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Horizon Zero Dawn PC reviewBattering an iron ostrich to pieces never felt so good
Battering an iron ostrich to pieces never felt so good
If you’ve read anything I’ve had to say aboutHorizon Zero Dawnto date - and I’veeulogisedittwicealready - the tone of this review shouldn’t come as a surprise.
I knew the PC port would have to be either unplayable, or introduce an inexplicable wisecracking pelican as Aloy’s sidekick, to change my opinion of what’s probably my favourite ever action game. And so here we are. Despite a couple of hardware wiggles, and some tough moments with mouse and keyboard in a game shot through with PlayStation DNA, there is no pelican, andHorizon Zero Dawnis, for me, a very Bestest Best.
Beyond the wide range of display and graphical options in HZD’s PC port, there were a couple of small additions that made a world of difference. Firstly, the foliage now moves around Aloy as she scurries through it. I know that hardly seems like a fourth-paragraph-of-a-review thing to note. But Aloy does scurry through alotof foliage, spending half the game hiding from big whirring bastards in tall grass, and given the game’s plants - which looked so relaxing to begin with - now sway about and that, it’s just that bit more immersive.
Speaking of leaping gits, here be the first hurdle for HZD on PC: the controls. If you don’t have one, you should just buy a controller to play this. Full credit to Guerrilla Games and Sony for their efforts in creating a workable M&K control scheme, and I’ll admit that mouse aiming for precision bow shots was a treat. But however much I fiddled with the bindings, and even after a couple of hours to get used to them, I never truly felt the security of having every vital ability tucked safely under a digit.
And now here we are, through the long grass of technology, and out onto the wide open plain of what a lovely game this is. I won’t wax too lyrical, because I already blew 2,000 words of my load on the “quick post” I told Alice I’d write when rumours of HZD’s PC release started circling in January. But I’ll allow myself three paragraphs to summarise.
Now entering Beast Mode City, population: a massive electronic eagle.
Horizon Zero Dawn is a stirring, sad, good-hearted story, told in a unique science fiction setting whose lore manages that oh-so-rare feat of being up to the calibre of the artistic direction it’s tied to. And given the quality of HZD’s art, that’s no mean feat. The mechanical bestiary of this game is impressively varied, and every one of its entries is a masterclass in creature design. And while the electro-beasts are the big, blockbuster hook for the game, the wilderness they inhabit is no less stunning, and there are moments of inspired visual design even in the most mundane aspects of Aloy’s world.
Thefashion, for a start: Guerilla Games have had a right old think about how working, military and ceremonial garb might look if its makers had access to both natural materials and the components of ultra-tech machines, and so vegetable textiles, feathers and leathers are intermingled with LED cabling, weird polymer sheeting, and strange geometric scrap components. I’m not much of a clothes-knower, but when I get the time, I fully intend to write a picture feature on the very best outfits in this game.
Fashion! (From the digital art book provided with the game).
Bollocks: I’ve just spent one of my three permitted paragraphs of unbridled praise talking about trousers and stuff. But fuck it, the trousers are great. Although I should probably mention the story, as that’s what really hits me about this game. Yes, it has its share of forgettable writing to go with its moments of beauty, but I think that’s reasonable given the necessary immensity of a triple-AAA open-worlder’s script.
Good old Roast, looking uncannily like a weatherbeaten version of my mate Dave in this shot.
It’s notbadin that regard, per se, just a bit lacking in innovation, even for a game released originally in 2017. There’s also the sense that it was originally planned as more of an RPG. Gear customisation and trading are present, but basic, while cutscenes occasionally feature dialogue options that feel a bit like T-rex arms: curious, vestigial stubs of what might once have been something larger and more useful.
y tho?
OK, following this excursion into photo mode, I’m now sort of wishing Aloy did have a wisecracking sidekick, so long as it’s this guy.
As I said in my gargantuan hype piece, the game really sells the idea that Aloy is a hunter, as you really do find yourself needing to hunt, in order to scavenge dead roboes for bits with which to make new ammunition, and barter for things you need. Since a big mission will often require a self-prompted hunting trip for the purposes of stocking up, it often makes sense to take a diversion on the way to a new quest to do so, ganking some Metal Michaels and maybe clearing an icon or two while you’re there.
