![]() ![]() Some components are small and often in obfuscated areas that call for precision shots. What makes Horizon's combat engaging is that the enemies have special attacks, which Aloy can target with specific arrow types to remove components from the enemy and disable that attack type. Airborne enemies may lose their aerial advantage when you use a ropecaster to temporarily tether them to the ground. Some enemies may be vulnerable to fire, so you can use fire arrows. With plenty of enemy variety, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, each weapon is useful in different scenarios. You start with a simple spear and bow, but your arsenal quickly grows with the addition of new arrow types and new weapons. ![]() Aloy is equipped with weapons for combat against the various machines. Of course, an open-world game needs more than a captivating story and tons of side-quests, and Horizon delivers on all fronts. Some of the icons, like machine sites, can be disabled, but that only mildly mitigates the overload of information that the game throws at you. If you open the map and leave all of the icon filters on, practically the entire map is covered with icons, side-quests, and item pick-ups. In this regard, Horizon feels a bit dated and exhausting: It's the epitome of open-world bloat. In this case, Aloy must climb massive machines called Tallnecks, but they offer little challenge and are another icon on a map that's used to reveal … even more icons on a map. This is an open-world game in a post- Assassin's Creed 2 world, so naturally, the only way to reveal a map is to climb something tall. This same mechanic is how players reveal additional portions of the map. Players will find plenty of handholds, ridges, and slopes to climb and are often rewarded with beautiful vantage points. With walking paths intersected by gates and running bodies of water, the visual changes seamlessly flow from one to another, and it never broke my immersion or threw off my guard.Īloy has taken a few notes from Nathan Drake and Lara Croft because traversing these landscapes is a breeze. In some ways, these disparate environments create a fresh game experience that constantly keeps you on your toes, and Guerrilla Games somehow makes these juxtaposed environments work well together. If you can brush aside the oddity of deserts bordering snow-capped mountains that loom over jungles, it truly is a marvelous playground to explore. With a vast map that sprawls across multiple biomes, Horizon's environmental visuals are a sight to behold. The slow start is quickly overshadowed by gorgeous vistas that serve as the backdrop of the 30-hour campaign. There are a number of reveals in the back half of Horizon that piqued my interest and drove me to see the story to the end. I continually found myself more engaged as I sunk more time into the experience. This isn't a title with an amazing concept that falls apart as you dig deeper. The opening hours are on the slow side, but Horizon feels like the exception to the norm in the video game industry. As the story progresses, you slowly unravel the mysteries of Aloy and the machines that inhabit the surrounding lands, and you quickly learn how they're intertwined. ![]() You play as Aloy, a motherless child who was cast from her tribe due to her irregular birth. While humans still roam the lands, they are merely tribal folk with minimal understanding of the technology from both the past and present. Set in a distant future, 1,000 years from the present day, the world has fallen to ruin and is overrun by zoomorphic robots. With incredibly fun gameplay and a story that delivers more and more intrigue as you delve further into its mysteries, the only thing holding it back is its presentation.Įven during the initial E3 reveal, it was clear that Guerrilla Games had something special with Horizon. Where Death Stranding felt like a PC port masterpiece with a faltering story that couldn't match the top-notch production values, Horizon is the polar opposite. Both games utilize the Decima Engine, but despite these similarities, the two titles couldn't be more different. Sony, in its continuation to penetrate the PC player base, now releases yet another juggernaut from its long list of console exclusives, Horizon: Zero Dawn. It wasn't that long ago that I was tasked with reviewing the PC release for Death Stranding. ![]()
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