It is also a vast, open-world adventure that feels on par with the types of games Ubisoft has been making and refining over a decadelong period. And Guerrilla seems to have nailed the type of gameplay that will draw in fans of Far Cry, The Witcher, The Elder Scrolls and Watch Dogs on its first stab at the genre.
In the game’s early hours, Guerrilla establishes an intriguing world, bursting with unknowns. Who is Aloy? What led to her and Rost becoming outcasts? Who are her parents? What happened to the world of humans, now mechanical beasts of burden and dinosaur-like robots?
Aloy will become more capable as she levels up, unlocking new skills that improve her hunting and foraging skills. Foraging for items, whether it be medicinal herbs, wood for arrows or scrap from the machines Aloy kills, is an ever-present gameplay component. There’s always something to acquire, to craft, to collect more of. You’ll always feel like you’re making some level of progress, no matter how small.
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There’s no shortage of things to do early on in Horizon Zero Dawn. Players can amass a laundry list of quests and errands to take on, and those missions feel like they flow and overlap organically. There are cities and encampments to visit, as well as characters you’ll encounter in the wild who will ask Aloy for favors. These side quests all feel like a part of Aloy’s overall character growth, not simply distractions from your core mission.
Guerrilla Games has been known for pushing the graphical capabilities of PlayStation hardware, and Horizon Zero Dawn is easily its most impressive looking game to date. The game’s Decima engine — the recently branded tech that will also power Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding — churns out some stunning visuals. The game’s day-night cycle offers beautiful, moonlit nights and soft, warm sunrises. A dynamic weather system may mean, as in my case, a combat encounter that’s sunny in one instance features pouring rain in a second attempt. A built-in photo mode available whenever players pause the game will surely make for a flood of lovely screenshots. (Less appealing are some of the game’s dialogue-heavy cutscenes, which appear to have voice acting of wildly varying quality.)
http://www.polygon.com/2017/1/30/14435128/horizon-zero-dawn-hands-on-ps4-pre-review-preview
