Welcome back Nerds! I know it’s been a while but that’s because life has been putting hands to me, but F-it, we ball. Today were are talking about Horizon: Zero Dawn, a game I played later than expected! I didn’t get this game at launch but I heard so much about it and when it ended up on PS+, I had to jump on it. From the screenshots and videos I’ve watched, it looked fun and I was interested in the robot animals and combat. We played the second game in this series on stream so I thought a review of the first game was overdue!
Horizon Zero Dawn had no business being as good as it is for someone who showed up late to the party. Playing it now on PS5 makes you wonder how you ever skipped it the first time. The machine-hunting loop is addictive, the world-building is layered, and the story pays off—slow burn style—once it finally clicks into focus.
This game takes place is a post-apocalyptic United States where sentient machines roam the land while humanity has reverted to tribal style living. The main character, Aloy, was an outcast that starts to discover the mysterious events that led to her birth and the end of the world before them. There is a site that has a really cool breakdown of the story before the game takes place, take a gander (https://www.pushsquare.com/guides/horizon-zero-dawn-full-story-recap).
The Basics
Developer / Publisher: Guerrilla Games / PlayStation
Platform(s): PS4, PS5
Genre: Action-RPG, Open-World
Playtime so far: Completed main story + side content. 105 hours
Mode Played: PS5 enhanced update
What Works:
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- Engaging Story– I enjoyed this story because of the layers it had. One layer, we are taken in by the story of the main character and how other people in her tribe treat her as well as see how other tribes view and react to her as well. Another layer is the overarching story of why the world is the way it is currently. Because in what world do machines looking like tigers roaming around is just accepted without any questions being asked?
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- Amazing Visuals– This game and it’s sequel are both visually stunning games. The attention to detail on the machines or the pull of the main characters bow is so very nice. The overall detail in the environment that you discover throughout the game is beautiful.Watching the “animals” interact with the environment will make you forget that you have to fight these things sometimes.
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- Tons of replay value– You can very easily finish this game without doing any of the many side missions(non-story side missions) in the game. But the amount of these missions gives the game some great replay value. Some of the side missions net you stronger weapons or components while other missions just build upon the world we are in. Replaying the game on a higher difficulty does present an interesting challenge and satisfaction or that could just be me :-). The DLC that was added really adds more to this because it adds to the overall world as well as open up new side missions and machines to hunt.
What Doesn’t:
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- So-so Main character– I may be in the minority here but the main character was….not interesting to me. She was interesting in how important she is to the story and the world around her but I didn’t connect to her for real. I gave more of a damn about the side characters than I did the main character. I understand that this may be an unpopular opinion but I am okay with that. Alloy is not very emotionally mature like others in her world but this could be the fault of who raised her, I get it. She’s very one track minded and it really makes how she interacts with people seem non-genuine to me.
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- Too much to do–Now this isn’t a bad thing overall. For this being the first game in this series, there is A LOT to do and discover which something I enjoyed. But for a launch title that was potentially trying to draw in new players, this was so much all at one time. It could be confusing for a first time player to fully grasp everything you could explore, this was an open world for the most part. You could easily get lost hunting machines and not realize that you were not leveled high enough for some of them. Again, not a terrible thing but it was a bit daunting at first glance.
Final Verdict
This game exceeded my initial expectations. I did not expect to like the story as much as I did as well as enjoying the combat and crafting mechanics. Having the option to play different ways, or discover more of the backstory was absolutely amazing. Despite my dislike of the main character, she was wonderful as the protagonist and really pushed the story along. Overall, I would give this game a 8.5 out of 10.
I believe it would be a great game for someone new to gaming as well as a game that someone is just looking to try and has a great story. Watching one of my friends play it for the first time makes me want to replay it myself! What did you think of the game? Let us know in the comments! See you next time!