Horizon Zero Dawn

 

I had no idea what to expect with this game. It's referenced a lot and generally in a favorable manner, so I decided to play it essentially based on my Twitter timeline. Additionally, it was available at no cost as part of my Playstation Plus subscription as well, which helped with my decision. The first few times I played the game I wasn't sure if I liked it. It had a post-apocalyptic vibe, which I generally don't like. It took some time to get familiar with the names of the tribes and the nomenclature used to describe the machines. However, once I overcame this initial hesitation (essentially past the introductory tutorial and the Proving), I began to really enjoy this game. It has become one of my favorite Playstation series, right up there with Uncharted.

The game takes place in a world where people live in tribes. You play as Aloy, an outcast girl. Aloy trains to win a competition called the Proving, which would allow her to join one of the tribes and learn about her past. The world seems like it is set in the past, except there are machines roaming and Aloy finds an augmented reality device she wears to learn about the machines. At the Proving, Aloy is the target of an unsuccessful murder attempt, setting her on a journey to not only discover her past, but to discover how the world became as it is and the origin of the machines. It's an engaging story that keeps you guessing until the very end.

I thought almost every aspect of this game was good. I had some minor complaints about portions of the dialogue and facial animation, but otherwise I have nothing but praise for the game. The world & environment where the game takes place is visually stunning, with day/night transitions and a mix of technologically advanced settings and wilderness. It is a fun world to explore. The action is a mix of stealth, melee, platforming, and some puzzle solving. Aloy is a likable main character. I found her witty personality to be quite entertaining. As mentioned above, the plot is great as well.

I want to spend the last paragraph discussing the audio of the game. Unlike many other games I play, this game did not have a map visible on screen. So the only way to see enemies and machines was to visualize them. However, the sound in this game is great, and with a surround system, you could actually hear the machines roaming, especially if they were attacking. The mechanical whir the machines make is incredibly eerie when attacking, which greatly adds to the experience. This game not only looked great, it sounded great as well. My argument against setting up a surround system in the past was that I didn't watch many movies. That has changed, which encouraged me to setup and update my surround system. I did not anticipate that having surround would impact games as much as it has. Horizon is a good example of how having expanded sound can improve the gaming experience.