Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition Review

Horizon Zero Dawn feels like it was conceptualised by a group of kindergarten children during playtime. ‘ROAR’ shouted Lambert standing on the table, “I am a giant robot T-Rex and I am going to fire my laser cannons at you!”

Horizon Zero Dawn is set in a post-apocalyptic world hunting robotic dinosaurs. It’s stupid but that is what makes it superb. I have never played anything like it, but I wish it embraced its outlandish concept and had a less serious tone. 

Guerrilla Games most recent PlayStation exclusive features protagonist Aloy- a social outcast in a native American/Celtic inspired world. There is an alluring mystery on how these robot dinosaurs came to be and how they have conquered their environment. It plays like typical open world game with an emphasis on defeating these magnificent beasts. 

After a few hours, the world map becomes full with an onslaught of objectives to complete. You have the typical bandit camps, where you can defeat human enemies through stealth or shooting. There are also cauldrons, which are optional machine factories for you to explore, and hunting trials which are short challenges against a time limit. The main missions and story are quite interesting and there are some fun twists and turns whilst revealing the origins of how this world became overrun with robots. It is surprising even to the last cutscene. 

Where Horizon really shines through its combat. The most fun I had was learning how to defeat each enemy. Aloy is not predator, but prey. To fight, you need to outwit the enemy, create traps, flee when spotted and exploit their weaknesses. It’s more about the player’s intelligence than the lead character being powerful. 

I was awestruck the first time I saw the mighty Thunderjaw, the T-Rex-equivalent, in the landscape. It was far larger than any of the other enemies I had fought so far. I did not want to go anywhere near it, so I avoided its trail. Coming back with new equipment and a strategy of how to fight larger enemies led to my first memorable victory against one. 

After fighting a few more, I learnt that the cannons on the side of its body could be shot off. They can then be picked up and are extremely effective when fired at their mechanical heads. There is a feeling of mastery, like I have grown as a player, through playing Horizon and improving my strategies. There is more to this game than simply levelling up, it is learning the tactics to defeat the wide array of enemies. This was the most satisfying part of the whole experience, studying the games systems and consistently taking down the more difficult and intimidating enemies. 

However, there are bumps along away. There is a big emphasis on stealth, which I feel does not correlate with the game’s design. Stealth is ineffective against the dinosaurs. The big scary ones will not lose much health through a stealth attack but doing one will alert them and all the enemies in the vicinity to your presence, forcing you to flee. It can be used against them but there is a massive risk for not much reward. Stealth tactics are much more useful against the human enemies, but their encounters do not add much to the gameplay. 

The bandit’s AI is less intelligent than the robotic enemies and their combat encounters feels less rewarding. The shooting is also imprecise. Often the reticle will be over an enemy and you will watch as your arrows fly straight past their heads. Sometimes I have had my position revealed due to arrows not following the reticle, which is so frustrating. Additionally, the game will sometimes prompt you to press R1 to do a stealth attack, only for Aloy to do a melee attack instead.

The humans AI is robotic and so are the side missions. Most feel like a generic “My brother went hunting and has not come back yet” sort of affair. Aloy vacantly agrees to help. Most boil down into scanning objects, finding a trail, and following it to the next thing to scan or to a combat encounter.

The Frozen Wilds expansion does begin to fix this, as most of the side missions here are more interesting and there are a few characters who even mock the bland NPCs in the main game. It makes me hopeful that the sequel adopts a more playful and humorous tone to alleviate the dissonance between quirky but fun concept and the world building.  

The inventory management and crafting systems are also poorly executed and tedious. If you mismanage you inventory you may end up in a situation where you must choose between resources needed to make ammo or a rare item drop from a dangerous enemy. The inventory slots fill up fast and to be frank I do not care if Aloy does not have the pocket space, these systems do not improve this game in any way. 

The Complete Edition also includes The Frozen Wilds expansion. This is big new region which has some of the most stunning visuals the game has to offer, as well as the most memorable mission content. It unlocks new weapons and skills so I would recommend playing the whole game with this content installed as it is the definitive way to play. 

Overall, Horizon Zero Dawn is at its best when it embraces its unique identity: being a game about hunting robot dinosaurs. It demands the player to learn the ins and out, the weak spots, the strategies, and mastering them is incredibly rewarding. It is bogged down by a serious tone, poor controls, and unnecessary inventory management.