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Added in that the game takes place in 3040, 974 years after all life was wiped out according to the Horizon Zero Dawn wiki.
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===Setting===
===Setting===


In the near future, humanity has mastered holographic and robotic technologies. However, some unknown calamity causes the human civilisation to collapse, leading machines to dominate the planet. Many years later, the remaining humans have regressed to primitive tribal societies, with their technologically advanced predecessors vaguely remembered as the "Old Ones". Despite living at the mercy of the machines, humans have been able to peacefully coexist with them, only having to occasionally hunt machines for parts. But a recent phenomenon known as the "derangement" has caused machines to become more aggressive towards humans, and larger and deadlier machines have begun to appear, threatening the survival of the human race.
In the near future, humanity has mastered holographic and robotic technologies. However, some unknown calamity causes the human civilisation to collapse, leading machines to dominate the planet. Centuries later, the remaining humans have regressed to primitive tribal societies, with their technologically advanced predecessors vaguely remembered as the "Old Ones". Despite living at the mercy of the machines, humans have been able to peacefully coexist with them, only having to occasionally hunt machines for parts. But a recent phenomenon known as the "derangement" has caused machines to become more aggressive towards humans, and larger and deadlier machines have begun to appear, threatening the survival of the human race.


One of the many tribes in this post-apocalyptic world is the Nora, a society of hunter-gatherers that worship nature but shun Old Ones' technology as taboos. The Nora are also known to punish wrongdoers by labelling them as "outcasts". Outcasts are forbidden from entering tribe settlements, leaving them to survive in the wild on their own.
One of the many tribes in this post-apocalyptic world is the Nora, a society of hunter-gatherers that worship nature but shun Old Ones' technology as taboos. The Nora are also known to punish wrongdoers by labelling them as "outcasts". Outcasts are forbidden from entering tribe settlements, leaving them to survive in the wild on their own.
Line 50: Line 50:
Upon arriving in Meridian, Aloy searches Olin's house and discovers that the cultists are holding Olin's family hostage, forcing him to act as their spy and to help them excavate corrupted machines. Afterwards, Aloy confronts Olin, who tells her that the cultists are part of a fanatical religious group calling themselves the Eclipse who worship a demon called Hades, who allows them to corrupt machines. Meanwhile, Aloy receives assistance from a mysterious stranger, who is able to disable Eclipse Focuses. Following Olin's information, Aloy heads for an Old One ruin at Maker's Rise, which turns out to be the corporate headquarters of Faro Automated Solutions. She is allowed access inside the building due to her genetic similarity to a Dr. Elisabet Sobeck. By investigating the building, Aloy discovers that the world was put into peril nearly one thousand years ago due to Faro losing control of its automated "peacekeeper" robots, which were designed to be self sufficient and able to convert biomass into energy. However, the world was narrowly saved thanks to Project Zero Dawn, which was spearheaded by Dr. Sobeck. Aloy is then contacted by Sylens, her anonymous benefactor. Sylens is a researcher interested in what happened to the Old Ones, and directs Aloy to Dr. Sobeck's last known location: US Robotics Command.
Upon arriving in Meridian, Aloy searches Olin's house and discovers that the cultists are holding Olin's family hostage, forcing him to act as their spy and to help them excavate corrupted machines. Afterwards, Aloy confronts Olin, who tells her that the cultists are part of a fanatical religious group calling themselves the Eclipse who worship a demon called Hades, who allows them to corrupt machines. Meanwhile, Aloy receives assistance from a mysterious stranger, who is able to disable Eclipse Focuses. Following Olin's information, Aloy heads for an Old One ruin at Maker's Rise, which turns out to be the corporate headquarters of Faro Automated Solutions. She is allowed access inside the building due to her genetic similarity to a Dr. Elisabet Sobeck. By investigating the building, Aloy discovers that the world was put into peril nearly one thousand years ago due to Faro losing control of its automated "peacekeeper" robots, which were designed to be self sufficient and able to convert biomass into energy. However, the world was narrowly saved thanks to Project Zero Dawn, which was spearheaded by Dr. Sobeck. Aloy is then contacted by Sylens, her anonymous benefactor. Sylens is a researcher interested in what happened to the Old Ones, and directs Aloy to Dr. Sobeck's last known location: US Robotics Command.


Aloy reaches the ruins of USRC and learns that the US military sent Dr. Sobeck to an Orbital Launch Base in Utah to complete Zero Dawn while they try to buy time against the robot swarms. However, Sylens reveals that the base is located under the Citadel, the centre of Eclipse power. After sabotaging the Eclipse Focus network, Aloy heads for the base. Inside, she learns that Zero Dawn was in fact not meant to save the Earth, as nothing could stop the rogue Faro robots from destroying the planet and annihilating all life. In actuality, Zero Dawn was instead a vast underground system of databases, factories and cloning facilities all controlled by a single artificial intelligence named GAIA. Once all life had been extinguished, GAIA would eventually develop a countermeasure necessary to deactivate all of the Faro robots within the safety of its underground facilities, and then build its own robots to restore the Earth's biosphere once the Faro swarm had been destroyed. Once the planet was habitable again, GAIA would reseed life on earth based on stored DNA and hopefully teach the first human clones not to repeat their predecessors' past mistakes. It is also revealed that HADES is in fact one of GAIA's subsystems designed to enact controlled extinction if the outcome of Zero Dawn was not favourable for human existence. Aloy then reaches Dr. Sobek's office, where she downloads an uncorrupted registry that would give her access to the door she was born from. However, she is captured by the Eclipse leader, Helis.
Aloy reaches the ruins of USRC and learns that the US military sent Dr. Sobeck to an Orbital Launch Base in Utah to complete Zero Dawn while they try to buy time against the robot swarms. However, Sylens reveals that the base is located under the Citadel, the centre of Eclipse power. After sabotaging the Eclipse Focus network, Aloy heads for the base. Inside, she learns that Zero Dawn was in fact not meant to save the Earth, as nothing could stop the rogue Faro robots from destroying the planet and annihilating all life. In actuality, Zero Dawn was instead a vast underground system of databases, factories and cloning facilities all controlled by a single artificial intelligence named GAIA. Once all life had been extinguished, GAIA would eventually develop a countermeasure necessary to deactivate all of the Faro robots within the safety of its underground facilities, and then build its own robots to restore the Earth's biosphere once the Faro swarm had been destroyed. Once the planet was habitable again, GAIA would reseed life on earth based on stored DNA and hopefully teach the first human clones not to repeat their predecessors' past mistakes. Overall, 974 years have passed since all life was wiped out in 2066. It is also revealed that HADES is in fact one of GAIA's subsystems designed to enact controlled extinction if the outcome of Zero Dawn was not favorable for human existence. Aloy then reaches Dr. Sobek's office, where she downloads an uncorrupted registry that would give her access to the door she was born from. However, she is captured by the Eclipse leader, Helis.


Helis gloats to Aloy that he has already ordered his Eclipse forces to exterminate the Nora tribe before destroying her Focus and throwing her into a robot arena to die. Fortunately, Sylens arrives and rescues Aloy, giving her a new Focus. She returns to the Nora tribe to help fight off the Eclipse invasion. With the intact registry, she is finally able to enter the door beneath the Nora mountain. There, she finds a recording left behind by GAIA, revealing that a signal of unknown origin caused HADES to activate and seize control of her functions. As a last resort, GAIA self destructed her own core to stop HADES. However, without GAIA to maintain the terraforming process, the entire system began to break down, resulting in the Derangement. As a contingency plan, GAIA created Aloy with Dr. Sobeck's DNA profile, in hope that she would find GAIA's message, destroy HADES, and restore GAIA's functions. Upon investigating the destroyed GAIA Prime facility, Aloy learns Dr. Sobeck sacrificed her life to ensure the Faro swarm wouldn't find GAIA. Then, Ted Faro, feeling guilty for his part in creating the Faro robots, destroyed the APOLLO education system to prevent the next generation of humanity from gaining the same destructive knowledge and killed the other GAIA Prime staff to prevent their interference, resulting in the primitive society the game takes place in.
Helis gloats to Aloy that he has already ordered his Eclipse forces to exterminate the Nora tribe before destroying her Focus and throwing her into a robot arena to die. Fortunately, Sylens arrives and rescues Aloy, giving her a new Focus. She returns to the Nora tribe to help fight off the Eclipse invasion. With the intact registry, she is finally able to enter the door beneath the Nora mountain. There, she finds a recording left behind by GAIA, revealing that a signal of unknown origin caused HADES to activate and seize control of her functions. As a last resort, GAIA self destructed her own core to stop HADES. However, without GAIA to maintain the terraforming process, the entire system began to break down, resulting in the Derangement. As a contingency plan, GAIA created Aloy with Dr. Sobeck's DNA profile, in hope that she would find GAIA's message, destroy HADES, and restore GAIA's functions. Upon investigating the destroyed GAIA Prime facility, Aloy learns Dr. Sobeck sacrificed her life to ensure the Faro swarm wouldn't find GAIA. Then, Ted Faro, feeling guilty for his part in creating the Faro robots, destroyed the APOLLO education system to prevent the next generation of humanity from gaining the same destructive knowledge and killed the other GAIA Prime staff to prevent their interference, resulting in the primitive society the game takes place in.

Revision as of 18:05, 13 March 2017

Horizon Zero Dawn
Developer(s)Guerrilla Games
Publisher(s)Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)Mathijs de Jonge
Producer(s)Lambert Wolterbeek Muller
Programmer(s)Michiel van der Leeuw
Artist(s)Jan-Bart van Beek
Writer(s)John Gonzalez
Composer(s)
EngineDecima
Platform(s)PlayStation 4
Release
  • NA: 28 February 2017
  • EU: 1 March 2017
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Horizon Zero Dawn (stylised as HORiZON ZERO DΛWN) is an action role-playing video game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. The game was released worldwide in 2017.

The plot revolves around Aloy, a hunter and archer living in a world overrun by robots. Having been outcast her whole life, she sets out to discover the dangers that kept her sheltered. The character makes use of ranged, melee weapons and stealth tactics to combat the mechanised creatures, whose remains can also be looted for resources. A skill tree facilitates gameplay improvements. The game features an open world environment for Aloy to explore, divided into tribes that hold side quests to undertake, while the main story guides her throughout the whole world.

Development began in 2011, with game director Mathijs de Jonge considering it "the most risky" idea of those that were pitched at the time. The concept explores the contrast between the beauty and danger of the game's setting. Guerrilla Games emphasises trial and error as the basis for playing the game, choosing not to implement a tutorial. The game engine, Decima, was previously engineered for Killzone Shadow Fall and altered for Horizon Zero Dawn, the first new intellectual property (IP) developed by Guerrilla Games since Killzone in 2004, and also the studio's first attempt at developing a role-playing game.

Horizon Zero Dawn received positive reviews from critics, who praised the open world, story, visuals, combat mechanics,[1][2] enemy designs,[3] and the character of Aloy,[4][5] whilst giving some criticism for inconsistencies to facial animations.[6][7][8]

Gameplay

File:Horizon Zero Dawn gameplay screenshot.jpg
Aloy can use the Ropecaster to immobilise enemies.

Horizon Zero Dawn is an action role-playing game played from a third-person view.[9][10] Players take control of Aloy, a huntress and archer, as she progresses through a post-apocalyptic land ruled by robotic creatures known simply as "Machines".[11][12] Machine components, such as electricity and the metal they are composed of, are vital to Aloy's survival, and she can loot their corpses to find useful resources for crafting.[13][14] Aloy uses a variety of ways to kill enemies, such as setting traps like tripwires using the Tripcaster, shooting enemies with arrows, using explosives, and melee combat. Weaponry and traps may be purchased from traders. Further, she is essentially able to hack a selection of creatures with the Override Tool, turning them into makeshift vehicles or travelling companions. Aloy can also hide in foliage and ambush nearby enemies to ensure immediate takedowns.[15][14][16][17] A "focus scan" allows Aloy to determine her enemies' susceptibilities,[18] identify their location, the particular level they possess and the nature of loot they will drop.[12] There are three categories in the skill tree—"Prowler" concerns stealth; "Brave" improves combat; and "Forager" increases healing and gathering capabilities.[19]

The game features an open world with a dynamic day-night cycle and weather system that can be explored without loading screens.[13][20][21] Corruption Zones constitute areas that heighten difficulty and are populated by infected Machines that behave with more aggression.[16] To uncover more of the map, one must scale large giraffe-like creatures known as Tallnecks.[22] Twenty-five robotic creature designs are present in the game.[23] Save points and fast travel can be accessed by interacting with campfires, once discovered.[19] The quest structure unfolds to accommodate the exploration of tribes, while the main story covers the entire world. Individual cases are subject to solution as well.[24] A dialogue wheel is used to communicate with non-playable characters.[18]

Plot

Setting

In the near future, humanity has mastered holographic and robotic technologies. However, some unknown calamity causes the human civilisation to collapse, leading machines to dominate the planet. Centuries later, the remaining humans have regressed to primitive tribal societies, with their technologically advanced predecessors vaguely remembered as the "Old Ones". Despite living at the mercy of the machines, humans have been able to peacefully coexist with them, only having to occasionally hunt machines for parts. But a recent phenomenon known as the "derangement" has caused machines to become more aggressive towards humans, and larger and deadlier machines have begun to appear, threatening the survival of the human race.

One of the many tribes in this post-apocalyptic world is the Nora, a society of hunter-gatherers that worship nature but shun Old Ones' technology as taboos. The Nora are also known to punish wrongdoers by labelling them as "outcasts". Outcasts are forbidden from entering tribe settlements, leaving them to survive in the wild on their own.

Synopsis

As an infant, Aloy is put under the care of the outcast Rost by the Nora Matriarchs. Due to the mysterious circumstances of her birth, as well as her status as an outcast, Aloy is often persecuted and shunned by the rest of the Nora tribe. As a child, she accidentally falls into an ancient bunker built by the Old Ones, and takes possession of a Focus, a small device that gives her special perceptive abilities as well as the ability to interact with machines and Old One technology. Later, she becomes curious about the identity of her mother and decides on winning a competition called the Proving so she can win the right to ask the Matriarchs directly. Rost spends several years training Aloy in preparation for the Proving, teaching her how to hunt, fight, and survive.

Once she comes of age, Aloy takes part in the Proving and meets the foreigners Erend and Olin, with Olin having a Focus like Aloy. Aloy manages to come in first place, but a band of cultists suddenly attack, killing many Nora. Aloy is able to kill several cultists and is shocked to find that they are equipped with Focuses as well. Rost sacrifices his life to save Aloy, and Matriarch Teersa takes Aloy into the Nora's sacred mountain to nurse her wounds. When Aloy awakes, Teersa explains that after the Proving massacre, the Nora attempted to retaliate against the cultists but their war party was annihilated by corrupted machines under the control of the cultists. Teersa also reveals that Matriarchs first found Aloy at the foot of a sealed door that they worship. While Teersa sees Aloy's "birth" as a sign from the gods, the other Matriarchs fear it means Aloy is cursed. Aloy approaches the door and it reacts to her presence, but refuses to open. She resolves that the only way to find answers is to track Olin, since he had apparently used his Focus to tip off the cultists to Aloy's existence. With Teersa's blessing, Aloy leaves Nora lands to head for Meridian, the capital city of the neighbouring Carja tribe. Along the way she helps War Chief Sona exact revenge on the cultists by hunting and killing the ones that remain in Nora lands.

Upon arriving in Meridian, Aloy searches Olin's house and discovers that the cultists are holding Olin's family hostage, forcing him to act as their spy and to help them excavate corrupted machines. Afterwards, Aloy confronts Olin, who tells her that the cultists are part of a fanatical religious group calling themselves the Eclipse who worship a demon called Hades, who allows them to corrupt machines. Meanwhile, Aloy receives assistance from a mysterious stranger, who is able to disable Eclipse Focuses. Following Olin's information, Aloy heads for an Old One ruin at Maker's Rise, which turns out to be the corporate headquarters of Faro Automated Solutions. She is allowed access inside the building due to her genetic similarity to a Dr. Elisabet Sobeck. By investigating the building, Aloy discovers that the world was put into peril nearly one thousand years ago due to Faro losing control of its automated "peacekeeper" robots, which were designed to be self sufficient and able to convert biomass into energy. However, the world was narrowly saved thanks to Project Zero Dawn, which was spearheaded by Dr. Sobeck. Aloy is then contacted by Sylens, her anonymous benefactor. Sylens is a researcher interested in what happened to the Old Ones, and directs Aloy to Dr. Sobeck's last known location: US Robotics Command.

Aloy reaches the ruins of USRC and learns that the US military sent Dr. Sobeck to an Orbital Launch Base in Utah to complete Zero Dawn while they try to buy time against the robot swarms. However, Sylens reveals that the base is located under the Citadel, the centre of Eclipse power. After sabotaging the Eclipse Focus network, Aloy heads for the base. Inside, she learns that Zero Dawn was in fact not meant to save the Earth, as nothing could stop the rogue Faro robots from destroying the planet and annihilating all life. In actuality, Zero Dawn was instead a vast underground system of databases, factories and cloning facilities all controlled by a single artificial intelligence named GAIA. Once all life had been extinguished, GAIA would eventually develop a countermeasure necessary to deactivate all of the Faro robots within the safety of its underground facilities, and then build its own robots to restore the Earth's biosphere once the Faro swarm had been destroyed. Once the planet was habitable again, GAIA would reseed life on earth based on stored DNA and hopefully teach the first human clones not to repeat their predecessors' past mistakes. Overall, 974 years have passed since all life was wiped out in 2066. It is also revealed that HADES is in fact one of GAIA's subsystems designed to enact controlled extinction if the outcome of Zero Dawn was not favorable for human existence. Aloy then reaches Dr. Sobek's office, where she downloads an uncorrupted registry that would give her access to the door she was born from. However, she is captured by the Eclipse leader, Helis.

Helis gloats to Aloy that he has already ordered his Eclipse forces to exterminate the Nora tribe before destroying her Focus and throwing her into a robot arena to die. Fortunately, Sylens arrives and rescues Aloy, giving her a new Focus. She returns to the Nora tribe to help fight off the Eclipse invasion. With the intact registry, she is finally able to enter the door beneath the Nora mountain. There, she finds a recording left behind by GAIA, revealing that a signal of unknown origin caused HADES to activate and seize control of her functions. As a last resort, GAIA self destructed her own core to stop HADES. However, without GAIA to maintain the terraforming process, the entire system began to break down, resulting in the Derangement. As a contingency plan, GAIA created Aloy with Dr. Sobeck's DNA profile, in hope that she would find GAIA's message, destroy HADES, and restore GAIA's functions. Upon investigating the destroyed GAIA Prime facility, Aloy learns Dr. Sobeck sacrificed her life to ensure the Faro swarm wouldn't find GAIA. Then, Ted Faro, feeling guilty for his part in creating the Faro robots, destroyed the APOLLO education system to prevent the next generation of humanity from gaining the same destructive knowledge and killed the other GAIA Prime staff to prevent their interference, resulting in the primitive society the game takes place in.

Aloy manages to obtain the System Override necessary to destroy HADES. Sylens admits that he was the original founder of Eclipse, originally tempted by HADES' promises of knowledge, until he was no longer any use to HADES. Aloy surmises that HADES wants to seize the Spire in Meridian in order to send a signal to reactivate the Faro robots so that they can wipe out all life on Earth again. Aloy returns to Meridian to warn them of the attack, and rallies all of the allies she can muster. The battle is fierce, but Aloy is able to defeat Helis and stabs HADES with Sylens's lance, ending the war. Aloy is celebrated as a hero and she journeys to Dr. Sobeck's home, where she finds her corpse, and has a moment of mourning for her mother.

In a post-credits scene, HADES is shown to still be alive, but is trapped by Sylens, who intends to interrogate HADES to find out who sent the signal that activated it in the first place.

Development

Guerrilla Games began developing Horizon Zero Dawn in 2011, following the release of Killzone 3.[25] When conceiving the idea for a new game, about 40 concepts were pitched. Among these was Horizon Zero Dawn, which game director Mathijs de Jonge considered "the most risky" of the concepts[26] and was first pitched in 2010 by art director Jan-Bart van Beek.[27] When this concept was chosen, a team of 10–20 began building prototypes of the game; many of the elements featured in the prototypes remained in the game throughout development. Approximately 20 different stories were written for the game, exploring varying concepts for the game, such as different player characters. John Gonzalez, who previously acted as lead writer for Fallout: New Vegas (2010), was hired to write the game's story. The main elements of the story and the character of Aloy remained intact since early development.[26][27] Upon the completion of Killzone Shadow Fall in late 2013, the remainder of the team began working on Horizon Zero Dawn.[28] The team also cancelled work on another title so as to allow the entire team to focus on the development of Horizon.[29]

The game was developed with Guerrilla's proprietary game engine, Decima.

The game's concept explores the juxtaposition between the danger and beauty of the world, particularly analysing the concept of humanity not being "at the top of the life list".[26] The team aimed to emphasise the game's exploration element by featuring a quest system, as well as including items throughout the world that can be used to craft or replenish health.[26] The game does not feature any tutorials, instead requiring players to learn the methods of defeating enemies through trial and error.[30] The team wished for the game to have a simple user interface design, specifically avoiding complicated menus for crafting. The team found the game to be a technical challenge.[31] They felt that the game engine, Decima, which was designed for games such as the Killzone series and was previously used for Killzone Shadow Fall,[32] was difficult to alter for Horizon, in terms of draw distance and loading. To discover how some game elements work differently in open world games, the team sought help from talent in the design, art and technical fields.[31] In extrapolating the game world, Guerrilla turned to anthropologists and researched the formation of tribal cultures as well as how building materials would decay over a millennium.[27]

The involvement of American actors Lance Reddick and Ashly Burch was revealed in January 2017.[23][33] Burch voices Aloy,[23] while her likeness is portrayed by Dutch actress Hannah Hoekstra.[34] The game's soundtrack was composed by Joris de Man, The Flight, and Niels van der Leest, with vocalist Julie Elven serving as the primary performer.[35] The game's soundtrack, featuring 80 tracks that span over four hours, was released digitally via Spotify on 3 March 2017.[36][37]

The concept art, which feature robotic dinosaurs, as well as the game's codename, Horizon, were leaked on 14 September 2014.[38] Horizon Zero Dawn was officially announced during Sony Interactive Entertainment's E3 2015 press conference.[39] Originally set to be released in 2016 for the PlayStation 4, the game was later delayed to February 2017 so as to give additional time for the development team to polish the game.[40] The game will be forward compatible with the PS4 Pro,[41] allowing it to run up to 4K resolution.[42] It was released to manufacturing in late January 2017.[43]

Reception

Horizon Zero Dawn received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[44]

Philip Kollar of Polygon wrote: "Horizon Zero Dawn thrums with the energy of a creative team finally allowed to explore something new" whilst applauding it for building "on elements of open-world and loot-and-craft gameplay that we've seen before" but doing "within a context, a setting and a style that feel fresh."[55]

IGN's Lucy O'Brien lauded the combat, writing "Horizon Zero Dawn juggles many moving parts with polish and finesse. Its main activity - combat - is extremely satisfying thanks to the varied design and behaviors of machine-creatures that roam its lands, each of which needs to be taken down with careful consideration", whilst also commending the game's story "thanks to a central mystery that led me down a deep rabbit hole to a genuinely surprising - and moving - conclusion."[56]

Giant Bomb's Jeff Gertsmann gave the game a perfect score, echoing other reviewer's sentiments that "Horizon: Zero Dawn is familiar but also really refreshing", applauding the storytelling saying it felt "concise and efficient", whilst complimenting the gameplay by saying "the combat has some nice options that make encounters fun, even when you're just stacking up stealth kills from the relative safety of a bush". He also praised the presentation, saying that "the game holds up its end of things with a solid soundtrack, great voice acting, and a cohesive design that makes all its disparate parts fit together. All in all, it's a great game, it's Guerrilla's strongest release to date" [57].

Game Informer's Jeff Marchiafava particularly commended Guerilla's open world polish, claiming that "none of Horizon's faults stopped me from sinking 55 hours into the game, or walking away supremely satisfied with the experience. Horizon may not be a revolution for the open-world genre, but it is a highly polished and compelling adventure that proves Guerrilla is more than a single franchise.[58]

Peter Brown of GameSpot was also very positing, claiming that "for every minor imperfection, there's an element of greatness that recharges your desire to keep fighting and exploring Zero Dawn's beautiful and perilous world", whilst saying that "Guerrilla Games has delivered one of the best open-world games of this generation" thereby redefining "the team's reputation." [59]

Sales

Horizon Zero Dawn became the biggest new PlayStation 4 IP launch in the UK, outselling The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in its week of release.[60] Horizon Zero Dawn has surpassed No Man's Sky as the biggest new IP launch on PlayStation 4 in the UK. As well, it was the most successful launch of any kind since Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.[61] Horizon Zero Dawn sold close to 117,000 copies in its first week in Japan, becoming the second best selling game of the week, only behind The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. [62] Horizon Zero Dawn was the second most downloaded game on the PlayStation 4 US store for the month of February, only behind For Honor. Due to Horizon Zero Dawn's launch day on the last day of February, only first day launch day sales were counted, this was seen as exceptional to place that high despite having only one day of sales counted. [63] Horizon Zero Dawn was the number one best selling game in its week of release in Australia.[64]

References

  1. ^ "Horizon Zero Dawn review – mechanical animals". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  2. ^ "HORIZON ZERO DAWN IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GAMES EVER MADE". GQ. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Horizon Zero Dawn Review – Guerrilla Games Has Finally Delivered its True Masterpiece". DualShockers. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  4. ^ "'Horizon Zero Dawn' Review: The game's greatest strength is its protagonist Aloy". Mic. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Horizon Zero Dawn's Aloy could be the icon Sony wanted". VideoGamer. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Horizon Zero Dawn Review". Huffington Post. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Review: Horizon: Zero Dawn". Push Square. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Horizon: Zero Dawn Review – Heavy Metal". The Jimquisition. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  9. ^ Donaldson, Alex (27 June 2016). "Horizon: Zero Dawn appears to be a proper RPG, and an exciting one". VG247. Retrieved 27 June 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (24 June 2015). "Horizon Zero Dawn aims to fill the open-world gap between GTA and Skyrim". Polygon. Retrieved 27 June 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Conditt, Jessica (16 June 2015). "Robot dinos, archery and mystery in 'Horizon: Zero Dawn'". Engadget. Retrieved 12 July 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ a b Makuch, Eddie (14 June 2016). "Horizon Zero Dawn and the Thrill of the Hunt". GameSpot. Retrieved 14 July 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ a b Fulton, Will (17 June 2015). "Horizon Zero Dawn is even better than the mind-blowing trailer made you think". Digital Trends. Retrieved 12 July 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ a b Hulst, Hermen (16 June 2015). "Horizon Zero Dawn announced for PS4, from Guerrilla Games". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 12 July 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ Welsh, Oli (30 July 2015). "Looking to the Horizon: how Guerrilla moved on". Eurogamer. Retrieved 15 July 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ a b McWhertor, Michael (30 January 2017). "Horizon Zero Dawn hands-on". Polygon. Vox Media.
  17. ^ Mahboubian-Jones, Justin (22 June 2016). "Horizon: Zero Dawn's monsters can become your BFF". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 June 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ a b O'Connor, James (14 June 2016). "Horizon Zero Dawn gameplay demo shown at E3". VG247. Retrieved 25 June 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ a b McAllister, Gillen (30 January 2017). "19 new things we discovered from playing Horizon Zero Dawn". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment.
  20. ^ Te, Zorine (16 June 2015). "Horizon: Zero Dawn Is Prehistoric and Modern All At Once". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ Hillier, Brenna (16 June 2015). "What is Guerrilla Games' Horizon: Zero Dawn?". VG247. Retrieved 29 November 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ Machkovech, Sam (30 January 2017). "Sony's Horizon: Zero Dawn recharges the open-world genre with herd mentality". Ars Technica. Condé Nast.
  23. ^ a b c Wilson, Aoife (30 January 2017). "Can Horizon: Zero Dawn really be a AAA game without cynicism?". Eurogamer. Gamer Network.
  24. ^ Lemne, Bengt (6 July 2016). "Guerrilla Games on Horizon: Zero Dawn's quest structure". Gamereactor. Retrieved 12 July 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ Sliva, Marty (17 June 2015). "E3 2015: Horizon: Zero Dawn's Incredible Balance of Action and RPG". IGN. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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External links

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