Every once in a while, a game pops up and intrigues you because of its sheer lunacy. Horizon: Zero Dawn is that game for me. Revealed for the first time during E3 2015, this game grabbed my attention and didn’t let go, despite the fact that I didn’t understand what was going on or how it made a lick of sense.
It was the machines that threw me off. The vibe of the E3 gameplay demo was one of a post-apocalyptic world. Humanity seemed to have reverted to a prehistoric state in the demo, removed from the metropolitan civilization it once was. So humanity went back to being hunter-gatherers. OK…but what about those machine creatures?
The E3 gameplay demo showed the main protagonist, Aloy, hunting machines that look like deer for materials. She silences a Watcher, a lizard-looking machine, before it can alert the herd. As she nears the herd, she watches two T-rex-looking machines thud past before closing on her deer-machine prey. I took all this in with a mixture of confusion and awe. This looks awesome…but what in the holy hell am I seeing?
The amount of questions I had leading into this year’s E3 Sony conference was voluminous. They may not have been completely answered, but I now want this game even more.
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This year’s gameplay demo for Horizon: Zero Dawn barely fills in the details of last year’s demo. The exposition makes mention of the “old ones”, who are the modern-looking civilization that predated the era this game takes place in, and that the machines basically run the world. The demo also shows more of the combat and mechanics of the world. In it, Aloy stalks and battles some Shell-walkers, spider-looking transport machines, for components; “tame” a wildebeest-looking Broadhead by reprogramming it then using it as a mount; and fighting a Corruptor, an “ancient” mech that corrupts other machines. In each fight Aloy employs different strategies, scanning enemies, looking for weaknesses, and targeting soft spots. The enemies themselves have unique personalities and strategies of their own. The shell-walkers use forward-facing shield to defend themselves while attacking, and the Corruptors love jumping around, lashing at Aloy with its tail, and throwing objects at her.
Aloy has a wide range of weapons and items she can use during the combat. When fighting the shell-walkers and their tough exterior, Aloy uses hardpoint arrows. To prevent the Corruptor from jumping around, she uses a device that tethers the Corruptor to the ground, Just Cause-style. After scanning the Corruptor and discovering that it is weak to fire, she places an explosive trap on the ground, waits for the Corruptor to walk over it, then ignites it with a fire arrow. Tactical battles like these look awesome, and I’d love to see what other machines there are and how they can be combatted.
The world itself is beautiful. It looks very open and seems to be immense, meaning exploring it all will be a massive undertaking. All the character models, from Aloy to other humans to the machines themselves, are very detailed. The overall visual presentation is superb, and little details are present in everything, from the way the shell-walkers lumber under the weight of their cargo to the way the Broadhead struggles and stumbles to the ground as Aloy tethers him in place.
Horizon: Zero Dawn seems to ape the decision wheel style of communication with other people. There’s no telling from the gameplay demo if it will have dialog choices that will affect the story later.
After everything I’ve seen of this game during the latest demo, I’m still wondering about the premise. But my initial interest has increased exponentially, and I would love to be able to take control of Aloy and lay waste to machines! Horizon: Zero Dawn will release for the PlayStation 4 on February 28th, 2017. I absolutely cannot wait!
