Welcome to my review of Horizon Zero Dawn! Horizon is a game made by Guerrilla Games, who previously made the Killzone series. This game is a big departure from Killzone, Horizon is an ambitious open world game unlike anything I've ever played before.
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With an absolutely beautiful open world Horizon pulls you in right from the get go. You play as Aloy, a female who has been outcast from the rest of the tribe as a child and raised by another outcast who is like a father to her. Her actual parents are nowhere to be found and this is just the beginning of the mysteries that the world of Horizon has to offer. As Aloy becomes an adult she loses her guardian and is left all on her own, so she decides to venture out of the safety of the enclosed tribe area and out into the open world. Out there she discovers there's a huge landmass of untold potential for her to explore.
Horizon's open world is not only huge, it's absolutely beautiful and so densely populated by landmarks, other tribes and a plethora of mechanical animals, you're not likely to get bored of it for a long long time. There are twenty-six different mechanical animals roaming the land, each with their own daily routines and behaviors. Some resemble animals we have today like bulls and deer, while some are like giant dinosaurs, towering over you. Upon first meeting some of these you will
Your main weapon is your bow, this can be upgraded along with your outfits and it has many different types of ammo giving you multiple different options for how you want to take enemies down. You can hack certain enemies and ride them all over the countryside giving you a quick and pretty fun way to get around in a hurry. As you explore the open world at your leisure, you will come across the remains of the old world. Decaying skyscrapers, busted bridges, all overgrown with thousands of years of plant life. That is essentially the games biggest mystery, what happened to civilization? Where did all the humans go, where did these mechanical animals come from? That combined with the awesome combat and exploration kept me playing this game for dozens of hours.
As you play through the game and start to unravel the mysteries it only becomes more compelling. Also, once you get strong enough to take down all of the hulking machines you feel like a true bad ass. This combined with the highly polished and dense open world, as well as the brilliant combat system this game truly stands out from all the rest. With the upcoming DLC, which gives you a whole new area to explore, I can't wait to jump back into Aloy's shoes. This is a game you should not miss out on. If you have a PS4 do yourself a favor and check out the remarkable game world of Horizon Zero Dawn. I give this game a grade of:
<center>**B+**</center>