By: Ahmed Namek

So, do you like hunting? You like fast-paced combat that depends on ranged skills? Do you like riding robot-animals that you use to kill even more robot animals?! Then, you’re going to love this! I introduce to you the Horizon: Zero Dawn.

 *Prices listed in this article are the ones provided at the time of its publication, and are subject to change according to the supply and demand of the market.

What’s Horizon: Zero Dawn?

We start off around a 1000 years from now, where people have gone back to basic technology and the only remnants of the high technological advancement are roaming around as dangerous monsters looking for their next prey as reminders of “The Old Ones”.

Society has been affected by all the chaos, and humans went back to tribal systems. That’s where we’re introduced to our main protagonist, Aloy, who found a strange device as a child that would help her find her full potential — the “Focus”, as it’s called by her people. It can give her information about the aforementioned robots and it can pin-point their weak points and would help her understand her surroundings better while in the wild.

Aloy accepts this technologically-advanced gadget into her primitive life and it starts to change how she thinks. All her tribe and surrounding ones, of course, aren’t the most supportive of this, but she makes do with what she has. She starts exploring with an unwavering intention to unlock the mysteries of the old ones and their technology, meeting new robotic creatures and hunting bigger and bigger games as she goes.

You get to witness Aloy mature over the span of the game. She starts off as a typical young woman in her tribe, but due to her strong will and amazing achievements, she becomes more mature every time she accomplishes something or hunts a great game. This in itself gives you a great feeling while controlling her, because you, too, are proud of what she is becoming.

The game’s strongest point is, by far, the combat system, making its unique addition to some games that came out around the same time. Aloy is very agile and is a very good shot with her bow, but since her physical muscle-mass isn’t as prominent, you might find it easier to stick to ranged fighting. Going in and using melee is very limiting, since she doesn’t have that much experience in it, and it shows. The creators wanted her to have a comfort zone and an unusual one, making her more comfortable with her bow than with a spear, for instance, and it makes you appreciate spacing and rolling out of the way more as a player.

Horizon: Zero Dawn offers a unique, vibrant and exciting atmosphere to do some great hunting while going into the politics of her tribe and trying to convince them that adapting to change is far better than just denouncing it. Fast-paced combat, a smart protagonist that has some weaknesses and gorgeous graphics that mix the green, simple tribal life with the metallic colors of your enemies … all these can be found in this game.

So, that’s for the introduction. Let’s go into some details! Join me on this trip to the future and let’s see what the machines are up to.

What’s New?

Other than the awesome graphics and the unique story, the game’s strong point is definitely the combat system. The combat depends on your ability to dodge and attack weak points — using your “Focus” — and staying on your toes.

There are a lot of twists in the story and there are a lot of “upgrades” you can get to make combat cooler. You’ll always have to be ready for surprises; the combat will always get you and the enemies are usually bigger, faster and stronger than you, so you might want to work on your rolls

The size and speed of some of your enemies is going to make you think twice before going into a fight. You’re going to be fighting enemies the size of a rabbit to the size of a dinosaur, so be on your guard!

Why Horizon: Zero Dawn?

Other than the combat, the graphics and the nice story, the game offers a unique combination of all these elements to offer something mixing Dark Souls, Just Cause, and Far Cry.

Couple this with the with an open world and other tribes you meet that enable you to buy and sell things that weren’t available on the spot and the gathering option that lets you gather materials and robot parts to create better and deadlier traps and weapons, and you’ll have this great game.

Later on in the game, you get to see giant alien buildings in the over-world and they look amazing! The contrast between them and the green natural look is just jaw-dropping. But that’s not all. Once you find one of these, you’ll find inside of one of them a nifty gadget, a tool that lets you hack the robotic animals, but only if you successfully sneak up on it, making the game’s stealth system applicable to make life easier.

Some robots will fight on your side or even leave you alone when hacked, and some of the smaller ones could let you ride them into battle like a futuristic robot animal queen that Aloy is.

This game is brought to us by the Killzone creators, Gorilla Games, and this shows in some of the movements, but they have gone a great way away from that formula to give us this gem.

Sounds Good. What’s the Catch?!

Not a lot; with a game of this scale and overview, I only had a couple of gripes with it.

The inventory system isn’t as user-friendly as it should be while selling and buying. Just to make it simple, there is no “sort” option to help you organize.

The learning curve might be a bit steep for those who aren’t very keen on details; each animal acts differently and has different combat behavior.

There are lots of side-quests, but only some are interesting and coupled with a good reason or a story-based incentive.

Other than those couple of nit-picks, everything seems to be great in the game.

This Is My First Time Playing Horizon: Zero Dawn. What Should I Do?

There are a lot of tools you can use to make combat a bit easier or more tactical. For example:

• You can craft some traps and more unique ammunition for your bow.
• You can also get elementary charged arrows to hit weaknesses.
• You can use your Focus to spot weak points and natural hazards that can be used to help you out with a kill.
• Learn your enemies’ attack and movement patterns; this will make it a lot easier when planning an attack or a hunt.
• Take your time and try to sneak around your prey. Don’t Rambo your fight or you’ll die quite quickly.
• Use different ammunitions that you craft; you can always make more.

This has been my review of Horizon: Zero Dawn, one of the best open-world games this year! It’s friendly for both newcomers and old-school gamers. Practice, learn, and may your arrow always find its target!

Check out Horizon: Zero Dawn here.