/Horizon Zero Dawn (A month later) mini review

Horizon Zero Dawn (A month later) mini review

Hello everyone and welcome to a mini review of Horizon Zero Dawn.

First things first, Horizon Zero Dawn is an action rpg that was developed by Guerrilla games and published by Sony interactive. Horizon Zero Dawn takes place in a beautiful but dangerous world where machines of all sizes roam free. Humans on this strange world are primitive both in culture and how they live. Humans are grouped together in tribes and live off the land.


                                      Story and character development
One of the best things about this game is the story and character development. Right from the beginning, we see Aloy as a baby and her and Rost’s treatment as “outcasts”. The developers set up the game in a way that made us question both Aloy’s importance and also why she is considered an outcast. Right with the story is the character development we see Aloy grow up from a baby to a child to a young woman. Aloy changes from being a pretty stubborn child to a determined young woman who wants answers about her past. 


The story focuses on Aloy’s journey from picking up the mysterious focus to her not only proving herself to her tribe but also everyone who doubted her. No matter what Aloy is always front and center. Through Aloy, we see the stories of the other characters she meets on her journey and also the history of the world. What really captivated me was just how entwined Aloy’s story is with the machines. We learn that Aloy was created by the mountain (in some way) and that she may be the only one capable of stopping the machines.


                     Combat & weapons
In Horizon Zero Dawn, because the humans of this time are primitive you can expect the weapons to be as well. The combat is very flexible allowing for some great customization and different ways to play through the game. You are able to use a spear, short range bows, long range bows, elemental arrow bows, slings, shock wire traps, bombs (thrown by slings), rope casters (used to tie down large enemies and much more.


In Horizon, you will be fighting various types of machines from the smallest known as watchers to the massive behemoth. A good thing is that with your focus on you can see “weak” points on machines that can help you take them out. Attacking these points can cause huge amounts of damage, knock off machine components as well as stun certain machines. Every machine species has their own weak point. You have a couple of choices in how you approach enemies, you can use stealth and sneak up on them, go in guns blazing, you can use the environment and set up traps, or you can go to a high point and take out your enemies from afar. One of the things that I love is that every weapon can be updated in some way.


Speaking of that let’s talk about customization.


In horizon Zero Dawn, you can customize your weapons and outfits as well as craft potions, ammo, and traps. You customize weapons and outfits in this game with modifications, these are items that you can get for defeating machines, bandits, as well get as rewards for completing quests. These mods range from being able to resist fire damage to being able to deal high amounts of damage.


In Horizon, your ammo and health are limited and has to be replaced. You can do this by collecting resources out in the world or you can buy them from the local merchants.


One thing that absolutely shocked me was how beautiful the world of Horizon Zero Dawn is. The landscape is gorgeous with huge hills, beautiful waterfalls, frozen mountains and much more. I played this on a regular PS4 and I have to say you do not need a PS4 pro to enjoy the graphics in Horizon (even though having a Pro does unlock ways to increase graphics and smooth gameplay).


In all, Horizon Zero Dawn is a beautiful game that has a strong female lead character and is full of mystery and surprises.  I will say that while this review was largely positive I have experienced some weird glitches where machines I recently killed would spasm out of control (which may have been due to it trying to respawn while I was in the area), my steed was also phasing through the rock cliff while I tried to go up the cliff to reach the start of a quest. Lastly, I’ve experienced a glitch where the background froze. Even with all of this I still recommend this game as you will greatly enjoy the story.