HORIZON ZERO DAWN
Grow your own gameplay in Guerrilla’s organic RPG
Wild thing, you make our hearts sing. Even just looking at the robot-infested chasm before us is enough to set our explorer’s instincts ablaze. Grass shivers and shimmers in the wind. The day’s last light sparkles on the edges of mechanical raptors’ wings. It calls to us. What lies beneath the savage beauty of this open world, however, is something even more seductive: freedom. Clever quest design, combat options and endless ways to customise hunter Aloy – our every step in the latest demo of this action-RPG reveals depth. We shoulder our twisted metal bow and whizz across a ravine on a zipline (with our bare hands, no biggie). Momentum nearly takes us clattering straight into the hooves of a Tallneck. The weapon’s in our hands again in a flash – but in another flash, we remember previously taming and riding a Broadhead. Aloy’s staff serves many functions. More than just a simple melee weapon, it can hack into Horizon Zero Dawn’s machine creatures. We squint against the sun, up at the giraffe-esque contraption lumbering past us, and we wonder…
PRIMAL SPEAR
Then, in one fluid motion, Aloy follows our curious thumbstick’s push, sprinting off a cliff and monkeying up the Tallneck’s shoulder like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Be still, our beating hearts: it’s monster-rodeoing from Shadow Of The Colossus. She climbs higher, faster under our command, springing from her tippytoes to another handhold in the neck and fearlessly flinging her body outwards to swing on a vertebra. The Tallneck toddles onward, unawares.
Once Aloy hauls herself up and our feet are on solid noggin, we find we can indeed tap w to override the beast with our spear. But this time, it’s different: instead of becoming our new means of transport, the machine’s head blooms a holographic blue map of the surrounding area. Sparking electricity skitters across the ground as markers flag up points of interest. A moving, activity-unlocking objective? It’s certainly the most novel Ubisoft tower we’ve ever scaled. It continues on its slow lap of the area; we gaze out over the treetops in the direction of new quests.
Completing them grants XP to upgrade Aloy’s skill tree. There are three tiers: Forager (to find better materials for crafting and overriding), Prowler (keeping you even stealthier in tall grass and behind bosses’ backs) and Brave (for those who like hitting things with Aloy’s big hacky stick).
NINE TO THRIVE
Where we head first is up to us. We could chase the main narrative: hunt for the truth about Aloy’s origins and crusade to stop ‘corrupted’ machines from taking over. Tribe quests, in which our heroine engages in a bit of community service, are available too – as well as more emotional, personal stories to get wrapped up in.
But, eager to throw ourselves back into wrestling Watchers, we go for a third option. In the menu, we spot the ‘Create A Job’ prompt: Horizon Zero Dawn’s solution to all your crafting frustrations. Missing an essential resource? Select your desired drop, and a quest will be generated to gift you exactly what you need upon its completion. RIP, walkthroughs.
The only problem is deciding how we deck out the shadow sling we bought from a vendor back at Mother’s Crown. It catapults three types of pellets (we spin up a custom quest for components that’ll let us craft explosive ones) and, like many of Aloy’s weapons and outfits, it has three modification sockets. Boons that increase damage to armour, or extend range, can be looted and plugged right in to tailor our slingshot to our specific situation, playstyle or enemy. Eat our frost-resistant shorts, indeed.
We look out from the Tallneck at all the possibilities below – then jump, rappelling down to set off on the first custom-made adventure of many.