Welcome to the Zero Dawn. Following the disappointing Killzone: Shadow Fall, Guerrilla Games are back with their first entry in the open-world RPG genre and knock it out of the park for all intents and purposes. Featuring the breath-taking Decima engine, Horizon is one of the better open world games of recent times and is nothing short of an audio-visual tour de force.
The game centers around the coming of age for young Aloy, your typical teenage protagonist wit
h a dark and mysterious past and solely tasked with discovering the secrets of the world. However, don’t let the above discourage you, the game features multiple twists and turns and the story beats ooze Kojima’s influence prominently.
The game play, the meat and bones if you will, do not disappoint either. To put it bluntly, the game is Far Cry: Primal in third person, however the smooth frame rate and fluid combat mechanics make traversing the world a joy. Melee combat may disappoint some due to it’s overly simplistic light/heavy nature, however there are enough upgrade mechanics to let the player mix and match both close and ranged combat.
While it may be overshadowed by the latest Zelda installment, Horizon: Zero Dawn stands tall on it’s own merits and highlights a positive change of pace for the as-of-yet rote Guerrilla Games.
