Yes, even better than Uncharted 4. For example, players can only heal if they’re stocked up on herbs, and on Ultra Hard, I often found myself with none and experienced much of the game with little health available. The extended sessions were aided by an incredibly satisfying combat system, too. Horizon Zero Dawn is an exhilarating action role playing game developed by the award winning Guerrilla Games. (v.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || v.documentElement.appendChild(v.createElement('head'))).appendChild(scp); It’s a minor issue, but it is annoying that I can’t simultaneously complete overlapping missions. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. She hopes that this test can help her gain the tools she needs to unravel the mystery behind her parents. For example, after obtaining a new weapon, its tutorial might instruct you to “kill five machines” with it. This game is a perfect storm of hurdles, with half a dozen crashes, frequent stuttering on certain hardware, an awful optimization process that I experienced three times, and a day-one patch that only made things worse. Zero Dawn was announced at a time when it seemed every game needed a bow and arrow. Horizon’s combat is its most compelling feature, thanks to the variety found within 26 distinct species of animal-like machines that roam its great far-future expanse. I quickly unplugged my monitor, placed it aside and pulled out my Asus ROG Zephyrus M GU502 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU with 8GB of VRAM, an Intel i7-10750H CPU and a 1TB SSD. Keywords: '', 5 Aug 2020 2 Each has its own self-contained narrative, much like a tale in The Witcher 3, and speaking to inhabitants of the world once again is great because of the great visual design and voice acting. As the story progresses, we learn more and more about the history of the game’s world and who Aloy actually is. }; Receive news and offers from our other brands? With updated drivers, I managed 20-30 frames per second on Ultra graphical settings before the game’s day one patch. var scp = v.createElement("script"), Let’s start at the beginning; this port opens up with an optimization process meant to adapt to your hardware and provide the best experience possible. Horizon teeters on the brink of becoming diet Diablo with its approach to gathering everything in sight, particularly in the early hours of play, but soon you’ll become accustomed to the myriad items you must utilise. }; Guerilla Games has set up some excellent themes that kept me invested even when there could be hours between campaign missions. I didn’t expect Horizon Zero Dawn to be this good. I downloaded Horizon Zero Dawn, launched it, and was once again greeted by the infamous optimization screen. This makes a handful of battles even more rewarding, as acquiring the components to craft special pieces of gear, gain additional currency, or continue to stock up on the materials needed for ammunition provided consistent gratification. Hunting not only robots, but also the animals of the world to create health potions, new weapons, traps and more are vital in order to remain well equipped for what lies ahead, and it’s not long before you’ll be crafting plenty more and resources you believed to be plentiful quickly become empty. Receive mail from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors? Within the game’s graphics settings, you can go from low to ultra for textures, model quality, anisotropic filter, shadows, clouds and ambient occlusion. Horizon Zero Dawn drops the player in a large open world to scavenge materials, hunt beasts both robotic and organic, and craft an arsenal of elemental weapons and armor. })(document, window); You know a developer is confident in its game’s visuals when it includes a dedicated photo mode, and I’ve spent more time taking snaps in Horizon’s world than I have on most holidays. Unlike other sites, we thoroughly test every product we review. It’s also incredible how smooth the performance is. Down a flying, ice-shooting Glinthawk by destroying the armoured sac on its chest to temporarily freeze the bird, or shoot the cannon off the back of a tiger-like Ravager and pick it up to blast a T-Rex-esque Thunderjaw, who you only just noticed approaching from the corner of your eye during the fight. Learn More. Display modes can be switched to full screen, borderless and windowed. These noise-cancelling wireless earbuds are only $30 in post-Prime Day deal. Horizon Zero Dawn presents us with a beautiful world full of unforgettable challenges. This doesn’t become frustrating, but what is annoying is a problem Guerilla carries over from Killzone: the lack of clear damage indication during fights. Though side questing could have been more imaginative, its missions are compelling thanks to a central mystery that led me down a deep rabbit hole to a genuinely surprising - and moving - conclusion. In terms of what Aloy must actually do, the game doesn’t offer much variety: go here, use Aloy’s Focus to discover a track, follow it, fight the enemy. These beasts have several weak points that can be scanned using Aloy’s Focus (a lore-friendly device that gives you Witcher-like heightened senses), and hitting different points can have different results that change the way a fight plays out. Aloy can only select one quest at a time, but this also includes tutorials which can often be completed during a main or side mission. This design philosophy emphasizes how unexpectedly gorgeous the end of the world can be. The ways enemies track you are also incredibly smart, as they typically predict movement patterns and determine where to strike based on which direction you’re going. This glorified loading screen took me 22 excruciating minutes (I timed it) to complete, and the game does not ask for your consent or approval before trapping you within this drawn-out hell. She’s surrounded by a people who, in the face of fear and uncertainty, have devolved and retreated into tribalism, blind faith and violence. Tell us what you think - send your emails to the Editor. And even though both she and many other characters are well written, the game feels more like a very solid blockbuster rather than a heart-wrenching journey akin to The Last of Us. It kept me invested because this is a story unlike any other in video games. It also helps that there’s a huge number of side missions to do along the way. The game opens with Aloy, the protagonist, undergoing a blessing ritual after being adopted by Rost, who continues to take care of her until she’s older. Trudging through the game’s city ruins, snowy mountain peaks and dense forests is both frightening and beautiful thanks to a jarring contrast where environments teeming with life are inhabited by monsters seeking to destroy your own. By exclusively exposing the player to Aloy’s narrow tribal world full of superstition and religion, the many mysteries of the Earth become secrets that both the player and protagonist want to unravel.