Horizon Zero

INTRODUCTION

Horizon Zero Dawn is an action role-playing video game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation 4 in early 2017. The plot revolves around Aloy, a hunter and archer living in a world overrun by robots. Having been an outcast her whole life, she sets out to discover the dangers that kept her sheltered. The character uses ranged weapons and a spear and stealth tactics to combat the mechanised creatures, whose remains can also be looted for resources. A skill tree provides the player with new abilities and passive bonuses. 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 across the entire map.

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 won the award for Best Original Game at the Game Critics Awards in 2015 and 2016. At release, it received critical acclaim from critics, who praised the open world, story, visuals, combat, the character of Aloy and the performance provided by her voice actress Ashly Burch, whilst giving criticism to the dialogue, melee combat and character models. It was the best-selling launch of an original IP on the PlayStation 4 console and, as of June 2017, had sold 3.4 million copies.

GAMEPLAY

Horizon Zero Dawn is an action role-playing game played from a third-person perspective. Players take control of Aloy, a hunter and archer, as she ventures through a post-apocalyptic land ruled by robotic creatures known simply as "machines". Aloy can kill enemies in a variety of ways, such as setting traps like tripwires using the Tripcaster, shooting them with arrows, using explosives,and a spear. Machine components, including 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.Ammo; resource satchels, pouches, and quivers; resistance, antidote, and health potions; and traps are all amenable to crafting. Weapons have modification slots for dealing more damage. A small head piece that Aloy wears called a Focus allows her to scan machines to determine their susceptibilities, identify their location, the particular level they possess, and the nature of loot they will drop. One machine, the Stalker, can enable cloaking technology as a means of averting the gaze of Aloy's Focus scan.Machines attack by way of defensive and offensive measures, and will in either case react to a perceived threat by charging at it with brute force or projectiles. As they exhibit the behaviour of wild animals, some machines are inclined to move in herds and others, possessing the ability of flight, do so in flocks. Unless hacked with the Override Tool, machines will not exert aggressive force against each other. Aloy also engages in battle with members of the cult known as the Eclipse, who are occasionally flanked by corrupted machines. Aloy may dodge, sprint, slide, and roll to evade her enemies' advances. Aloy can also hide in foliage and ambush nearby enemies to ensure immediate takedowns. Swimming can be used to reach enemies stealthily or places otherwise unreachable on foot. Furthermore, she is able to hack a selection of machines with the Override Tool, turning them into makeshift mounts or travelling companions. Explorable ruins called Cauldrons exist to unlock additional machines to override. There are three categories in the skill tree—"Prowler" concerns stealth; "Brave" improves combat; and "Forager" increases healing and gathering capabilities.To level up, Aloy attains experience points from individual kills and completing quests. Upgrades in each category result in more adept use of the skills learned, with "Prowler" leading to silent takedowns, "Brave" to aiming a bow in slow motion, and "Forager" to enlarging the medicine pouch.

The game features an open world environment with a day-night cycle and dynamic weather system that can be explored without loading screens. The map is composed of forest, jungle, desert, and snowy mountain regions. Mountainous terrain is traversed with the employment of parkour, which is aided by the use of zip-lines installed throughout the world. Corruption Zones constitute areas that heighten difficulty and are populated by corrupted machines that behave with more aggression. To uncover more of the map, one must scale large giraffe-like machines known as Tallnecks.[29] Twenty-five robotic creature designs are present in the game. Save points and fast travel can be accessed by interacting with campfires, once discovered. The quest structure unfolds to accommodate the exploration of tribes, while the main story covers the entire world.Side quests involve Aloy completing tasks, like gathering materials, coming to the aid of individuals in danger of being killed, solving mysteries, assuming control of bandit camps, eliminating criminals and more difficult machines, accomplishing various challenges at any of the five Hunting Grounds,and obtaining an ancient armour that makes Aloy almost impervious to damage. A dialogue wheel is used to communicate with non-playable characters.[14] Collectibles include vantages that offer visual information of the Old World; metal flowers, which when acquired contain poetry; and old relics, such as ancient mugs and tribal artefacts.

Action-Role Play Video Game

INTRODUCTION

GAMEPLAY

TRAILER