Now Playing: Horizon Zero Dawn

It took me around 65 hours to complete Horizon and the included Frozen Wilds DLC. I finished every main, side and errand quest. I explored every corner of the map. I tracked down every collectible. I did all of this because I wanted to see and experience everything Horizon had to offer.

Despite the many technical problems reported with this PC version, I only suffered a single crash whilst playing and my frame rate was rock solid. Visually, Horizon looks fantastic with a varied range of environments and some impressive character models – it’s just a shame the facial animations can be rather stiff, to say the least. 

It’s not just how the world looks that’s impressive, but how it’s constructed. The map has very distinct environmental types ranging from forest, to snow, to jungle, to barren plains. These all connect and flow from one to the next in a way that feels natural and alive. The sense of scale and distance, the fact that Meridian – the main ‘city’ in Horizon actually feels like a large, lived in city, all contributes to build one of the best open worlds you’ll ever play.

 

And this is a world full of history, a new world built upon the ruins of the old. As you explore the world and progress through the excellent story you’ll learn more about the past and the people who lived during that time. The pacing of the plot is nearly perfect as solving one mystery leads onto the next. You’re always learning, always uncovering a new piece of puzzle, and you’re always just one step away from the next.

I loved the story and characters of Horizon. I won’t spoil any of the plot here because it’s the kind of game you really need to play and experience for yourself. Aloy is a wonderful protagonist and she’s supported by a wide range of excellent side characters. The only really weak character is that of the main (human) villain who’s just an evil prick and that’s about as complex as he gets.

The story, like the world of Horizon, is perfectly constructed. You’re always engaged, always wanting to learn more, to see more and explore more to discover the truth of the past, of the machines and of Aloy herself. Horizon tells a very personal story and although it doesn’t feature a branching narrative with alternative paths or endings, it does feature various dialogue options that allow you to shape how Aloy reacts to the people she encounters and the challenges she faces.

But as great as the world and the story of Horizon are, what really keeps you playing and enjoying your time spent exploring the world is the combat. The combat against the machines, at least. Horizon does feature some combat against human (bandit) enemies, but this is another weak aspect of the game. Fighting primitive humans wielding spears and bows just isn’t as engaging or fun as tangling with mechanical beasts that shoot laser beams and spit fire.

There’s a lot of different machine types, from small and fast to large and lumbering, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Your ‘base’ damage against these machines, regardless of level, isn’t particularly effective. Instead, every machine has either an elemental weakness – fire, frost or electrical and/or specific weak points that when targeted with the appropriate ammo type will cause heavy damage.

Horizon is a game that gives the player a great deal of combat options through its variety of weapons, traps and ammo types. There’s not a single way to take down a machine. The game encourages you to be creative and experiment with all of the tools at your disposal. Some machines may seem incredibly tough the first time you encounter them, but by learning their attack patterns and studying each machine with your Focus to highlight their strengths and weaknesses, you’ll soon learn how to take down each machine both quickly and efficiently.

There’s nothing quite as enjoyable as using a ‘tearblast’ arrow to detach a machine’s primary weapon from its back, picking it up and then using it to rip the machine to pieces. Or you could lay a series of traps and tripcast wires and lure the machine into a deadly (and explosive) ambush. Or you could freeze the machine and use your slow to fire, but heavy damage bow to inflict maximum damage by targeting a weak point. Or you could use a ropecaster to bind the machine, preventing it from moving as you use a blast sling to bomb it into pieces.

So many options, so many tools. I never got tired of fighting machines in Horizon. The visual feedback is what makes it so satisfying – watching as pieces of the machine are shed by your attacks. You whittle them down, one component at a time. And once the fight is done, you strip the parts to sell or to use in crafting. The animations of the machines is also impressive as they charge, leap or collapse to the earth when they finally fall.

The crafting system is decent. I was worried it might get tiresome gathering parts but everything is fairly streamlined and merchants sell bundles of all the key components so you’ll never need to worry too much about gathering wood for crafting arrows. There is a modifications system in Horizon for both weapons and armour. It’s a little simple, but it does the job and this is one area that a sequel could certainly improve upon.

The Frozen Wilds DLC, which was included in this PC package, is an excellent expansion offering a new location to explore, new machines to fight and new weapons to add to your already extensive arsenal. It will give you another 10-15 hours of play on top of the core game and like the core game it’s content you’ll want to thoroughly explore.

Overall, Horizon Zero Dawn was excellent from start to finish. The few weak points – the human enemies / villain and the rather simplistic upgrades / modifications – don’t detract from what is one of the best games I’ve played this year. The main quest is engaging, the side content (beyond a handful of exceptions) is all worth your time with unique narratives, characters and encounters. The combat is great with a variety of tools and enemies with a welcome focus on player creativity and tactics.

I’m still a little wary of recommending Horizon at the time of writing because, whilst I didn’t have any real technical problems, a lot of people obviously are, but if the developers can roll out some more patches and fixes, it’s most certainly worth picking up in the future. It’s an exceptional game that I’ll certainly return to again and has me excited for the recently announced sequel. It’s another strong contender for my personal GOTY.

9/10