Unless you’ve hidden yourself under a virtual rock, then you’ll have heard about how graphically pleasing this game is, but I haven’t personally seen so much talk about the actual gameplay.
Before I took the plunge and decided to purchase this game I hadn’t really read up too much on the storyline, but jumped in and bought it after seeing the great ratings most review sites had given the game.
To be fair, I knew that little, that I actually thought this was a sequel to another game!
Graphically beautiful
Let’s get the obvious out of the way as this is what gamers are taking about the most. I can’t argue that the graphics are stunning for both gameplay and cut scenes – it’s obviously pretty common to just have the great detail in the cut scenes and then gameplay is nothing special.
I don’t have a 4K TV, but I’d imagine this looks even cooler on a screen running 4K.
An engaging story
The story of Aloy being an outcast in a tribal-type land, striving to be accepted and become great is a little different to your average story. Set in this world are huge metal machines that are on the hunt for anyone who steps out of line (Aloy obviously being one of them), using your bow and arrow as well as a host of other weapons to take sown these machines results in collecting a range of items to use as you progress.
Metal Shards are the currency that allows you to purchase new weapons, outfits and modifications throughout the world – these shards are gathered from the large machines you defeat.
Challenging boss-fights
No game is complete without a decent boss fight. Horizon Zero Dawn is no exception. Some may not class the larger machines as boss fights, but in my mind if an enemy takes a lot more hits than others you encounter, then they could be considered a boss.
I’m playing the game on normal difficulty at the moment, and I’ve encountered machines that have proved a decent challenge with several attempts to defeat them.
A wealth of weapons
Once you have learned what it takes to be a true warrior, you are equipped with a staff and a bow and arrow providing hunter arrows to begin with. At this point 10 hours into the game, I have been able to use fire arrows, shock arrows, explosive traps, and exploding ice bombs. This is just a taste of what I believe will be available in the game.
Making use of the PS controller speaker
I’m the type of gamer that is fairly easy to impress if a game throws in a small gimmick that makes it stand out that little, for example the origami insert that came with every copy of Heavy Rain on the PS3 which explained how to fold the paper whilst waiting for the game to install.
Near the beginning of the game Aloy (the main character) receives something called a Focus. Pressing L3 changes her view on the world allowing her to analyse objects that the naked eye is unable to see. When in use, there are sounds that come from the PlayStation controller, which for me is a cool little feature that should be made use of in more games.
My overall thoughts
At this point, I’m really enjoying the game, although I have realised that it’s going to be a pretty long game having finished less than 10% progression at this point!
This is one 3rd person RPG any PS4 fan has to play.
