Horizon Zero Dawn
I’m not a gamer in what has become the traditional sense of the term — I actually stopped playing games right as the rise of PC gaming in the late 90’s made the games more complex, and also brought a crowd that seemed both more competitive and aggravated by the availability of online gaming. The games I’ve liked playing were always simple, arcade-like single player ones: racing, fighting and the such. I’ve never felt quite like the commitment to finish an adventure game. Since I’ve bought a PS4 a couple of years ago, most of its time was spent playing Rocket League. Over time, I purchased a handful of other games but they’ve been sitting in a small pile next to my desk. That changed a couple of months ago where I reached the tail-end of a stressful 12 months and felt I needed something a bit involved to take my mind off things.
What a delightful surprise this game was. I don’t like going in superlatives but this is simply the best game I’ve ever played, in most possible way: graphics, animation, acting, storyline. The game takes place in an earth-like world inhabited by human tribes and animal-like machines. It begins as a small girl named Aloy, who lives with a foster father as outcasts from the Nora tribe, falls into a metal cave and finds a Focus — a small clip-on AR device that can reveal the secrets of her surroundings. Years later, Aloy finds herself in a situation where she needs to step up and regain her status in the tribe, confront the machines, unveil a conspiracy and ultimately figure out why she and no one else can play that role.
As with all good stories, Horizon Zero Dawn blends the discovery of the self with the discovery of the greater world: who built the machines? Why are they hostile? Why is Aloy the target of an assassination attempt? What secrets will be revealed by unlocking the monumental gates at the heart of the Nora caves?
The execution really shines here: Horizon Zero Dawn is a true masterpiece – the explorable world is immense yet polished and provides plenty of opportunity to gaze, the game mechanics alternate well between discovery and action, the main quest is meaty and the progress you make feels steady throughout. I struggled without feeling stuck and only ended up lowering the difficulty for the ultimate boss fight. Fandom also runs an extensive wiki that helps with certain tricky situations.
The landscape are directly inspired from the American Southwest are elevated by the atmospherics, the transition between night and day, the vegetation. There never is a loading screen, as the game make clever use of dust and clouds to hide the clipping that must take place behind the scene. The game is just beautiful – it was the first time I played a game that offered a photo mode and I enjoyed it a lot. On top of that, the voice acting and the soundtrack are top-notch. This game sat on a shelf for way too long, the anticipated release of HZD2 on the PS5 will be an instant buy for me. Enough words, more pictures below:
