I got my copy of Horizon: Zero Dawn yesterday and I played the game for about seven hours. So what do I think of Horizon so far? It is absolutely amazing and I think even at this early stage, we could have another game of the year contender here.
Horizon: Zero Dawn’s opening is very strong, it sets the tone really well and you are instantly given a sense of wonder, amazement and intrigue. Now I won’t spoil anything for people who have yet to play it, but one of the locations that you go to early in the game intrigued me greatly. It detailed the lore and the world of Horizon more than it already had, thus adding another layer of depth to the world. Even though the story (so far) is great, that location near the beginning of the game made me want to explore the world of Horizon: Zero Dawn to the best of my abilities.
Aloy, the main protagonist of Horizon: Zero Dawn is already growing on me, she is a very likeable character and feels human. The character design is great, Aloy reminds me of Disney Pixar’s Brave in more ways than one. Aloy is also a well written character, nearly all of the dialogue she has lands well and you can tell that there is effort and emotion behind it. I honestly think that Aloy could potentially be another ‘face’ of PlayStation like, Nathan Drake, Kratos and Ratchet and Clank.
The graphics, dear god the graphics. Now I’ll play a game regardless of graphical quality as long as it is fun and the gameplay is good. Horizon’s graphics though are spectacular and breathtaking and are one of the game’s biggest accomplishments. I’d say that this is one of the best looking games on the PlayStation 4, next to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. What makes the visuals of Horizon more remarkable than Uncharted 4, is that the game is open world and still manages to look gorgeous. To make an open world game look this good is commendable, Guerrilla Games should be proud of themselves.
The gameplay in Horizon: Zero Dawn is also very good. The combat is fast, smooth and has a variety of weapons to keep things fresh. You can take down enemies by simply shooting at them but that won’t work so well for the larger enemies. Large enemies like the Sawtooth can seriously damage you with one hit, so it’s best if you use a variety of weapons to find which one will do some damage. Some weapons have element types and thus cause status effects of which some enemies are weak to.
Now let’s talk about the enemies, the machines, the robot dinosaurs. First of all I have to say that I am a huge dinosaur lover and I find them incredibly fascinating. The robot dinosuars/ creatures in this are brilliant, they behave and act like actual animals. Some just walk around and graze and if you antagonise them they will attack you. Also the detail on them is outstanding. One thing I do want to know, is who came up with the idea of robot dinosaurs? It’s a genius idea.
I could carry on but I want to play more Horizon to see if it can continue to amaze me.
I want to review this game but as of yet, I don’t know when I will be able to write-up a review.(I need to complete it first) With university work and Nier: Automata releasing next week, things are getting busy. I will write a review for Horizon: Zero Dawn, it will just mean that it will be published later than I would have liked.
That Green Dude 