Dawn did on me. It reminded me why I love gaming. Its rich world encouraged me to explore even the most aggravating of challenges and stories, and the reward for completing it was a thrill.
I don't know that I will be playing more games soon that require this much commitment, but that is mainly because so few games reward that commitment so thoroughly. Horizon Zero Dawn is one of a kind in the best ways, the open world game so many studios wish they could make.
This subtly feminist work sets Aloy on a path that is entirely her own. She is supported by those she meets, improved by her experience, but ultimately no one else defines her. She brings down the greatest threats this world could face and does not shy away from responsibility, even as she begins to doubt herself.
While there have been many great games to come out in the last few years, none have made the impression Horizon Zero Dawn did on me. It reminded me why I love gaming. Its rich world encouraged me to explore even the most aggravating of challenges and stories, and the reward for completing it was a thrill.
I don't know that I will be playing more games soon that require this much commitment, but that is mainly because so few games reward that commitment so thoroughly. Horizon Zero Dawn is one of a kind in the best ways, the open world game so many studios wish they could make.
