Ever since I first saw this game as part of Sony's 2015 press conference, I have been excited about it. The prospect of robot dinosaurs isn't something you get in every game, and the more I saw of Horizon: Zero Dawn, the more excited I became. It won my "Most likely to be Game of the Year" award 2 years in a row and my award for best gameplay trailer at last year’s E3 and I have been looking forward to this game more than a new Mass Effect, so it's safe to say my expectations are absurdly high for this game.
From its outset, Horizon: Zero Dawn sunk its hooks in me with its mysterious world where humanity has returned to its tribal beginnings but surrounded by future technology. There are multiple tribes with different mystic, religious, cultural, and philosophical beliefs concerning the technology and the old inhabitants of the Earth, us. Also filling this world are many robotic animals that roam the lands while keeping what's left of humanity in check. There is an aura of mystery surrounding the entire world and its inhabitants, and over the course of the game’s lengthy story the main character, Aloy (voiced by the extraordinary Ashly Burch), must answer not only these questions but also unravel the mystery surrounding her own existence. Cast out from her tribe from birth, Aloy learns to fend for herself in this unforgiving world, and as she finds out more about herself, she also learns of the fate of those from the “Old world” and how the two are connected. It takes quite a while to get where it's going, but once it does, the game’s narrative kicks into high gear and begins exploring some rather interesting themes while unveiling the fate of us, the “old ones”. The story being told here is a great step forward for video game stories, but the way it's told is one of my only issues with the game. Throughout the story, Aloy will be accompanied by a character who serves as a blatantly obvious plot device. The character himself is interesting, but the entire narrative would have died multiple times if it weren't for plot device man. Despite this one issue, I still would go as far as to say the story is one of the best I've seen in the medium. On top of the great story, the world itself is filled with incredible details. By setting the game in a criminally underutilized area, Guerilla Games was able to create an interesting and environmentally diverse world without having to do much other than recreating and condense the real world locations. By setting the game in western Colorado/eastern Utah, Guerilla was able to get just about every type of environment that exists from remnants of cities to snowy mountains, deserts, canyons, and plains. The only thing that doesn't fit is the jungle area, but that is kind of explained in the story so I don't have much of a problem with it. As good as the story and world are, they aren't even the best parts of this game.
Throughout all of the pre-release trailers, I never had a worry about how the game would play. Despite this, every time I pick it up, I am blown away by just how much fun I have. Whether it's sneaking around a bandit camp or having an all guns blazing shootout with a massive thunderjaw, I find myself enjoying the combat more and more with each arrow fired. There are a wide variety of options and the combinations of stealth, traps, melee, and ranged combat lead to a smooth experience all around. I could easily put another 20 hours into this game doing nothing but hunting Thunderjaws and Rockbreakers. Simply put, Horizon: Zero Dawn is the best playing game I've played since Bloodborne.
As much as I can praise this game, there is one undeniable element that limited my enjoyment. While it would be reductive to call this game “open world game: the game”, it isn't that far off. There are many elements of Far Cry, as well as almost every open world trope from the past 5 years to be found in this game. Because of this, open world fatigue set in quite early and limited my enjoyment until the game’s incredible third act. Although Horizon does do some great things with these tropes, such as the tower mechanic, open world fatigue hampered my enjoyment for a decent chunk of my time with this game.
Despite being made of many open world tropes, Horizon: Zero Dawn is a fantastic game in just about every regard. It plays like a dream, the story is memorable and the themes are thought-provoking and prophetic in a way, Aloy is one of the coolest protagonists in years, Ashly Burch delivers a fantastic performance as Aloy, and the world itself is fascinating on multiple levels. Even though it took me some time to get over the open world fatigue, once I did, I found an incredibly thought provoking game that also allowed me to fight a massive robot T-Rex. At the end of the day, is there really anything else I can ask for? Thanks for reading.