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Date played: 14-03-2017
Developer: Guerrilla Games
While I'm not an Otaku in the general sense of being utterly addicted to many things, I am an avid gamer. This is a series where I will be reviewing new games that I pick up and giving you my first impressions. So without further ado, let's get right into our first Review.
Horizon: Zero Dawn, the newest Playstation Exclusive, which is already a critically acclaimed hit with major gaming critic outlets scoring mainly 9/10's on the biggest media platforms. So what makes this game so great? Well it may be the stunning Open World that the player is given freedom to roam in and around. It may be the Mechanical Beasts element where your character, Aloy, is thrust into a far distant future where mankind has lost it's dominant status, to be replaced by robot dinosaurs and frightening mechanized beasts. It may be the Human interaction or the devolution of humanity. Tribal Warriors living in supposed harmony with the starkly contrasting robots and advanced technology littered and abandoned through out ruins of a forgotten world. When all of these aspects are combined into one game, they explode in an array of colour and gritty reality as you try to survive in this fantastical realm.
Spoiler Alert: If you do not wish to have some of the game spoiled before you play the game yourself, please stop reading now.
Setting: 10/10
Horizon: Zero Dawn begins with the naming ritual of an infant girl high in the snowy mountains. The game is quick to slap the player in the face with its sheer beauty as a few picturesque scenes come into view as the girl's guardian, Rost, delivers her to the site of the ritual where one of the local Matriarchs is unexpectedly waiting for them. Rost is surprised, for he was an Outcast of the Nora Tribe, and so was the girl with him. A girl who was born to no mother. As she revieves her name, Aloy (Ay-loy), I found myself instantly hooked to what little of the plot had been given to me and waited anxiously to discover more.
A few cutscenes later, Aloy is now 6 years old and is trying to interact with the Nora Tribes children and mothers, but she is turned away. Wanting to hide her shame, Aloy runs through the forest, slipping and falling down into a deep chasm. When she carefully makes her way out of the water at the bottom into a strange room with walls of metal, she discovers that she is in a Ruin of the Old Ones. Remnants of an advanced civilization. Our civilization. After some exploring of what look like abandoned laboratories, we discover and equip a game-changing item; The Focus. A chip that is clipped to the side of the players head allows me to generate an invisible field around me. I can interact with electronics inside that field, see enemies through walls and even find weak spots or the path a Machine will walk through the area.
A lot of other things happen such as listening to Audio Logs of people who were alive at the time when everything changed, learning to hunt the machines for parts with Rost, being bullied by the Nora children and gaining the resolve to be let into the tribe via "The Proving". A feat that would take years of training. As I continued to progress through the opening chapters of the story, I grew to love it very quickly.
The Plot and Setting of Horizon: Zero Dawn is something new. Something that breaks boundaries and breaks them extremely well. Possibly one of the greatest settings of any Open World game out there.
Characters: 8.5/10
The cast of HZD is as diverse as it is quirky. You can fall in love with certain characters, and loathe others equally. It was as if I felt I myself was talking to the game's decent AI. Aloy has some great humor and is very empathetic. The death of Rost, her mentor and foster father gave me some insight into her more emotional nature, giving her a real dynamic instead of being a stoic personality. Aloy will react accordingly to the events that take place around her and the way that she interacts with others can vary depending on the history she has with them, if any. The rest of the cast so far holds each induvidual you come across as a unique experience. Except for the villager and warrior NPC's of course, who kind of sully the game in a way.
Gameplay (Combat, Exploration, UI): 9/10
You have Machines with energy weapons and deadly sharp shards for claws and titanium teeth, And then you have Hunter-Gatherer class people with Bows that fire arrows made of scrap metal. Quite a difference isn't there? You will soon discover an array of amazing weapons and tools that increase in advanced tech and complexity as the game goes along, but you may well soon find yourself being best friends with your default Hunter Bow and Spear. I really appreciate how the developers don't give players low quality sticks to start off with, scrambling to get better gear ASAP and never touching the default weapons again. Having effective base equipment makes the opening stages of Horizon: Zero Dawn much more enjoyable to play. Instead of grinding for level 5 gear your'e out completing quests and exploring the lush landscape of the "Mother's Embrace": The game's camera angle can be a little off at times, but aside from that the UI is responsive and easy to understand. Especially when it comes to important menu navigation like Crafting Items and your inventory.
Graphics: 10/10
Horizon: Zero Dawn, when played with PS4 Pro Enhancement looks absolutely stunning. The vegetation is crisp and bursting with colour. The skyline is clearly seen to be dynamic, with realistic transition effects for different weathers. When it starts to rain, it takes a while for the pour to begin, since rain clouds can't appear out of nowhere. When it starts to snow, the terrain around you gradually turns white.
Overall Rating: 9.4/10
If you own a PS4 or PS4 Pro and don't have this game yet, get it now. It's worth every cent of the $70 I paid for the game and more. I'd especially suggest this game for people who love Open World RPG's, Survival games or just anyone who can get invested into a great story in general.
I may post updates in this thread as I progress further in the game
