I did a review the other day of Star Wars Outlaws and I hated it. It was second hand and took it right back and swapped it for Horizon Forbidden West. I got right into Forbidden West, but then found this was the second part of the Horizon games.
From what I was told, it was worth playing Zero Dawn first, for the story. I ordered it from a place in the UK and it took ages to arrive in the post. This was annoying, as I carried on playing Forbidden West.
When Zero Dawn finally turned up, I put it on, but it was a step backward. The gameplay was really good, but it just had things missing. Very soon in the second game, you get a glider. This was not in the first game. I have found this frustrating as I jump off cliffs.
I’m digressing a little, let me tell you about Horizon Zero Dawn and the story of Aloy.
The Story
It’s many years in the future and the world has been devastated. Humans live in scattered tribes and live in fear of machines. Mostly they don’t attack, but something is causing the machines to get bolder and more dangerous.
You can describe the machines as dinosaur-like robots. Some of them are pretty awesome when you first see them. Aloy, the main protagonist is armed with bows and arrows. It’s better than it sounds, she has fire, ice, and other specialty arrows and bombs, that can disable the machines.
We meet Aloy when she is only 6 years old. She is an outcast, raised by her adoptive father, Rost. Both live outside of a tribe and are shunned, it’s forbidden for anyone to talk to them. The main reason is that Aloy doesn’t have a mother.
Aloy gets lost one day and ends up in the ruin of the ‘old ones’, the humans from the past. She finds a Focus, which seems to connect to videos from the past. It might also help her find her mother.
The Proving
One of the members of the tribe, who originally found Aloy, says she can take part in the Proving. This is where young ones can prove themselves in a trial. The winner of the trial can have any question answered, Aloy wants to know where she came from.
She obviously wins the Proving, but is then attacked by other outlanders. Surviving this she’s shown where she was found. She never had a mother, as she was found inside a ruin, with nothing by machines in it.
After the Proving, Aloy leaves the area to track down the truth of who she is. The story opens up to new places and people. Including a place called Meridan, which holds the key of her past, and the future of humans on Earth.
Why Can’t Movies Do This?
I have only given you the tip of the iceberg of the story of Horizon Zero Dawn, but honestly, it’s so engaging! I have plowed through the game, just to see how the story unfolds. There are twists and turns, which all make sense and are told so well.
I was honestly sitting there, gobsmacked in places, as the story opens up. There are good guys, bad guys, mysterious characters and more. Every time I had an hour or three to kill, I would head back into the game to find out what happened.
It’s so strange to me that some movies tell stories that make zero sense. The Substance, for example, is a great film, with brilliant acting and fantastic special effects. However, the story makes no sense when you break it down, even on a surface level.
Instead, the storytelling in Horizon has been just so well done. It’s engaging, I’m invested in Aloy and I couldn’t wait to find out what happens.
I’m In Virtual Love
OK, so Aloy is a girl, she’s a strong, independent woman, but not in a ‘modern audience’ way. Her character is really interesting and I really liked her.
I had heard they had reworked the look of Aloy, from the original PlayStation 4 game in 2017 to the Forbidden West, and the remaster of Zero Dawn. I can’t see much different to be honest.
Aloy isn’t the hottest female game character ever, that’s still Lara Croft, even with her triangle boobs. I liked Aloy though because her look is very ‘girl next door’, which makes her hotter. She’s someone that I stood a chance with.
As her character arc opens up, she honestly becomes more loveable. She’s humble, she’s kind (well, I played her kind) and she’s just interesting. Think of Rey Palpatine and then imagine the complete opposite…that’s Aloy.
Gameplay
I’m a very casual gamer and I knew this focused on the bow and arrows. I was a little worried that I couldn’t hit virtual water if I was stood on a virtual boat. The good thing is that there are settings that help.
There is Aim Assist and things like that. There is also Concentration, where you can slow time to take aim. Again, in the settings, you can slow time to a greater extent to help you out. Basically, the game can be as hard as you would like to play it.
The levelling is nicely done, including upgrading weapons. As for any game like this, it’s hard work to get any good weapons at first. Now I’ve finished it, I have every legendary weapon and they are all maxed out.
Buying Stuff
The one thing I found about Horizon Zero Dawn was the vendors in the game are pretty limited. As you progress, you get different people selling different stuff. As you get to the end of the game, pretty much everyone sells the same thing.
I was only annoyed by this because, in Forbidden West, the vendors are different. I found myself trying to remember who sold what, which I liked.
As I said, at first, you have no Shards (the money) and you can’t afford anything. As you progress, that opens up. Now I’m level 55 (out of 60), I have everything I need and way too much money.
You can start a Plus Game, which carries your inventory over with you to a new game. This is a nice touch.
Overall
I paid £40 for Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and I have had many, many happy hours of gameplay. There’s still an expansion pack to play through and loads of side quests to complete. I really got my money’s worth out of it.
I’m not one for multiplayer games, I have no friends and I don’t want to be constantly killed by some kid in China. Horizon Zero Dawn is a perfect single-player game. There’s loads to explore, there’s an amazing story and I had a lot of fun playing through it.
There is still Forbidden West to play through, and I finally finish that story, and I can’t wait. If you like sandbox games, lots of exploring, and finding hidden things, you will love the Horizon games.
