Horizon Zero Dawn is a 2017 action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The story follows a young hunter named Aloy who embarks on a journey to learn about her past while navigating a world overrun by machines.

The story follows our main heroine Aloy as she navigates a desolate world as she discovers its forgotten past to ensure its unknown future. If you think you know the story you’re as wrong as the idea of Fallout 76 being a good game at launch. There’s a sense of adventure with the underlining mystery that makes the story compelling. And to help the narrative there are a lot of interesting characters to help Aloy or to hinder her. They might not be as memorable as the Third Row Saints or as deep as The Walking Dead but they provide context to the world.

Aloy has definitely become one of my favorite video game characters. Not only is she a complete badass but she’s interesting, she’s likable, she’s intelligent and watching her grow and learn on her journey helps make the game more engaging. Loved seeing her develop as a person and develop relationships with some of the other characters.

The setting is intriguing and the mythology is rich in detail, showing how civilization has adapted to this new world. The various civilizations that Aloy encounters have their own culture, their own beliefs, their own customs. However,  they’ve thrived in wake of humanity’s destruction. A very good story and setting.  (5 outof 5)

The gameplay and controls are solid but this is a sandbox so players will run, jump, dodge, swim and climb as they transverse the world and fight enemies. There’s standard RPG elements such as gaming experience points to level up and gain new abilities. There are three key areas where the gameplay excels. First, the crafting system. Players will get crafting materials from fallen enemies and around the environments, and use them to craft ammo, traps and healing items.

Weapons can be equipped with modification slots that offer a variety of effects such as adding fire effects or increasing the piercing power.  Aloy’s weaponry include a bow, spear, tripcaster, blast sling, ropecaster, and the rattler. Wasn’t too keen on trying anything outside of the spear and the bow but I have to say that each weapon feels unique, perfectly balanced and some of the best weapons I’ve played in a game in a while. Honestly, when I got to using the ropecaster, it definitely helped give me the edge over some of the stronger enemies.

The enemy types are diverse, each offering their own set of challenges and their own set of characteristics. For example, some move in herds,  others in flocks, some in pairs of Two’s and others in threes. I did appreciate the AI and how challenging, unrelenting, and adaptive they were in combat. By far my favorites are the Stormbird and the Groundbreaker, both large and intimidating. As the story progresses players gain the ability to control the machines by “hacking” them.  This is one of the best features on the game, as hacked enemies will for for and with you. Some enemies even allow you to ride them. But for as fun as it is the downside is that it’s extremely limited. You can’t ride all of them and there’s no gain in controlling them outside of combat. You can’t have a groundbreaking create passage ways for you or use a Stormbird to get to a higher area. Gameplay is solid. (5 out of 5)

The aesthetics are rendered beautifully and the world feels vibrant with life. The photo realistic look to the characters is impressive and some of the best in the business. The character models are expressive and photo realistic in detail. The world is rich in detail with diversity in its design. Players will explore caves, climb mountains, swim across lakes and rivers, travel through forests, cross frozen lakes and snowy trails; just a world built to look and feel like it’s real with different landscapes and ecosystems. And let’s not forget the day and night cycle,  the different weather conditions.  The level of design to machines is brilliant and with the animations maintaining the level of detail is to be admired. It’s like that first time when you watch the Michael Bay Transformers movie and you see Optimus Prime transform for the first time. Cutscenes are cinematic in quality and help to illustrate the storytelling. (5 outof  5)

The audio design is just top notch. Now there isn’t any one song or music that stands out, but what does reflects the tone and pacing of the moment. When Aloy’s running around the world, it sounds joyful, adventurous.  When she’s in a fight, it’s tense with dark tones. The machines sound unique, with the mechanical noise reflecting the movements and the individual noises that they make. Hell, fighting the bigger ones you hear how heavy their foot falls are. The overall sound is some of the best quality that I’ve heard. The weapons sounds different, footsteps make different sounds depending if Aloy’s walking in grass, across rock, or swimming through the water. Again it just gives their authenticity to the world. Even when hit enemies you can hear the metallic thud.  And lastly, we have to give it up to the voice performances. It’s just brilliant and you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone lacking. Ashly Burch does a fantastic job as Aloy. She can push emotional depth without compromising the integrity of the performance.  She’s got range and it fleshes out Aloy’s personality.  (4 out of 5).

There’s a lot of gaming time here and with what Horizon offers players will be coming back for more and more. First, there are a crap ton of hunting challenges for Aloy to undertake. Each challenge has its own level of difficulty and conditions. Some are pretty while others can be hard as hell. But its worth it if you beat them. And if you’re like me and appreciate a challenge, then there’s the game plus mode which offers a more challenging gaming experience.

There’s also the vast world. If you’re a ripoff Indiana Jones like myself then you explore land in all its glory to try find any hidden locations or some of the many collectibles hidden across the map. Recordings offer insight into past illuminating more of the events leading to the present. There are several area across the map where it’s being patrolled by a corrupted machine, making it stronger and more resilient to special ammo.  These essentially function as mini-bosses and they can be quite challenging. There are areas that are controlled by bandits and Aloy is given a choice on how she wants to approaching each.

Not to mention the DLC The Frozen Wilds. This expansion brings Aloy to the Cut, a region on the border of Banuk territory accessible via a mountain pass just north of the Grave-Hoard.  It brings new weapons, costumes, enemy types, and a pretty intense story. So all in all, Horizon Zero Dawn offers players a ton of gaming time. (5 out of 5)

In the end, what can we say about Horizon Zero Dawn besides go buy this game. There’s so much rich content that can’t help but be invested in the world, the story, and the characters.  Definitely one of the best of the PS4 which will be remembered for years to come. Great voice performances, great visuals, great combat, large open world, an engaging story, and plenty of replayability makes Horizon Zero Dawn 5 out of 5. One of the best games of all time.

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