Reviews Horizon Zero Dawn

Developed by: Guerrilla Games
Genre: Action,RPG,Open World
Playsation 4 exclusive

GAME MECHANICS


Surely you've heard EA claiming that singleplayer games are dying...well...Horizon Zero Dawn is the lone reason to negate everything about that claim.

IMO one of the best singleplayer games I've ever played and yet again another PS4 exlusive worthy of buying the console.

The simpliest I can explain it is as "beautiful open world hunting game with leveling,loot,crafting and talent system combined with decent story" type of game.

I love how the game is about hunting and the fact that you are hunting machines and not normal animals is even better! It's not a random hack and slash RPG where you just strike the enemies wherever and still defeat them.As a hunter you need to know which parts are vulnerable and which part aren't and that's the whole magic behind it.While playing you will defeat so called "heavy" machines faster and faster untill you become the master of hunting.It's very satisfying when you defeat bigger and stronger machines and you get rewarded for it with huge EXP and better loot which is nice!

Some things could have been better like the lack of armor effects and lack of weapons.By mid-game quests you already have all weapons and armors available with little to no difference in them.OFC you can modify them but it's just disappointing.There's also an ancient armor available if you get all the pieces for it which is definitely worth it and hands down the best armor but the only sad part is,that it's only available by the last 2 quests which makes it disappointing that you couldn't have gotten it sooner since it's really a game changer,while that should be the case in the end-game it's disappoiting since there's really not much to do post-game so you don't enjoy it as much as you should.I also feel that it would have been nice if you could track more quests at once rather than doing them one by one.I also feel the "focus scan" should have been better rather than scaning the machines every few seconds since you forget which parts to focus on to defeat them faster.

Crafting,talent and leveling system is as simple as it could be.
You kill - you get EXP - you level up - you get talent points - you loot and you craft.

Also one of the things I'm unhappy with,is the lack of side quests,there are some but not many,find it disappointing since the world is big and there's not much to do after you beat the main quests.

Is the game hard? You can choose that for yourself.You can choose the difficulty option before the start of the game.

Took me 28 hours to beat the main quests on normal difficulty and most of side quests while exploring the world and finding some of the collectables.

DESIGN & AMBIENT


Hands down one of the most beautiful games I've ever played.Sometimes you just feel to explore the world by searching how beautiful it is rather than doing quests.The world is huge,I'm not talking Witcher 3 huge but huge nevertheless.

The soundtracks are so relaxing and it fits every single part of the story!



STORY


Pretty straightforward,I'll try to do it without any spoilers...

There's a girl without real parents and her guardian who were exiled from the tribe for breaking some laws.Something happens and she finds out that she needs to save the world.No the girl doesn't have a demon fox inside her.Problems come mid-story and you try to overcome them to finish your ultimate goal.

The cutscenes are amazing and it's definitely a shame if you skip them,for some reason I like to compare it with Disney movies since sometimes I get that feel especially how characters react.

Aloy is the protagonist of the game and it's the role you take while playing the game.

Most of the time you'll be screaming PROTECT ALOY AT ALL COSTS!!! she's a sweet,determined and lovely girl,you just can't hate her.

open only if finished the game (open) open only if finished the game (close)

I feel like they made a huge mistake by not making a Rost and other killed kids and members of the tribe scene which would give you that emotional punch for the rest of the game,I also feel like it lacks emotional moments in general.

All in all pretty straightforward story which is most definitely interesting and will get you hooked to play more and more.

FINAL VERDICT


Should you buy it? Is it worth it? YES,YES and YES! Definitely a must buy for every PS4 owner.Beautiful and lovely created game which proves that singleplayer games are not dying.It's also IMO a worthy game to buy PS4 for.

In the end there's a scene which kinda gives us a hope for the Horizon Zero Dawn 2!? and hopefully in the new game they can implement the multyplayer raids,a mode where you can fight machine bosses with your friends which gives you loot for the singleplayer mode! That would be amazing!

I'm also sad the game won no awards in the "GAME AWARDS 2017",I feel like it should have been a GOTY.

Final score: 10/10 without a question,a game you just shouldn't miss if you are a PS4 owner.

 

Legit the gameplay is amazing I just love it,I wish there were more games like this!

 

If it weren't a PS4 exclusive, I'd have bought this already