Review of the game horizon zero dawn ps4. Review of Horizon Zero Dawn

Literally everyone I know who has played (or is playing now) Horizon: Zero Dawn, went along the same path, on which they had to experience a wide variety of feelings - from puppy childish delight to disappointment. But in the end, they all comprehended Zen. This path has not passed us. We offer you a brief retelling of its main milestones, because the new PlayStation 4 exclusive is really worth a closer look - it is predicted to be the headliner of the platform. Sony sleeps and sees how the red-haired Aloy becomes the face of the console instead of the thief Nathan Drake.

Step one: expectations

It is very important to remember how we perceived the first news related to the gameplay of Horizon: Zero Dawn, what expectations and fears arose initially. The game story revolves around a post-apocalyptic world in which humanity has rolled back to the early Middle Ages, and individual tribes to the primitive communal system. But at the same time, not only animals, but also very strange robo-dinosaurs graze in the fields, in the forests and jungles of the once human world, recaptured by nature.

The developers from Guerrilla promised a huge open world in which your protagonist Aloy, who grew up as an outcast, but unexpectedly received the status of a "seeker", will have to do traditional Action / RPG activities - finding and killing villains, hunting and gathering. Many saw this as secondary, simply copying the ideas of the Far Cry and Assassin's Creed series. Gradually, posting new videos with gameplay, the creators of the game were able to convince us that the project still has potential, and, fortunately, lived up to expectations. But let's talk about everything in order.

Step Two: Reality

We have to admit that the level of graphics and design of the environment in Horizon: Zero Dawn at first leaves you sitting at the TV screen with your jaw dropped. An amazing combination of the remnants of a long-dead civilization and the riot of nature, inexorably absorbing everything that was once created by human hands, made it possible to diversify the general plans as much as possible. Designers were not too lazy in working with trifles. The game is virtually invisible "copy-paste", which sins most of the open worlds. Juicy colors, the smoothness of the movement of foliage that the wind sways - all this makes you stop at first and admire the landscapes for a long time, study the skeletons of cars and buildings overgrown with lianas, trying to understand what it was like at a time when the word "man" still sounded proudly.

The sound in the game, on the contrary, causes mixed feelings. If the rustles, squeaks and roars of the world around you can still make you confidently say “I believe!”, Then you want to turn off the soundtrack after a few hours of playing. Mournful, not much catchy melodies do not create an atmosphere, but rather spoil it. A strange glitch especially hits the ears, associated with the transition of musical themes that sound during the action into calm, background compositions. It seems that the game often "forgets" to switch them on time.

The animation deserves a special mention. This is where they really messed up. Representatives of living fauna - a variety of wild boars, foxes and rabbits - are simply good. But look how Aloy moves! And especially look at the plasticity of robo-dinosaurs. Sometimes it seems that they are more alive than creatures of flesh and blood.

Probably the main "trick" of the game is hunting for robo-dinosaurs. Each of their species is unique, each has strengths and weaknesses and striking features in behavior. One of the weakest iron beasts can still be stupidly thrown with arrows. Perhaps it will be possible to cope, swinging a spear, with two or three robo-horses. But when you have to fight a pack of little things (and this happens all the time) or engage in a duel even with one powerful opponent, “clicking” does not work at all. The fact is that cyborg animals have strong enough armor, they can be seriously damaged only by getting into vulnerable places, and using certain, elemental weapons: someone quickly burns in a flame, for someone electricity is a particular danger.

Initially, most monsters are really strong and dangerous opponents. Shooting surreptitiously, setting traps, circling around monsters in the dance of death, you methodically, destroying one “organ” after another, deprive them of their advantages. Did you manage to break the napalm flask hidden on your back? This means that the animal will no longer be able to spit fire. Did you manage to hit an inconspicuous point in the underbelly? The monster suddenly forgot how to make rapid jerks. And so - to the bitter end.

Horizon: Zero Dawn doesn't follow the casual lead. Fast movement around the map requires resources here, saving can only be done at certain points, near the fires. Even on the average difficulty level, you will most likely replay the same battles several times more than once, cursing yourself for having hesitated during the battle for just a couple of seconds.

Let's say more - this is one of those few games in which, after returning to the starting location after long wanderings around the world, you will not feel like a god capable of turning off opponents with a snap of your fingers. And if you try, your fingers will be bitten off very quickly. It is likely - along with the hands and head.

Step Four: Disappointment

And yet, the game does not live up to the status of "masterpiece", which is entrenched in Uncharted. Let me remind you once again that Sony has repeatedly emphasized that the game about the adventures of the red Aloy in the world of robo-dinosaurs will be the successor to the amazing, but already completed saga about the thief Nathan Drake.

We are almost sure that your fourth step will almost certainly be a slight (and for some, not so easy) disappointment. Despite all the prettiness and interestingness, Horizon: Zero Dawn sins with very unforgivable conventions for a AAA product. A world with a life of its own? We laugh in the face of designers. Go into any settlement and dance a passionate tarantella with a tambourine on the head of any passerby - he won’t even lead with his ear. Shoot a quiver of arrows at the merchant - he will continue to mindlessly stare at you with the face of a de-energized android. There are practically no destructible objects in the game: despite the bright colors, you soon begin to realize that they are painted on plastic and cardboard models.

And of course in certain moment you will get tired of the endless "give-bring". Practice shows that satiety occurs at the 20th hour of the game. On the one hand, this is an achievement (few projects are capable of this). But on the other hand, the very fact that the game does not “hold” until the final is an indicator that they did not make it.

Next rising star onPS4.

The PlayStation 4 has never seen a game like Horizon: Zero Dawn. Okay, the platform has already seen big open games, for example, with The Witcher 3 and dragon age: Inquisition, but Horizon: Zero Dawn is likely to be remembered better than the previous ones.

Yes, we think she's so good.

This is purely our opinion, because while the game is not without flaws - at this stage the game is quite buggy, for example, it can collapse during a boss fight, an incredibly frustrating experience - it does a lot of other things right.

The game's characters are memorable. The story is confusing and then reveals itself incredibly towards the end. The combat system is brutal, almost every enemy can eventually kill you, fights are never repeated. Even the open world built by Guerrilla Games: big, complex and unique.

Obviously, this description is not enough to prove the uniqueness of the game, we will look at all the nuances further in the Horizon: Zero Dawn review, however, already now the game feels like it will become the next Uncharted - a staple in the collection of any PS4 owner.

Mysticism in response to engineering

Some of the appeal of the game quite obviously comes from the environment. You play as Aloy, an outcast girl who lives in a post-post-apocalyptic world where self-replicating mechanical dinosaurs are the main target of the hunt for scrap metal and parts. And while this concept may seem different to you from anything in the past, game process seems familiar and welcoming.

However, Horizon: Zero Dawn is set in a surprisingly strange time and place. You see mechanized creatures that roam the surface of the world and yet in most parts of the world the inhabitants look like people from early human eras.

Most people from the Eloi (Nora) tribe live in huts, use spears and believe that the robots were sent to cleanse the world of sin. Their neighbors (Karzha), sun worshipers, believe that machines can be used to restore humanity, but knowledge is not enough for this, they live in clusters of clay houses under the hot desert sun. There is also the Shade of Karzh, a faction that broke away from the tribe with the death of the last emperor, now living uncontrolled in the western part of the game world.

You will visit the villages of these tribes from time to time to complete different side quests or buy a new weapon, but most of the game you will spend on life on the loose and fighting in a huge open and full of mysteries of the world. And if it seems to you that something is constantly happening behind the scenes of the main plot, you will be right, it is so - in the literal sense.

At the beginning of the game, Aloy, a small, brave, curious and smart girl, finds herself in a cave filled with old electronics. This is a research lab from our time where she begins to learn about the Old Race (that's us). It is here that she will discover the Focus, a multifunctional tool from the technological era that allows you to scan objects, look for weaknesses and interact with relics from a bygone technological era.

You'll soon meet Rost, Ela's protector and surrogate father. The relationship that forms between the two characters sets the pace for the entire game - friendly yet mysterious. It is Growth that will teach Aloy how to hunt and extract resources from prey, it will also shape the moral perception of the world by Aloy. And the question of who is Aloy's mother corrodes her from the inside and becomes the main motivation for leaving the house and plunging into the dangers of an unpredictable open world.

Metal Age

And while questions about who is Aloy's mother may form the basis of the game's story, there are two more questions to be clarified: why the once-docile machines are becoming more and more aggressive in recent times and how did the machines come to dominate?

It's impossible to answer any of these questions until you uncover the storyline, and formulating your own theories about this is one of the most interesting aspects of the game.

So let's change the subject and talk about the stars of the show: the cars. In the game you will find a crazy amount of biomechanical variety for hunting, control or your own death, the world of Horizon: Zero Dawn is cruel.

The creatures you encounter at the beginning of the game seem simple at first glance - robotic raptors called Watchers alert surrounding creatures to your presence. There are also mechanical antelopes, herbivores, but they quickly transform into more wild forms. By the end of the game, you are fighting Thunderjaws (a robotic version of the Tyrannosaurus rex equipped with lasers and drones) as well as Deathbringers (Heralds of Death) on a regular basis.

And while any robotic animal is not directly related to any element or element, many of them use the elements - Glinthawks, for example, mechanical birds of prey, are equipped with ice canisters on their chests that allow them to throw chunks of ice from above. Understanding which element (fire, electricity, ice) the machine uses is extremely important to know. This is where Focus comes into play.

The device embedded in Aloy's face is much more than just a "trick" - it allows her to scan the weak points of machines. You may have seen similar mechanics in games like Batman: Arkham Asylum and similar action clones implemented in last years, but the main difference is that using Focus prevents Aloy from doing anything else. This means that she cannot move, fight, navigate the terrain. Knowing when to stop and scan the enemy plays an important role in your combat strategy.

In this regard, the end battle, as a rule, develops with monstrous speed and dynamics: you do everything possible to avoid projectiles, dodge enemy close attacks, occasionally catching the moment when you can take a shot yourself. Considering that your enemies are huge monster robots, it is not surprising that they easily and quickly overwhelm you with fire, so best protection in most scenarios, set up traps - snares or tripwires - to disable or damage the machines before they get too fast.

The final piece of the puzzle is the crafting system, which we found deep enough to intelligently research and invest resources without experiencing over or under resource issues. You must keep your character ready to fight in full gear - enemies may require huge amount damage before they cease to pose a threat. This means that you will have to spend some time looking for food, equipment and equipment, although the shortage of necessary resources is rare and this is not the main problem.

The whole experience may seem overwhelming at first glance - looking for enemies, scanning for weak spots, preparing (finding) ammo, setting traps, and then fighting from a distance - but by the middle of the game, you'll get comfortable enough that these activities become second nature.

As for the mission structure, this is an open world game where you can always take on any task at any time. So that you cannot get ahead of yourself before the main storyline However, Horizon: Zero Dawn uses some light RPG elements.

There is a level system and a traditional skill tree, but you can never choose and limit a character to specific attributes. Each level, you get a new skill in the tree and 10 extra points for attributes. The system avoids the downright frustrating leveling of a character who can't survive the later levels of the game. Doing additional side quests or exploring the surrounding area will help speed up the leveling, obviously, but they are not absolutely necessary if you decide to follow the story strictly.

A daring (and beautiful) new world!

So far, we've carefully avoided talking about what Horizon: Zero Dawn looks like. There is a reason for this: we do not want to lavish praise on a work of art, it is difficult to find worthy epithets, because in front of you is a real work of art, without exaggeration.

Another reason is that we spent the entire time reviewing Horizon: Zero Dawn in 4K HDR on the PlayStation 4 Pro - a great option if you have this console.

However, we think the game looked stunning 95% of the time. There were a few areas - usually in caves - where the textures were too dark for us to appreciate the game's visuals, but the cutscenes and dialogue always looked great. A high-quality TV or, more likely, the all-powerful PlayStation 4 Pro is to be thanked.

We want to point out that the game will look great on any screen, but we have some caveats. Given that we'd like to spend more time playing Horizon in combination with another TV and PS4 before wrapping things up, we don't have that option. For this reason, we will limit ourselves to the following verdict: the game is aesthetically interesting, no matter what console you play on and what resolution is available to you, the experience is guaranteed.

Verdict: Play now!

Even when the impression subsided, I want to say that Horizon: Zero Dawn is great. This is the first must-have game of 2017 and will definitely be in contention for the Game of the Year award.

Among the few complaints that can be made is the game's story - especially at the beginning - which feels a bit formulaic, and boss fights are almost always too difficult, even on easy difficulty levels. The camera seems too close for a comfortable distance, especially if you're already locked in a tight space (caverns) and the weapon selection should have been more varied. There are occasional occasional glitches here and there, we even encountered a badly synchronized voiceover - but the developer is already working on it and promises to fix it.

These are all small things and frivolous complaints, the game makes an outstanding impression, whether it's presentation or gameplay. We recommend Horizon: Zero Dawn to everyone.

It's time to evaluate the game - the project is completed, the map is cleared, the platinum cup is in your pocket and emotions have settled down, giving way to drier impressions. Why not a perfect time to take stock? That's what it's all about. Probably, to make the story more interesting, some information blocks will overlap with the preview, but I will try not to repeat myself as much as possible, so familiarization with the past material is definitely recommended. However, this is unlikely to stop fans from looking only at the numbers from their favorite scheme.

Perhaps the main factor that did not allow me to sum up the final result for the release of Horizon: Zero Dawn was that at that time I had not yet completed the story, although I had overcome more than 80% of the game as a whole. Perhaps, if there had been another game on our operating table, such progress would have been quite enough, but the Guerrilla Games project still managed to surprise even at the last ~20%, and surprise thoroughly.

At the beginning of the game, many things are not clear to us and the main question is not what fate awaits Aloy, but how the world has rolled from the pinnacle of technological development into the abyss of primitive superstition. The heroine is certainly pretty, but she does not gush with charisma. However, the developers compensated for this shortcoming with another characteristic - mystery. From the first minutes of the game, we are presented with a child who is almost cursed by his own tribe, who is hated for no reason and is expelled just as incomprehensibly for what. Fortunately for her, the outcast warrior Rast takes over the burden of education, whose mystery is also a little intriguing, causing the same questions - why was he expelled? After a couple of hours of play and dialogues between the characters, the intrigue settles, because before us are obtuse and religious people acting on the basis of signs that they themselves do not understand, which the priests interpret for their not-so-reasonable flock.

This impression is partly true and will accompany the player through many hours of adventure. Even Aloy herself repeatedly mocks the religiosity of her fellow tribesmen and representatives of other tribes, trying to explain to them that a person is the blacksmith of his own happiness and future. Sometimes successful. But even here everything turns out to be not so simple, when the plot crosses the equator and the scriptwriters begin to reveal the maps of the game world to us, one by one, gradually. This not only brings back to life the intrigue that was dying, but also thoroughly pumps it.

Of course, I will refrain from spoilers and summarize the scenario of the game as follows: it is not without holes that are somewhat mended as you progress, but it is quite unique, able to keep the player at the screen until the very credits and impress with many of its ideas. Especially the answer to the very main question - how did human civilization fall a thousand years ago. The writers of Guerrilla Games have not been working in vain all these years of developing Horizon: Zero Dawn - although they failed to fill the game world with a variety of tasks and make exciting dialogues with secondary characters, they managed to create an excellent concept and adequately explain most of the decisions that seem strange. For example, the emergence of robots, their animal habits, the ability to reproduce themselves and much more.

With its world concept and disaster story, Horizon: Zero Dawn is like a light and pleasant breeze in the field of post-apocalyptic gaming stories. Akin The Last of us. Here, everything does not seem hackneyed and banal, as in typical "zombie apocalypse". But I did not just focus on game stories, because such ideas have already flashed in various books. For example, something similar in terms of the base was in Dan Simmons' Hyperion, although there was no post-apocalypse there. Readers will surely catch a couple of parallels, and those who have not read should urgently correct this sad gap in literary education.

This game also introduces some innovations in terms of the process in which the player is carried away. The main core here is an excellent combat system, which is based on elements found in different games, but confidently stands out among his colleagues in the shop. Archery here evokes associations with tomb raider , but it is implemented a cut above. This is due to the fact that the bow is the main combat tool of our heroine and the developers have polished his work to a shine. Aloy's work with traps and the rope launcher, a special tool for shackling opponents, can remind the player of monster hunter, where there are also powerful opponents that it is desirable to immobilize. But the implementation of the fettering mechanics here is peculiar and tailored for the fast combat system of the game, which requires the player to make quick decisions, rather than planning on the go.

Speed ​​is speed, but the developers have not forgotten about tactics either. Actually, thanks to this, the combat system stands out like a polar star. Already one abundance of shells for several variations of the combat bow provide at least five approaches to the battle with opponents. And three types of traps, a quick-firing needle gun, stale air weapons, and a rope launcher increase them in arithmetic progression, allowing each player to develop their own approach to opponents. Run from opponents, luring them into traps? Hit on the sly and hide? Spread from a bow, keeping a distance? Freeze and provide 200% pure damage? Take over control and force the mighty thunderbird or petrel to fight on your side, literally grinding other cars? All this is available, and even more.

Among the side quests, funny dialogues can also be found. Well voiced in Russian.

Battles and exploration of the world, travel through huge map with multiple climate zones in search of quests, hidden secrets and treasures, are the main components of the Horizon: Zero Dawn gameplay. Alas, with research, not everything is as wonderful as with the combat system, but here the developers walked along the path trodden by others - they made many points for fast travel so that players could, having once visited the region, move back bypassing long runs. Or rides on riding robots. The map is really huge, but there is simply no need to return to many of its corners. However, the side quests justify its size, as the natural progression will take players to every sector of the map.

I am very pleased with the presence of a photo mode in the game. It works even during most cutscenes (but you can't control the camera in them).

I spoke about the technical implementation in some detail in the preview, but I repeat - it surprised me. I did not expect that on a regular PlayStation 4, given the existence of the Pro version, the developers will honestly squeeze out everything possible to ensure a comfortable frame rate. Horizon: Zero Dawn is virtually devoid of significant drawdowns, and most of the shortcomings are in the "found in every open world game" category. Among them: foot dips in the textures of mountain peaks, invisible textures closer to the edges of the map, poor lip sync with speech, outlandish hair behavior, strange shadows. But errors like enemies that fell into the ground, as I had in a battle with a petrel (from the preview), I no longer met.

On February 28, 2017, the massive open-world action/RPG Horizon: Zero Dawn will be released. Plus another high-profile event in the industry over the past month. The project is expected and promising. It has an interesting story concept and decent implementation in terms of overall quality. This generally applies to graphics, features, quests, music. Now that there are plenty of open-world RPGs out there, the Horizon: Zero Dawn universe is still getting interesting. There is a desire to study it deeper, to find out what is the essence of the confrontation between human tribes and robotic animals. Just the other day, Guerrilla Games lifted a strict embargo on journalistic reviews. Game resources received full version games for reviewing. Let's take a comprehensive look at their new offspring.

Not so long ago, an article was already written with the announcement of the project, the first information about the plot, the quality rating according to the official and beta versions. And now the decisive hour has come. Ready game and a portion of fresh impressions. As always, in order.

Plot of Horizon: Zero Dawn

The player meets a harsh post-apocalypse. And this is not some typical world with ruins after a nuclear disaster. Although the main writer is John Gonzales, who came up with Fallout 3 New Vegas. No, it's much deeper than that. Thousands of years have passed since the death of the forerunner civilization (as our contemporaries are called here). Apparently, they were killed by technology. The earth is now inhabited by animal robots of various types, up to huge monsters. People also remained on it, but the level of development of their civilization is low and they are very scattered. Some tribes live according to the primitive system of the Stone Age, others have developed the state system a little more. The most advanced nations have some technology and developed politics, but still, this is the maximum level of the Middle Ages. There are few memories of the forerunner era, only ancient fossilized remains, which people simply cannot explore. It already feels like a serious scenario, doesn't it?

The main character of the game is the huntress Elloy. She was born into a tribe of pagans who worshiped the Great Mother (meaning nature), From the very birth she was made an outcast. These are special members of society with whom others are forbidden to communicate and are expelled from the village. It happened because of some misconduct of the parents, which Ella has yet to learn about. She lives alone far from the village and since childhood has been learning all the skills necessary for survival from another outcast named Rust. He is much older, experienced in many things. Rust became the girl's father and mentor. By the age of majority, she is already an excellent hunter, not afraid of robotic beasts and able to survive in extreme situations. She decides, by all means, to go through initiation into her native tribe and save him from the impending great danger. This is the plot of the story for more than 30+ hours of the main plot alone. With side quests, this number can be safely doubled.

Outcome. And from the plot, and in the course of the entire development of the storyline, it is clear that this is the work of professional screenwriters. The plot here is by no means just an excuse for action and quests. It is interesting to watch him, you empathize with the characters. Cut scenes and scripted videos on the game engine are staged perfectly. Some veterans of games and films with similar plots may find the plot twists too predictable. But still, top notch.

Horizon: Zero Dawn Graphics

Guerrilla Games has never skimped on graphics when creating their PS exclusives. That Killzone 2 on Playstation 3 squeezed out very beautiful graphics, that the third Killzone on PS4. But those were corridor first-person shooters, and how are things with role play in a huge The answer is unequivocal - no worse. Great detail, textures high definition(1080p for PS4, 4K for PS4 Pro version), amazing scenery and light reflections. The developers have said they want to make the most beautiful PS4 exclusive to date. And partly it succeeded. Even the facial animations in scripted story cutscenes don't look as clumsy as they do in other RPGs, to say nothing of everything else. The environment of forests, mountains and fields, as if referring to Far Cry Primal. There's a lot in common. The animation of movements, battles and acrobatics is beautifully done.

Outcome. Console exclusives often try to show off the full power of their platform. And this is just the case. On PS4 Pro, the picture is simply gorgeous.

Gameplay Horizon: Zero Dawn

The gameplay of Horizon: Zero Dawn contains all the elements of a great RPG in open world. The player will have to complete story quests, collect resources, upgrade numerous skills, and explore a huge map. In its type, the gameplay is reminiscent of the third Witcher. But here it is much more interesting to walk around the map just like that. This world is truly alive and beautiful. You believe in him.

You have to fight not only with powerful animal robots, but also with people. Humanity is incorrigible. No matter how few people and peoples inhabit the Earth, there will always be reasons for wars. Naturally, the approach to the destruction of machines and people is completely different. The combat mechanics of the game are varied. You can use stealth or try to go ahead. You also have to climb a lot of rocks and ledges. By the way, if in games like Assassin's Creed new places for a hook are highlighted or indicated as something else, then everything needs to be determined by eye. And this is good. Does not spoil the atmosphere.

At some point in the game, Elloy will find a special device called a visor. From this point on, the gameplay will change significantly and acquire unique features. Now she can learn the properties of all objects, read traces, look through walls, see the weak points of robotic beasts, and much more. The subject of high technologies of the future (in this context, probably the past) on the head of a primitive huntress is an unusual approach. Immediately opens up a lot of space for stealth strategies and other quest-facilitating solutions.

Outcome. At its core, classic Open World RPG gameplay with a number of interesting features. Implemented perfectly.

Soundtrack

This part was also ignored. Unlike no less, the music was not left here as a simple motive in the background. She sometimes gets goosebumps, emphasizing dramatic moments, tension, anxiety, fear. In addition, the game has excellent Russian localization and voice acting (which is rare lately),

Outcome. They didn’t even forget about this part and made it at the highest level.

Conclusion

The gaming press, as before, mainly evaluates the game as “good” and “very good”. And here it is impossible not to agree with the opinion of the majority. It objectively does not have any weaknesses or significant shortcomings. Beautiful, big, interesting. Whether she will become the “face of PS4” is still too early to judge, but there are all the prerequisites for that. If you are the owner of Playstation 4, and even better PS4 Pro, then it is definitely recommended to play.

Still at the announcement stage Horizon: Zero Dawn seemed like a dark horse to me.
There was very little information about the game - we knew that it would be Action RPG in an open world where the main opponents are mechanized creatures, and the action takes place in the world of the future, in which people in their existence "rolled back" to primitive society, while retaining some of the technology of the previous time.

In addition, to developers from "Guerrilla Games" I have always had a versatile attitude, because their games have always been beautiful, but empty, after passing which, for the most part, nothing was stored in the memory, but this is just my subjective opinion.

There was a fear that the whole game would slide into thoughtless battles with cars and running around in a beautiful, but stingy on details and tasks open world, without a decent plot and further incentive to be in this world.

Is it really so? This is what we have to find out, having analyzed in detail each aspect separately.

1. Plot and characters.

Characters immediately catch the eye, whose characters and motives are revealed one-sidedly and in some places even mediocre. Of the entire galaxy, only one can be singled out Eloy, her mentor rasta acting as a caring guardian and Silence- the mysterious companion of the main character, because his person gives rise to many questions: Who is he? Why here? What are his motives? Is he dangerous?

The other characters are basically unremarkable. Valorous warriors, hot-tempered army commander Erend, young king Avad, trying to right his father's mistakes, formulaic villain and stuff like that.

I was very annoyed by the general admiration for the main character. She is chosen, special, the best, the most beautiful and kind. In the modern realities of the art industry, such as literature, cinema and video games, slightly different postulates operate. It is important to reveal the character from different perspectives, showing the dark side and the light side - this strengthens the emotional connection between the player and the character, but if we have only one side, then we essentially have nothing to compare.

Chosenness has long ceased to be a criterion for determining the character of the protagonists. There are a number of exceptions in which, at first glance, an ordinary technique is transformed into something more, deep and interesting, as an example - "The Last Of Us", but there the whole point lies precisely in the thoughtful work on the characters, placed in a completely standard plot outline.

Paradoxically, having characters at their disposal, "revealed" in this way, the writers manage to create a good intrigue, which is maintained throughout the story missions. This effect is achieved due to the atmosphere of mystery, synthesized with the help of the external environment and the entourage as a whole. In this case, the characters do not divert all your attention.

We wander through the ruins of a past civilization, penetrate into the old complexes of the forerunners, explore secret bases, find various recordings, audio files, holographic installations that simultaneously complete the picture and raise more and more new questions. These files are worked out quite scrupulously and competently - they are really interesting to study and immerse yourself in this world even more (yes, the technique is rather hackneyed, but if it is done at the level, then why not). Plus, the intrigue is maintained until the very end. This is a sign of good dramaturgy, which from the authors "Killzone" To be honest, you don't really expect much.

The game world itself is quite interesting. Various cults, religious overtones, personal philosophy of each tribe - all this is done on a level. AT settlements life is in full swing: people are discussing something, all sorts of events are taking place around. The feeling of "puppetry" of what is happening does not arise.

Side quests leave a lot to be desired in terms of variety and the emotions they are able to evoke. Everything slides down to the banal "Give-bring", often without further development and transformation of these quests into something more capable of moving the plot further. It smacks of category B projects, but in all honesty, we can say that most games in the open world have a similar "peccadillo".

It is worth noting two more types of missions: "Boilers" and "Hunting Grounds".

The first are caves in a modern way, with loot, small puzzles and enemies, at the end of each cauldron we will have a battle with one of the mechanical creatures, from which special resources and pumping for a spear drop out (I will mention it later). There are four boilers in the game, they differ little, but they are definitely worth going through, for the sake of pumping and replenishing resources.

With hunting grounds, things are much better. This is a series of tests for Aloy of different difficulty levels, interesting, requiring a certain skill and patience.
In addition, there are missions for collecting certain items, capturing bandit camps, but they do not fundamentally affect the plot.

Still, story missions are the best thing this game can offer in terms of storytelling.

2. Gameplay.

As mentioned above, the game is Action RPG in the open world. This is where all the salt comes in. HZD. Game mechanics really built quite interesting. Perhaps this is one of the few games in which you have to use almost the entire range of devices provided by the developers.

The grain of the mechanics is based on battles with various mechanized creatures, representing varying degrees of danger to the player. Each of the opponents has several weak points. Where to shoot and what to weaken - the player decides. Some are vulnerable to fire or freeze, others to electricity and armor damage. Often, in order to destroy the enemy, you have to combine different kinds arrows and weapons in general.

To eliminate robots in the arsenal of Aloy there are several devices, each of which must be used in certain situations.

Three types of onions with various arrows, including electric, fire, freezing, poison, arrows that knock down components from enemies (especially useful when robots have guns with them that you can shoot and take away to eliminate them. Works well against large opponents), etc. .d.

Sling- an analogue of a slingshot, which has sticky bombs, exploding and freezing shells in its arsenal.

A spear- used as a melee weapon.

Nitemet, with which Aloy is able to place various traps, which are a stretch.

Rope launcher- acts in the manner of a harpoon, helping Aloy to shackle the enemy for a short period of time.

rattlesnake- a kind of self-propelled gun. Effective at close range

In addition, there are small traps in the form of mines, etc.

However, the main thing in Aloy's collection is the visor, which she got under certain circumstances. He acts as a scanner of everything and everything. With it, you can get information about the weak point of the enemy, what kind of shells are needed to destroy him, track the trajectory of his movement (a very useful feature), outside of battles, he is used to scan objects and files, for their subsequent study.

On difficulty levels above average, the enemies pose an increased danger (I advise you to play on high), of course it is too pompous to say that there is a parallel with the series « Dark Souls» , but sometimes opponents can give you serious trouble, even if problems most often do not arise with one individual (again, it depends on who you run into), then two or more will make you work hard.

A feature of the ecosystem is that sometimes robots interact with each other without your direct participation, attacking each other and dividing territories, which adds liveliness to the world. Total in reality Horizon: Zero Dawn» inhabited by twenty-five kinds of machines.

The mechanics of hacking monsters with a spear looks very interesting (this is why you need to visit the cauldrons, I talked about them above, because with each new cauldron the list of animals that Aloy is able to take under her control increases). This is used both in combat and as a way to move. On the battlefield, an allied vehicle is able to equalize forces with a superior enemy, and also serve as a vehicle.

The combat system in battles with people is banal and boring to disgrace. There are two types of enemies: normal and armored, most often with enhanced weapons in their hands. Fortunately, the main opponents are still robots.

Apart from Action component we also have in stock RPG criterion with which everything is ambiguous.

The main problem is that the leveling of the character is devoid of depth, in addition to the development of the skill tree, the levels are not used anywhere else. In addition, all skills can be pumped in one playthrough and they will be involved all at once. This destroys the balance a little, because. in most games of this genre, you can choose a certain skill, sacrificing another.

There is a system of modifications to improve the characteristics of weapons and uniforms - everything is standard here. Crafting ammunition, items and trade is also in place.

The quality of "clothes" is conditionally divided into three categories: simple (green), improved (blue), rare (purple). They differ slightly from each other, only in the number of cells for modifications and a slight improvement in performance relative to each other.

The uniform and clothing of the main character is not tied to the level, i.e. - all things are available to you immediately, the only question is whether you have enough resources to purchase them. In my opinion, this is a huge omission that deprives the player of a certain incentive.

Dialogues, for the most part, practically do not affect anything. Here you will not find a variety of endings, and the plot from your choice in a given situation will not really change. In other words - passing the game for the second time, you will not discover anything new for yourself.

3. Graphic component

Here I will try to be as brief as possible. Games Guerrilla always looked very nice and HZD was no exception. To be honest, I don’t know with what secret technologies they managed to achieve such picture quality on a regular Playstation 4, but apparently the potential of the engine Decima really is, even if Hideo Kojima chose it as the basis for his future "Death Stranding".

I didn't notice frank subsidence of FPS - everything works smoothly and clearly. The world is colorful, sometimes reaching almost perfect photorealism. Fans of taking screenshots, digging around in the photo mode for a long time, will definitely have something to do here.

Specifically about the version for PS4 PRO I can’t say anything, since I have at my disposal the usual PS4 Slim, but judging by the reviews - there are no significant differences, except perhaps the drawing distance and more stable operation.

It is also worth mentioning the facial animation, but after the release Mass Effect: Andromeda, HZD seems to be the apogee of the development of technology igrostroeniya.

4. Bottom line

Summing up in general, it is important to remember that this is only the first experience of the studio in this highly competitive genre, and if we take into account the fact that before the release HZD in the portfolio of developers there were only three parts of the shooter "for the evening", then we can conclude that this is a big breakthrough.

The game is not devoid of cons, but there are enough pluses in it. Ideal projects in our time - an extreme rarity.

I think that Guerrilla they will definitely draw conclusions and the subsequent parts will be better, because the universe has potential and personally I would very much like to return there again.

Important qualities HZD- playability, the desire to get to the bottom of the truth and return to this world, having received an emotional outburst.