Title: Horizon - Zero Dawn - Past Present Futuristic
Author: NiteFenix
Recovered Author: NiteFenix
Published Date: 2017-04-04
Original URL: https://geeknode.co.za/2017/04/horizon-zero-dawn-past-present-futuristic
Wayback URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20170708080609id_/http://www.geeknode.co.za/2017/04/horizon-zero-dawn-past-present-futuristic/
Recovery Confidence: high
Categories: Video Game Review
Tags: aloy, female protagonist, guerrila games, horizon zero dawn, robot dinosaurs, rpg, video game review

- Developer Guerrilla Games
- Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Distributor Ster Kinekor Entertainment
- Where we got our copy Ster Kinekor Entertainemnt
- Genre RPG
- Game modes Single Player
- Players 1
- Reviewed on Playstation 4

- NiteFenix

- 3 months ago

- 0 0

Update: In case you missed it, Ster Kinekor are running a special across all major channels this holiday period. You can grab a PS4 Pro with an extra controller and a free copy of Horizon Zero Dawn. That’s a R2000 saving!

Fresh off another big RPG in the form of Witcher 3, I had kept myself in an almost virgin-like state whereas Horizon: Zero Dawn was concerned. My only exposure to the title was when I attended rAge last year and was invited by Ster Kinekor to attend a preview of Dishonored 2. Horizon: Zero Dawn came as a big surprise to me as it seemed quite fresh and unique. Mechanical dinosaurs, a female protagonist in a world filled with male stalwarts. It could not be, yet…it was. Other than that short trailer, I knew virtually nothing about the game, but still, it intrigued me. So I opted to give it a try. What follows, is my experience with the title. MINOR SPOILERS ALERT!

Story

HZD is quite simply put, an RPG set in what initially appears to be “the stone age”. But as with a lot of things in life, appearances can be deceiving. Especially considering the dinosaurs in this game are quite clearly not flesh and bone. If you’ve seen the trailers, you will no doubt notice that there are some pretty metallic-looking dinosaurs roaming the countryside, then you will know that my previous statement doesn’t quite add up. HZD is in fact not set in the past, but as you will notice throughout the progression of the story, in the distant future.

Our hero is a Nora outcast/warrior called Aloy. Born under mysterious circumstances and subsequently raised by another outcast called Rost, our hero is thrown head first (and against the will of the other members of the Nora tribe) into a world which can only be described as technologically wondrous. Strewn across the map is vestiges of a civilisation, once prosperous, but now lost. From dilapidated skyscrapers to underground military bunkers, each filled with untold secrets.

The story starts with a young Aloy, stumbling into just such a underground bunker and discovering what is revealed to be a small device, not unlike a bluetooth headset, which fits snugly over the ear. It reveals to her a world of augmented reality. Computer systems spring to life, making it possible for Aloy to traverse this long forgotten world of the Metal People. The inquisitiveness of Aloy plays a large part in the story, considering she is adamant to find out why she was exiled and by extension, what her origins are, as well as those of her adoptive guardian, Rost. This leads to Aloy training to become a huntress in the hopes of entering a tradition amongst the Nora people. The Proving.

As the name suggests, The Proving is a competition of prowess in which the participants must vie to complete it, or even better, win it. It’s a win-win situation for Aloy, however if she wins, she gets granted a single wish by the elders of the Nora. Her wish? To find out why she was outcast and where she came from. And that my dear reader is where I will stop in terms of the story in order to avoid spoilers.

As the story progresses, she discovers more and more of this forgotten world, her origins as well as why the world is the way it is. Where the machines come from and more. The thing is, and this is where my opinion differs from those reviewers who feels that this game is as close to perfection as it can get. For me, I felt that the pacing in HZD was ever so slightly off. A large portion of the game’s story is aimless wandering with Aloy only really starting to get to the bottom of the overarching mystery close to the end of the game. For me personally, it might have worked better had the writers revealed more significant things earlier in the game and not just walloped you with all the important stuff later on in the story. The things they do reveal during the initial stages of the game does not classify for me as significant in any regards.

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On the other side of the coin, though, what they do reveal of the eventual mystery is mind blowing to the extent that I quite literally sat with my mouth agape at the sheer brilliance of it. I dare say better than my reaction to when I found out about the ancient civilisation in the Assassin’s Creed series. It just made me want more from Aloy’s store and there is definitely potential for Guerrilla Games to expand this into a franchise. The problem is, it feels like the ending, or more specifically the boss battle and the events immediately following it, felt a bit hollow. Sure, the ending I got was great and satisfying, but I expected more from a game that kept me engaged throughout.

Gameplay

From a gameplay perspective, HZD is as solid as they come. Movement is fluid and intuitive, allowing Aloy to combat enemies with a well-crafted control system. Dodging, rolling, shooting arrows and laying traps feels like it was well thought out. Add to that the exhilaration of abseiling down a cliff side with a grappling hook. It has an extremely well-balanced levelling system, with enemies scaling along with you. I never once felt like the game was too easy (I played it on hard), nor did I feel like I could not progress. I also liked that side missions and tasks were exactly, that. Fluff and completely unnecessary to progress in the game. Just playing the main story is enough, considering you level at exactly the right pace in order to reach the next phase of the game. If you’re not a high enough level, you can just jump into a side mission to gain that little bit of XP or go and hunt some machines to tip the scales. HZD just hits all the right notes in terms of an RPG.

What made it even more enjoyable is the fact that most facets of the game is well explained during the initial stages of the story line with a well scripted and well-explained tutorial system. This translated well into random encounters with machines later on in the game. Whenever I encountered a scenario in which I felt like I was stuck and couldn’t progress, I’d take a breather, re-evaluate the situation, and try a different strategy.

And therein lies the beauty of HZD. With the large array of weapons available to you. you can pretty much adapt to any scenario you might find yourself in. As a huntress you have a few different types of bows at your disposal, firing different types of projectiles. These ranges from precision bows (with several variants), a war bow for up close and personal touch to combat, a hunter’s bow for mid-range combat and several types of trip-wire type traps. There also exists a ropecaster weapon which allows the wielder to fire a projectile at an enemy, trapping them at the end of the rope, allowing you to easily target them with other weapon types. Then you will also find a melee weapon in the form of a staff for those moments where you want to get in close and finish off an enemy.

Helping Aloy along in her journey is the ability to assign skill points in three different skill trees, namely Prowler, Brave and Forager. Each introducing Aloy to different useful aspects of fighting, resource gathering and prowess when you either have to fight or flee. Some skills felt extremely useful to me, while others were lost on me, making me wonder why they were included in the game in the first place. One such skill was Scavenger (which is a skill to upgrade the amount of resources picked up at once), although it just might be because I am a grinder in games such as this. I ran around a lot picking up medicinal plants, wood and the other various items found throughout the game that assist with crafting of ammunition for your bows. I think whether you’re a crafter or not, you will eventually end up with a full pack, forcing you to dump some items to make space for the essentials. Thus, the Scavanger perk kinda feels reduntant, considering picking up double, if not triple the amount of resources proves pointless because you will just end up filling your pack with junk you’ll never use. And the game doesn’t exactly make it a point to tell you to not bother with all the resources you’re picking up. You also kinda have to figure out which resources you need for crafting and which ones you need to sell to make space. I found that earlier in the game I had a lot of resources I’d never use, but was oblivious to the fact that it wasn’t necessary to hold onto them. Thus I had lots of resources and not a lot of money by contrast. I’m not placing this blame squarely on the game, I’m just saying it could have been the system could have been explained better a the outset.

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Graphics

Graphically is where HZD really shines. It employs various landscapes through the map, ranging from lush green environments to snow-covered mountainous regions, difficult to traverse, but one thing is consistent throughout. Each and every one of the environments depicted in the game is done so with an eloquent beauty and style which portrays the melancholy wasteland that has once again been renewed by mother nature. Another area where HZD left me speechless was in the way the characters were animated. Even during the side missions, where you conversed with non-main characters, you could see that a tremendous amount of work went into the game.

Speaking of animation, just looking at the blades of grass sway in the wind and the rippling of water, made me want to stare for hours. Walking through a desert area also brought its own rewards in the form of periodic sandstorms whipping in Aloy’s face. Traversing the long forgotten ruins of the Metal People also brought with it rewards of dazzling colour and worlds alive with machines covered in the decades-worth of dripping stalactites and stalagmites. You can just see the vast amounts of thought and detail that went into this world, reinforcing the idea that this world, left behind by the old ones, was truly ancient.

Sound

HZD had some pretty good sound engineers involved in this project. I can comfortably say that I enjoyed every aspect of the soundtrack. For every different part of the map I traversed, the music felt culturally appropriate for that area, evolving with each scenario you encounter. Very appropriate for each area of the game. Ambient sounds, especially from the machines as they merrily (or menacingly) go about their business, as well as the world itself, coming alive with the wind and the water.

Voice acting is superb, with voice talents in the game ranging from Ashley Burch (Ashley Burch! Tiny Tina!), JB Blanc as Rost, and Lance Reddick as Sylens (you may recognize him as Phillip Broyles on Fringe or Martin Hatch in Quantum Break – I genuinely squealed when I saw and heard him!). The thing with this voice cast is they really imbue their characters with just that…character. Especially Ashley Burch. She just made me care about Aloy’s journey even more, considering the wit and charm she instils in the character. There was never a time where I felt like Aloy was not genuine.

Summary

In summary, I’d have to say HZD was quite possibly one of the surprise experiences of 2017 for me so far. We are still early in the year, but this is definitely a contender for me of one of the better games of the year. It has charm and character and a well balanced if imperfect, approach to the RPG genre. Graphics are solid and well thought-out and the audio lends itself to an already bustling and vibrant world.

Update: In case you missed it, Ster Kinekor are running a special across all major channels this holiday period. You can grab a PS4 Pro with an extra controller and a free copy of Horizon Zero Dawn. That's a R2000 saving! Fresh off another big RPG in the form of Witcher 3, I had kept myself in an almost virgin-like state whereas Horizon: Zero Dawn was concerned. My only exposure to the title was when I attended rAge last year and was invited by Ster Kinekor to attend a preview of Dishonored 2. Horizon: Zero Dawn came as a big surprise to me as it seemed quite fresh and unique. Mechanical dinosaurs, a female protagonist in a world filled with male stalwarts. It could not be, yet...it was. Other than that short trailer, I knew virtually nothing about the game, but still, it intrigued me. So I opted to give it a try. What follows, is my experience with the title. MINOR SPOILERS ALERT! Story HZD is quite simply put, an RPG set in what initially appears to be "the stone age". But as with a lot of things in life, appearances can be deceiving. Especially considering the dinosaurs in this game are quite clearly not flesh and bone. If you've seen the trailers, you will no doubt notice that there are some pretty metallic-looking dinosaurs roaming the countryside, then you will know that my previous statement doesn't quite add up. HZD is in fact not set in the past, but as you will notice throughout the progression of the story, in the distant future. Our hero is a Nora outcast/warrior called Aloy. Born under mysterious circumstances and subsequently raised by another outcast called Rost, our hero is thrown head first (and against the will of the other members of the Nora tribe) into a world which can only be described as technologically wondrous. Strewn across the map is vestiges of a civilisation, once prosperous, but now lost. From dilapidated skyscrapers to underground military bunkers, each filled with untold secrets. The story starts with a young Aloy, stumbling into just such a underground bunker and discovering what is revealed to be a small device, not unlike a bluetooth headset, which fits snugly over the ear. It reveals to her a world of augmented reality. Computer systems spring to life, making it possible for Aloy to traverse this long forgotten world of the Metal People. The inquisitiveness of Aloy plays a large part in the story, considering she is adamant to find out why she was exiled and by extension, what her origins are, as well as those of her adoptive guardian, Rost. This leads to Aloy training to become a huntress in the hopes of entering a tradition amongst the Nora people. The Proving. As the name suggests, The Proving is a competition of prowess in which the participants must vie to complete it, or even better, win it. It's a win-win situation for Aloy, however if she wins, she gets…

Video Game Review: Horizon – Zero Dawn – Past Present Futuristic

Video Game Review: Horizon – Zero Dawn – Past Present Futuristic

2017-04-04

NiteFenix

Total - 7.5

75
7.5

Horizon Zero Dawn hit me from left field. It was not what I thought it would be. It was more, yet at the same time, less. Not in a bad way, mind you. Solid gameplay with only a few minor hinderances. A story that has a couple of pacing issues, with a payoff on par with other games of its calibre (yet an ending that feels flat). Will recommend if you're looking for a game that inspires awe, but do not expect perfection.

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User Rating: 4.2 ( 1 votes)

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NiteFenix

Editor-In-Chief / Entertainment Editor at Geek Node

Jonathan has been a journalist for several years. Writing primarily about video games, and occasionally films and television series.

He spends most of his time talking crap on Twitter and looking for the meaning of life in all the wrong places.

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Article Tags:
aloy · female protagonist · guerrila games · horizon zero dawn · robot dinosaurs · rpg · video game review

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Video Game Review
