Horizon: Zero Dawn was a game that won multiple awards and had heaps of prize placed upon it but did it deserve all of it or was it just another one of the cogs of the Sony hype Machine?

STORY:

"I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay. Watchin' the tide, roll away "

The story is about Aloy, an outcast from the Nora tribe with no knowledge of her mother. She goes on a quest to find out who her mother is. At the same time discovering her own identity across a technology wrecked Earth and uncovering the mystery of why it happened and trying to stop a powerful force that could kill all life on Earth.

As far as dialogue goes. Eh. You have some horrible dialogue and the delivery isn't that much better when it is good.

I mean, nothing is going to be win any awards but after spending hours with Aloy she will grow on you and you want to see her succeed and you grow attached to her.

There are elements in the story that give you that Mass Effect dialogue tree. Ask for more information about the subject and then sometimes you can even respond with 3 options: brain (intellect); heart(babyface); fist(heel), (yes, that's not the terms they use but this is the Scott and Paul Website, I'm writing for OUR AUDIENCE). Now they don't have lasting consequences throughout the game like TellTale or bioware games but there is an immediate reaction. Maybe they keep something in your save file. Who knows. Doubtful.

GAMEPLAY:

The controls were easy to learn, so nothing is out of the ordinary there. I have to admit I was a little concerned when I started seeing video of the gameplay. The game looked simple at the beginning but then when I started seeing all the traps I thought it would start getting to over burdened with gimmicks but have no fear it's really simple and easy to learn. I mean I work 8-12 hours a day. I play on pussy mode so if I was able to do it so you can too!

Leaving fire trap bombs for giant beats to come running after you and seeing them blow at your feet is extremely satisfying.

RUN FROM THUNDERBIRDS! JUST RUN!

You gain health by picking up plants. A lot of plants. A LOT OF PLANTS. Like you'll be doing a mission with a guy and he'll take off running and you'll run off on your own and just go and get more plants.

Everything in this world is based on picking up shit like that. Kill foxes, boars, pick up wood, etc. It's how you upgrade. I thought it would be tedious and it is at first but at least there are no microtransactions.

Now onto the issues:

This is the part where he hates on the game right?

FUCK YOU WHOEVER DECIDED TO TIE RESOURCES INTO QUICK TRAVEL! "Ou?! What's that? Don't have enough fat, wood, boar fur or whatever the fuck else we want? You're going to spend 12 mins walking from one end of the map to the other" That's so fucking stupid. SLIGHT SPOILER WARNING BUT WATCH OUT! YOUR LAST 3 OR FOUR MISSIONS OF THE GAME YOU'RE DOING NOTHING BUT GOING FROM ONE END OF THE MAP TO THE OTHER SO YOU BETTER SAVE UP YOUR QUICK TRAVEL BECAUSE THE ASSHOLE WHO THOUGHT THIS IS FUN SURE DIDN'T WANT YOU HAVING A GOOD TIME AT THE END OF THE GAME!!!!

Also upgrading your resource packs is bullshit. Takes forever. It took 4 hours for me to get one bone from a boar. I killed 5 fucking boars. You'd think I would have received one fucking bone drop but no. Not one. So Good luck upgrading anything that isn't your character.

GRAPHICS:

The game is beautiful and the devs should be commended for all their work on this game. If you're playing this game on an PS4 PRO and an HDR tv this game has an option to turn off the HDR. Do yourself a favor and turn it off for a few mins then turn it back on just to see how much of a difference it is. You forget just how much of an effect HDR has when it's properly implemented.

SUMMARY:

"You don't need money, don't take fame. Don't need no credit card to ride this train."

Other that the gripes I stated the game is outstanding. Amazing visuals and a Mass Effect meets Enslaved: Odyssey to the West feeling to the game. A badass hero and underling story where you want to find out what happened. However YOU FUCKED UP and RUINED the game with the QUICK TRAVEL BULLSHIT. It's not that hard.

NOBODY WANTS TO FUCK AROUND WITH THIS SHIT. WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN SO HIGH A SCORE YOU FUCKED IT UP ON PURPOSE. However, I still love the game, I just want you to patch in a fix before our game of the year in March.

FINAL VERDICT:

SCOTT AND PAUL SHOW RATING: BUY

STANDARD RATING: 9.7/10

REVIEW BY: PAUL