The embargo is over and the verdict is in. Horizon Zero Dawn is yet another fantastic entry for the PlayStation 4. While we didn’t get a chance to review the title, a few other gaming websites did. Check out their review scores and what they had to say about the game below.
Horizon Zero Dawn releases for the PlayStation 4/PlayStation 4 Pro on Feb. 28, 2017. Can’t wait to finally get my hands on it. I think I’m going to be sick and have to call out from work… *cough*
On to the reviews!
Across a vast and beautiful open world, Horizon Zero Dawn juggles many moving parts with polish and finesse. Its main activity – combat – is extremely satisfying thanks to the varied design and behaviors of machine-creatures that roam its lands, each of which needs to be taken down with careful consideration. Though side questing could have been more imaginative, its missions are compelling thanks to a central mystery that led me down a deep rabbit hole to a genuinely surprising – and moving – conclusion.
Horizon Zero Dawn is a bit of a slow burn, but there’s more to Guerilla Games’ latest than just its staggeringly pretty graphics. The story surprises as it takes several twists and turns and explores the past, but the game’s beating heart is with its excellently tense and engaging robotic monster hunting.
Those duller moments are a footnote, however, and they did little to slow down the game’s momentum and my interest in it. Horizon Zero Dawn thrums with the energy of a creative team finally allowed to explore something new. It builds on elements of open-world and loot-and-craft gameplay that we’ve seen before, but it does so within a context, a setting and a style that feel fresh. Horizon Zero Dawn discovers a stronger sense of its own personality in one game than Killzone ever managed across half a dozen. Guerrilla Games has long been developing some of the most buzzed-about games in the industry; with Horizon, it feels like it has finally found its own voice, one worthy of all that buzz.
Horizon Zero Dawn is an early contender for game of the year. Guerrilla Games has outdone themselves, in astounding fashion. This is a glorious game, the result of a team of masterful artisans who not only had a story that they wished to tell, but a world that was living inside of them which they wanted to share with us all. Now, we get to play inside their creation, and it is a breathtaking experience to behold. A massive, open world filled with equally massive, terrifying robots, juxtaposed against the beauty of the Earth, nature fighting back the darkness as it tends to do. Horizon Zero Dawn is the kind of game you play to get lost in, and can be enjoyed by players of all types. This could be the beginning of a stellar franchise, and there is something for everyone here. If you own a PS4, you owe it to yourself to give Horizon Zero Dawn a go.
I was impressed with Horizon from the outset, my interest lagged a bit in the middle, but by the end I was a convert. This is a very cool universe with a genuinely likable new lead. Gameplay is excellent in most sections, and it avoids some irritating open world tropes like overloading players with substance-free side missions. There are some problems that reflect Guerrilla being new to this genre, but ultimately the good far outweighs the bad. It is a slightly disappointing that in many ways, Horizon does feel like a lot of other open-world games rather than being some crazy breakout new experience, but there is enough here between its story and robo-monster hunting gameplay that makes it unique. If you’re overloaded on open-world games, I don’t blame you, but Horizon is one of the better entries in the crowded genre, and it’s kind of cool to witness the birth of what’s probably going to be a pretty key franchise for PlayStation in the coming years. No, Horizon probably isn’t as monumental of an experience as playing Uncharted or God of War for the first time, but it’s well-made, engaging and probably worth your time.
Horizon Zero Dawn is a fascinating premise wrapped in a tortilla of tropes. It has detective vision, radio towers, skill trees, masked load screens (Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland gets no credit for popularizing this in 2005, by the way), and a world map littered with billions of points of interest — all stuff you’ve seen before. But after you set up and execute a cunning plan to decimate a pack of giant robot crocodiles and that smile hits your face, it’s more excusable.
Horizon: Zero Dawn has been a long time coming, but it is finally here and it does not disappoint at all. Featuring a likeable new protagonist in Aloy alongside a compelling story, the game will keep you invested, whether through the main story or even the countless side quests that add more lore to this intriguing world. Complete with a deep combat system and stunning visuals, Guerrilla Games has already raised the bar for exclusives this year with Horizon: Zero Dawn.
It’s been a long time since a game has been put together this well. The combat is awesome, the visuals are stunning, and Aloy is 100% badass. Go and buy this game!
This is first departure from the Killzone series for developer Guerilla Games, and though you might think the team took a risk by stepping out of its FPS comfort zone to create a third-person open-world action game, you’d never know it was their first rodeo. For every minor imperfection, there’s an element of greatness that recharges your desire to keep fighting and exploring Zero Dawn’s beautiful and perilous world. Guerilla Games has delivered one of the best open-world games of this generation, and redefined its team’s reputation in the process.
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