Horizon Zero Dawn is a post-apocalyptic action adventure where you explore an overgrown landscape with now-crumbling remnants of modern life. Play involves exploring the world, learning your new abilities as the story unfolds and using them to defeat the robotic dinosaurs. It stands out for the scale and scope of its open world, along with a compelling story about parent-child relationships and the survival of civilisation.
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Horizon Zero Dawn plunges you into an overgrown landscape with now-crumbling remnants of modern life where animalistic machines have taken over. The exploration and combat don’t dwell on the downfall of the world, but there is an interesting undercurrent of self-annihilation that lingers as you play. It’s an impressive and enjoyable world to explore that says as much about humanity’s ability to survive as any direct narrative.
The combination of overblown disaster and sometimes simplistic solutions – such as the discovery of a small group of scientists with a plan to remake the planet – manages not to jar. It’s a game that invites you to find the resilience of life even in a catastrophe. Life goes on, maybe differently and haphazardly, but still finds a way to continue.
