Today we are going to take a look at Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition. To be more specific – the PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn. This open-world action RPG that won tons of awards on the Playstation 4 and now promises to excite PC players with mechanical dinosaurs. Whether it can deliver on its promise is the question we will try to answer today. Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition is available on Steam for 49 Euro and 99 cents.

With this review you have a choice of either reading it here in text form or listening to the video review. They both contain the same content.

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Let me start by saying I know that Horizon Zero Dawn has been out for a long time. But. I am not a console player. And I will not argue with anyone about whether consoles or PCs are better. Everyone has their reasons for the choice on which gaming platform they will game. Some may be better arguments, some may be worse. For me personally, the reasons are several. I still need a PC to do my work. I prefer playing with a keyboard and mouse. I will even admit to pirating games when I was younger and couldn’t afford them. And all these things and many more kept me away from consoles.

But I will admit. Some of the games that came out exclusively for the consoles looked awesome. And all I could’ve done was just ogle them from afar. So, when the PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn was announced I was super excited. It seemed like exactly the kind of game I enjoy playing. There will never be enough open-world RPGs with cute redheads for me. So let’s see how it turned out.

The Good Kind Of Apocalypse

The first thing that needs to be said, this is a port of a console game. Not a remake or anything like this. So, in terms of gameplay, you should expect exactly the same thing that was available on consoles. But it does come with a few benefits. As it is a complete edition, it comes packed in with The Frozen Wilds expansion. And at a decent price.

There are a few things that were changed in the PC version. But mostly they concern just with things that make sense. Things like customizable controls and UI options, the option to use ultra-wide monitors were added and the FPS limit was removed. Which is awesome as previously the game was limited to just thirty FPS. And because the game is three years old at this point, there is a good chance you will be able to run it at higher framerates even though the developers implemented a few graphical features. Some of the things added were better light, dynamic reactions of the grass, etc. etc. etc..

But blah, blah, blah… that’s just graphical bling. And while the game does look gorgeous and you will certainly find time to just awe at the scenery that’s not what makes a good game. The important stuff is how it plays. And again, if you played the console version, you know what you are getting into. But for the rest, let’s reiterate.

For me personally, the best thing about Horizon Zero Dawn is its theme. Post-apocalyptic but not a radioactive wasteland. Instead, lush and beautiful. Humanity no longer lives in cities but moved towards a matriarchal-tribal society, lives in huts, uses clubs and bows to hunt, and is ruled the elders. If you go against the rules, you risk being ostracized or even being banished from the safety of the tribe. And you certainly don’t want that because that makes it almost impossible to survive. This is because the wild-lands that features ruins of cities half-eaten by greens aren’t safe for individuals. And not only because they are full of cyberdinosaurs the size of a truck and feature canons on their backs.

It’s Almost Eden

The main protagonist, Aloy, sadly is one of the banished. Ever since she was a baby. And she has no idea why and that makes her pretty pissed. Luckily, her guardian takes care of her and trains her to be able to survive in the inhospitable environment that certainly awaits her. And in the end, he manages to do just that – make Aloy into a strong and sturdy young lady that can use a bow like no-one else and can climb better than a mountain goat. It great fun to play as Aloy and discover the secrets of a world filled with cyberfauna.

Simply put, the world of Horizon Zero Dawn is gorgeous. Full of variability details. From meadows full of whispering grass, through rocky gorges covered with a dusting of snow to the ancient ruins of a city surrounded by ocher dunes. You could stop at any given moment, take a screenshot, and put it on your desktop as a wallpaper and it would look great. No, you could print it out and put it on your wall and it would still look amazing.

The cyberdinosaurs are scary as hell and even at times when they aren’t directly trying to kill you you will be aware of their presence. The only problem I have with it, I wish there was more. Though we PC gamers are spoiled when it comes to the map size of open-world RPGs. But I do still wish there was more to explore. Plus, the fact that the map a smaller sometimes makes the transitions between the biomes feel a bit forced like when you can get from the freezing cold mountain directly into the heated desert with a ten-second sprint. But hey, you can’t have everything.

RPG For Casuals

Another thing you need to understand when it comes to Horizon Zero Dawn is that it is much more casual. Depending on what kind of a gamer you are, you will either love this or hate this. I personally could go with a few choices as the ones you are given are purely cosmetic and don’t really affect the story. And certainly don’t expect those amazing quest that will make you think about them even a month later and still give you the chills. This is not The Witcher. So, the game is quite linear and straight forwards. Expect that.

And the linearity and straight-forwardness are also present within the gameplay, not only the story. There are many fewer options in how to build your character than PC gamers are used to. Fewer talents to choose from, fewer weapons, and gear to pick up. And don’t really try playing as a stealth player as this approach just doesn’t seem to work much. It is really an ACTION open-world RPG. The one thing that irritated me when it came to the gameplay was the fact that while Aloy is simply an amazing climber that would put the best professional rock-climbers to shame if there aren’t these little yellow points you can use available you are out of luck. But none of these quote on quote issues stopped me from enjoying the game.

I loved the fact that Aloy actually had a personality. Sometimes too rash but at the same time, all her dialogue made sense and worked with her character. I also loved the combat. Fighting gigantic cyberdinosaurs with and bow and arrows just works and is so much fun. Slowly chipping at the beasts HP from afar while exposing their weak points? Yes, please. Shooting their weapons of their backs and using their own weapons against them? Hell yeah! And while the world is more compact it actually makes you think about how to approach combat because often you just don’t have the space to run away and makes combat encounters plentiful. And let’s not kid ourselves, aiming is a bit more easier and precise with a mouse than with a controller.

Cyberdinosaur Bugs

Let’s be straight as you probably heard about the plethora of complaints about bugs, technical and optimization issues a lot of people had at launch. And they were there. Most notably, a lot of people had problems with framerates being all over the place and the game being unstable. I personally was lucky. The game ran smoothly for me and crashed only once. But since the initial launch, the game has been patched and it seems the vast majority of bugs have been solved.

Conclusion

So, I think my conclusion will be no surprise for those of you who stayed until the conclusion. Horizon Zero Dawn is a game that most PC gamers prayed would come to the PC. And it did. And if somehow you still haven’t picked it up you should. It’s not a game you will spend hundreds of hours in and play even four years later. But it is a game you will enjoy through and through. And that counts for a lot in my book.

So, that’s it for today guys. I hope you liked the review and if you did, please up-vote the review, follow my blog, and be sure to share it with your friends. And comment, if you have anything you would like to add. See you guys later with more gaming content.

Disclaimer: All the images have been taken directly from the Steam game page