Horizon Zero Dawn game for the PS4 and the PC takes place in the distant future after a mysterious disaster has catapulted human development back into the Stone Age. The survivors have grouped together in tribes, including the Nora, the sun-worshiping Carja and the remote Banuk.
In stark contrast to this are the highly developed mechanical beings that roam the world and whose parts people use to mechanically improve their weapons and armor.
But the supposed idyll also hides a number of secrets under its surface. Empty bunkers with strange fluorescent displays are evidence of an old “metal world”, as the Nora call it. Finding out what it’s all about is one of our tasks in Horizon Zero Dawn game. In general, the premise with the amalgamation of prehistoric and futuristic elements is very exciting and gives the game its very own look and charm.
Storyline
We slip into the role of the red-haired Aloy, who lives with her foster father Rost in the Nora area, the so-called Holy Land. At the beginning of the game, however, there can be no question of a radiant heroine, because the other Nora avoid the two of them as outcasts, and conversations with them alone are prohibited under penalty of punishment. As if that weren’t enough, Aloy’s origins are also a secret; she doesn’t know who her mother is.
Horizon introduces us very elegantly into the game in the first two main missions, as young Aloy we get taught the basics of hunting and movement from Rost, we learn how to use arrows, bows and medicinal plants and how we can use “focus” to our advantage to be able to use. Aloy had recently found this small mechanical part, strikingly reminiscent of a Bluetooth headset, in a fall in an old bunker. It will be of use to us later, among other things, for solving puzzles and quests as well as analyzing opponents.
Aloy trains hard and as a young hunter is allowed to take part in the so-called trials in the village of Mutterherz, which gives her the chance to leave her outcast existence behind and become part of the Nora clan. But a terrible event and reports of rotten machines, stronger and more aggressive than anything that has been known before, steer the story in a new direction.
Aloy is sent by the Nora as a “seeker” to investigate a whole series of questions. Where does she come from? What about the mysterious ruins? And what’s behind the rotten machines? Horizon Zero Dawn game makes use of the gamer’s curiosity when it releases him into the gigantic open world.
For spoiler reasons we won’t reveal too much here, after all, the unfolding of the plot is one of the game’s greatest fascinations. Just this much: Aloy meets a number of interesting characters on her way, including the Sun King Avad and Warlord Sona, discovers the secret of the dark clan of the Shadow Carja and finds out what the subtitle of the game Zero Dawn is all about. The story drags on a bit in the first third and only slowly gets going. But it is worth going through this thirst phase.
Graphics and Sound
However, a beautiful game world is only half the battle if it doesn’t look alive. Fortunately, Horizon Zero Dawn game doesn’t have this problem. On the contrary: wild boars, butterflies, foxes, raccoons and other animals whiz through the pampas everywhere. The machines, however, set the real accents.
25 different species populate the Horizon Zero Dawn game world, each with its own characteristics, sometimes more, sometimes less aggressive. The guards, for example, look like metal worms on two legs and attack us when they have visual contact, while the runners and grasses are reminiscent of cows and deer and usually graze relaxed in the wilderness. Beware of the predator-like species such as the sawtooth, which with its massive body inspires respect at the first visual contact.
But of course there is even bigger: The first time we saw Horizon Zero Dawn game’s T-Rex equivalent of Thunder Jaw, our asses literally went crazy. The step-by-step discovery of new species is an experience, and sometimes it is even most fun to just observe the mechanical beings, because despite their abstract appearance they are fantastic and almost lifelike animated. The machines as well as the setting ensure that Horizon Zero Dawn game stands out very pleasantly from other classic open world titles. By the way, there should have been other original machines in the game
On the sound side, Sony and Guerrilla have also done a great job. Except for a few strange accentuations, the German synchronization is on a very high level, as is the ambient noise – just stand for a few minutes in the jungle in the southeast of the map and you will know what we mean. The machines also have their own characteristic noises, and the coherent soundtrack is always used in the right places.
Surprise for you
Anyone who just fires wildly with a bow and arrow at the machines here without brains is quickly lost, because it can take a long time, especially at the beginning, until the beasts have been shot down the energy bar. Rather, it is advisable to first analyze the opponents’ weak points with the focus. Most species have particularly conspicuous components on their bodies that either paralyze, shock or otherwise clog them when hit exactly.
Because some weapons can later be equipped with elemental ammunition such as ice and fire and thus have additional effects, the battles are surprisingly tactical, and it is enormously satisfying when you first hit a mechanical oschi several meters tall with a pointed arrow the energy bar shreds away and then finishes it off with one more shot.
Diligent evasion is also required, because many machines use their massive bodies for pile-driving attacks. However, this can cause a bit of frustration every now and then, because some hits can hardly be avoided at all because some opponents are so nimble that the freely adjustable camera cannot keep up, but that is the only drawback of an otherwise impeccable control.
In addition to the classic bow, Aloy later uses a nice collection of weapons, for example a slingshot that shoots explosive ammunition, a rope thrower that can tie up machines, or a device that places explosive or electric trip hazards. The number of weapons is manageable overall, but there are three different types of argumentation enhancer. We can also improve Aloy’s outfits and weapons with modifications, for example to increase damage values or elemental abilities
Stealth rewards you big
Wild attacks are generally only rarely recommended in Horizon Zero Dawn game, because human or machine enemies are often in the majority. So it’s usually wiser to take your time to check the situation and use Aloy’s stealth capabilities. In the tall grass, for example, the slayer is invisible and can attract enemies close by and then silently shut them down. In our opinion, this is almost a little too powerful, in some cases we have cleared entire enemy camps in this way. Nevertheless, this type of approach is satisfactory, and it is good that Horizon Zero Dawn game allows several approaches.
It gets interesting, by the way, when Aloy can bridge the machines with her energy stick after about five hours of play, because that creates additional tactical possibilities. After bridging, some machine species attack other conspecifics and also human enemies; we can then either use the resulting chaos to flee or to finish off wounded enemies from ambush. Some species like the runner or the broadhead can even be used as mounts after bridging – very cool.
The side quests
For many missions and the analysis of the machines, Aloy uses her focus, which at the touch of a button, similar to the witcher’s view in The Witcher 3, marks the footprints of wanted people in the landscape or with the help of which we can track down audio and text logs that give us additional information about the metal world and give to other backgrounds.
The quality of the side missions varies, there are both generic search-and-find or collecting quests (for example “Find Brom, Olara’s missing brother”) as well as very exciting tasks. At one point, for example in a quarry, we need to find out who or what several workers have fallen victim to – the solution is in a worse mood than expected.
The skill system: reduced, but effective
For completed missions and assignments there are typical RPG experience points. From a certain value (and for completing some missions) we sack a skill point, which we can then invest in one of the three talent trees hunter, warrior and gatherer, for example to unlock a new melee attack, a stronger pike role or longer bridging times for machines . The disadvantage that there are comparatively few skills (36 in total) is easily outweighed by the fact that almost every one of the skills helps Aloy noticeably through play and does not feel useless.
For example, the first skill “Quiet punch” proved to be particularly helpful, and the extended concentration saved our bums more than once later in the game. By the way, Horizon Zero Dawn game scales the degree of difficulty pretty well overall. Certain areas should still be avoided with a low level, and there are level recommendations for certain missions, but these can be done well with the appropriate experience level
Technologically speaking
Finally, a word about technology: Horizon Zero Dawn game simply looks amazing and is one of the technically most impressive PS4 titles ever. The game world and character models are incredibly detailed, for example, the subtleties of Aloy’s armor can be seen, individual shrubs and grasses are completely modeled, the excellent lighting effects and the high texture quality make the rainforest, canyons and mountain peaks a postcard idyll.
In addition, there are many loving subtleties that can be overlooked at first glance, for example, just before a rain shower, Aloy holds out her hands to feel the first drops, or she yawns heartily if we don’t move them for a long time.
On the part of the graphics engine, it practically goes back to the future, because Decima is used in an improved or adapted form in Death Stranding. The Direct X 12 interface is pleasing in any case, as it delights the user with a very reasonable CPU load across all cores. Nevertheless, the game does not manage to bring the performance to the road as well as Hideo Kojima’s masterpiece. S
MT brings a plus in performance, especially with older quad cores. That still speaks in favor of a good PC port that uses the possibilities of lower-level programming. However, from eight cores it is over. In addition, the game has been running consistently better on Intel processors so far, which can be seen in the example of the Ryzen 3 3300X. The latter is usually between five and ten percent higher than the Core i7-7700K. A Ryzen 5 3600 also shows its worst side in Horizon Zero Dawn. We have not yet been able to determine the reason for the above-average poor AMD performance, but we will stay on the ball and inform you about news.
Bottomline
Horizon Zero Dawn game is an action-adventure masterpiece, although or precisely because, with one exception, it does not really shine in any single discipline. The fights, while fun, never reach the depth of a nioh. Climbing doesn’t work quite as smoothly as in Tomb Raider, in terms of story and staging Uncharted 4 is one step ahead, I have experienced the dungeons in the Darksiders series in a more creative and varied way.
And yet: In the end, I have to admit to myself that I’ve simply never played anything like this before. Horizon Zero Dawn game does not reinvent the role-playing game wheel or the open-word scheme, but it rearranges many familiar elements into a wonderfully fresh, fresh game experience. And all in one of the most interesting scenarios in recent years. To reduce my attitude towards the game to one word: anticipation!
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