Well I have spent the last 4 days playing the crap out of Horizon: Zero Dawn, so buckle up kids it's time to review this *****. WARNING: I'm going to make a lot of comparison to the other big open world game I just played Zelda BoTW. So if you are easily triggered, maybe you don't continue reading this.
Here we go:
Horizon starts with one of the most unique openings in a video game I have ever seen. Before anything is playable, before even the main menu pops up, you are given an introduction into the world and it's majesty including character set up that is just wonderfully done. It got me invested in not only Aloy but also her world almost immediately. And after a short playable intro where you play as ALoy as a little girl where they set up her early game motivations to basically win her way into the local tribe, Aloy grows up in a musical montage (in my head) and we are off and running.
Combat is introduced to you almost immediately in Horizon, and focuses on a stealth-based system where using Aloy's Blue-tooth Real life cheat code, you learn to scan and attack robot dinosaur weak points. Stealth is a key component here, as if you are spotted the robots will fucking murder you very quickly. At least until you level up somewhat and spec Aloy into basically being the TX-Terminator killer from Terminator 3.
What really stands out to me about Horizon is that the game finds away to limit your combat options without feeling restrictive or cheap. Here is where the first contrast to Zelda comes in. While weapons don't break in Horizon, you are very limited on what type of ammo you can carry, and even what kind of ammo a given weapon can use. Yes all bows used arrows, but not all bows can use all types of arrows. So there is a careful balancing act you need to strike between carrying various ammo types, and making sure you have the right items for your current weapon kit. Sadly Aloy's weapon loadout is rather limited, you always have a spear at the ready, but you can only carry four additional ranged weapons at a time. From Slingshots that hurl elemental grenades, to Tripcasters that basically lay various traps, and of course bows. What is good here is that every weapon type has a very different playstyle. I found that setting traps with the tripcaster and then using the Slingshot to scare the robot deer or cows into those traps, was clever use of playing with your kit.
However by the end of the game, I had Aloy decked out in four different bows that had differnt uses (sniper bow for ranged, armor piercing bow for....armor piercing, etc) because while the trapcaster and sling played well together, I found that they ended up causing too much chaos in combat with not enough damage payoff and it was far better to simply snipe and pick away at groups of enemies rather than lob mayhem grenades into packs of wild Sabercats.
I also specialized Aloy in melee combat, because I found that the later enemies just seemed to resist all bow damage in general and it was easier to mind-control one of the bastards and use my spear to beat the metal off whatever else remained. Specing into mind controlling robots perminately was also awesome, because it was like watching Pacific Rim again.
All this comes together really well, and as I mentioned before while you don't have to deal with weapons breaking you do have to deal with ammo management. Since I was using a lot of bows, arrows were harder to make than you would expect as most of them require the same basic parts, which means I had to be careful with arrow use and ultimately I had to scavenge for more parts than someone else might have.
Thankfully crafting in Horizon is minimal and extremely easy. You highlight the stuff you want to make and hold down a button to automatically make the item. So long as you have the parts and the space, you can max out your stock very easily and very quickly, making time spent preparing for the next battle is minimal granted you have explored and scavenged enough materials.
Which leads me to the open world, and this is where the game made me reflect upon Zelda with a rather negative light. There is shit everywhere in Horizon, but more importantly than that, there is agency and reason to hunt the things out in Horizon where that isn't present in Zelda. You hunt different robot animals to gather money and resources to craft your ammo and potions, you hunt collectibles for experience bonuses that make your stronger on top of the interesting lore of the world, you defeat bandit camps to unlock new quests and fast travel points, you solve Tallneck climbing puzzles to reveal secrets on the map, you explore dungeons and fight bosses to learn how to mindcontrol bigger and badder dinosaurs, everything in the world has a lasting effect on your character. There is reason and drive to do every activity, and the world is full of it. Never once did that happen for me in Zelda, I was almost demotivated to even try in Zelda because I always felt the rewards were mediocre at best.
While I wont go into details about the story here, I will simply say that the story is pretty good, with some interesting twists. Though the twists are a little predictable, if you take into account the lore of the world that you get along the side of Aloy's story, it adds up to being a damn compelling game. Admittedly, I was more driven to find the lore objects and learn what the fuck happened to obliterate the world a bit more than I was interested in the main story.
Also the side quests in the game are very rewarding, but they aren't super compelling. They boil down to finding lost people, going out to kill a few things, or finding supplies and bringing them back to the quest giver. What is interest though, is that you can find the quest items out in the world before you even get the quest. So when you stumble into the quest giver begging for help finding their items Aloy will be like, "Oh that shit? Yeah I found that already, here." And you'll complete the quest on the spot. That is a nice touch, and some of the dialog around the quests is interesting and fleshes out the tribal world a bit, but in the end the side quests are just "okay".
In the end I had a blast with Horizon, the world is super interesting, and unique, even if under the surface it is all stuff we have seen before. Horizon gave me something that Zelda didn't, and that's agency, a reason to do the things I was doing. While there is something to be said about the freedom that Zelda offers, freedom isn't compelling for me. I like instructions, reasoning, story, feeling rewarded. And ultimately that is what I think Horizon does best, it rewards you for everything. Before you say Zelda is rewarding, I'm going to outright tell you now, it isn't. Getting a weapon that will break in five minutes isn't a reward, getting a bullshit gem isn't a reward, getting a fraction of an upgrade isn't a reward.
That leads me to the score. As much as I had such a blast playing Horizon, I can't honestly sit here and say it was mindblowingly amazing, or groundbreaking in any way. What it does is creates a unique and interesting world with a great protagonist, all revolving around a fun, solid, and very cool combat system. I mean....fucking robot dinosaurs man!
As a result Horizon: Zero Dawn gets an 8.5/10 from me.
Here we go:
Horizon starts with one of the most unique openings in a video game I have ever seen. Before anything is playable, before even the main menu pops up, you are given an introduction into the world and it's majesty including character set up that is just wonderfully done. It got me invested in not only Aloy but also her world almost immediately. And after a short playable intro where you play as ALoy as a little girl where they set up her early game motivations to basically win her way into the local tribe, Aloy grows up in a musical montage (in my head) and we are off and running.
Combat is introduced to you almost immediately in Horizon, and focuses on a stealth-based system where using Aloy's Blue-tooth Real life cheat code, you learn to scan and attack robot dinosaur weak points. Stealth is a key component here, as if you are spotted the robots will fucking murder you very quickly. At least until you level up somewhat and spec Aloy into basically being the TX-Terminator killer from Terminator 3.
What really stands out to me about Horizon is that the game finds away to limit your combat options without feeling restrictive or cheap. Here is where the first contrast to Zelda comes in. While weapons don't break in Horizon, you are very limited on what type of ammo you can carry, and even what kind of ammo a given weapon can use. Yes all bows used arrows, but not all bows can use all types of arrows. So there is a careful balancing act you need to strike between carrying various ammo types, and making sure you have the right items for your current weapon kit. Sadly Aloy's weapon loadout is rather limited, you always have a spear at the ready, but you can only carry four additional ranged weapons at a time. From Slingshots that hurl elemental grenades, to Tripcasters that basically lay various traps, and of course bows. What is good here is that every weapon type has a very different playstyle. I found that setting traps with the tripcaster and then using the Slingshot to scare the robot deer or cows into those traps, was clever use of playing with your kit.
However by the end of the game, I had Aloy decked out in four different bows that had differnt uses (sniper bow for ranged, armor piercing bow for....armor piercing, etc) because while the trapcaster and sling played well together, I found that they ended up causing too much chaos in combat with not enough damage payoff and it was far better to simply snipe and pick away at groups of enemies rather than lob mayhem grenades into packs of wild Sabercats.
I also specialized Aloy in melee combat, because I found that the later enemies just seemed to resist all bow damage in general and it was easier to mind-control one of the bastards and use my spear to beat the metal off whatever else remained. Specing into mind controlling robots perminately was also awesome, because it was like watching Pacific Rim again.
All this comes together really well, and as I mentioned before while you don't have to deal with weapons breaking you do have to deal with ammo management. Since I was using a lot of bows, arrows were harder to make than you would expect as most of them require the same basic parts, which means I had to be careful with arrow use and ultimately I had to scavenge for more parts than someone else might have.
Thankfully crafting in Horizon is minimal and extremely easy. You highlight the stuff you want to make and hold down a button to automatically make the item. So long as you have the parts and the space, you can max out your stock very easily and very quickly, making time spent preparing for the next battle is minimal granted you have explored and scavenged enough materials.
Which leads me to the open world, and this is where the game made me reflect upon Zelda with a rather negative light. There is shit everywhere in Horizon, but more importantly than that, there is agency and reason to hunt the things out in Horizon where that isn't present in Zelda. You hunt different robot animals to gather money and resources to craft your ammo and potions, you hunt collectibles for experience bonuses that make your stronger on top of the interesting lore of the world, you defeat bandit camps to unlock new quests and fast travel points, you solve Tallneck climbing puzzles to reveal secrets on the map, you explore dungeons and fight bosses to learn how to mindcontrol bigger and badder dinosaurs, everything in the world has a lasting effect on your character. There is reason and drive to do every activity, and the world is full of it. Never once did that happen for me in Zelda, I was almost demotivated to even try in Zelda because I always felt the rewards were mediocre at best.
While I wont go into details about the story here, I will simply say that the story is pretty good, with some interesting twists. Though the twists are a little predictable, if you take into account the lore of the world that you get along the side of Aloy's story, it adds up to being a damn compelling game. Admittedly, I was more driven to find the lore objects and learn what the fuck happened to obliterate the world a bit more than I was interested in the main story.
Also the side quests in the game are very rewarding, but they aren't super compelling. They boil down to finding lost people, going out to kill a few things, or finding supplies and bringing them back to the quest giver. What is interest though, is that you can find the quest items out in the world before you even get the quest. So when you stumble into the quest giver begging for help finding their items Aloy will be like, "Oh that shit? Yeah I found that already, here." And you'll complete the quest on the spot. That is a nice touch, and some of the dialog around the quests is interesting and fleshes out the tribal world a bit, but in the end the side quests are just "okay".
In the end I had a blast with Horizon, the world is super interesting, and unique, even if under the surface it is all stuff we have seen before. Horizon gave me something that Zelda didn't, and that's agency, a reason to do the things I was doing. While there is something to be said about the freedom that Zelda offers, freedom isn't compelling for me. I like instructions, reasoning, story, feeling rewarded. And ultimately that is what I think Horizon does best, it rewards you for everything. Before you say Zelda is rewarding, I'm going to outright tell you now, it isn't. Getting a weapon that will break in five minutes isn't a reward, getting a bullshit gem isn't a reward, getting a fraction of an upgrade isn't a reward.
That leads me to the score. As much as I had such a blast playing Horizon, I can't honestly sit here and say it was mindblowingly amazing, or groundbreaking in any way. What it does is creates a unique and interesting world with a great protagonist, all revolving around a fun, solid, and very cool combat system. I mean....fucking robot dinosaurs man!
As a result Horizon: Zero Dawn gets an 8.5/10 from me.
