Game of the month – Horizon Zero Dawn (PC)
Buckle up and embark on an epic adventure in an apocalyptic USA
Text:
Daniel Haaf
Horizon Zero Dawn is about a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has been reduced to a remnant of its former greatness on earth. The cities of the world have long been abandoned and dinosaur-like machines have taken over.
You take the role as the character Aloy, an outcast who lives outside the small community that humanity has managed to maintain. The game begins with you trying to get rid of the status of being rejected to become part of society. Soon you are drawn into a web of mystery and danger as you try to find out who you really are.
The story of Aloy and the large, open world in Horizon Zero Dawn is largely characterised by battles against both machines and humans. The machines are aggressive and the big ones especially quickly make Aloy's life very difficult. To meet them on your terms, you must master your bow and baton, vary your tactics and choose your goals carefully.
Horizon Zero Dawn was initially launched for the Playstation 4 series in 2017 and in November of the same year a major add-on package called The Frozen Wilds was released. On 7 August, 2020, the game with the accompanying add-on package for PC was released.
Number of players: 1 person
Run time: Up to approximately 60 hours (approx. 20+ hours for the story)
Storage space requirements: 45GB (PS4), 100GB (PC)
PEGI age recommendation: 16+
Genre: Action / Role play
Game world: Open
Can my computer run Horizon Zero Dawn?
Minimum requirements:
- Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K (3.3GHz) or AMD FX 6300 (3.5GHz)
- RAM: 8GB RAM
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 (3GB) or AMD Radeon R9 290 (4GB)
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 100GB free space
Recommended:
- Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K (3.5GHz) or Ryzen 5 1500X (3.5GHz)
- RAM: 16GB RAM
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB)
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 100GB free space
Tips and advice on Horizon Zero Dawn
- Don't forget to light campfires located around the world. They save your progress and you can travel quickly between them during the game. You will often need to go back to places you have visited before, so light any campfires you see.
- Try and get to the game's so called 'cauldrons' as quickly as you can. They are extra tricky areas that reward you with skill points and new properties. There are a total of four of these areas to visit and you will find them on the map as small, blue triangles. You can visit them in any order you like, but the difficulty level is in the order Sigma, Rho, Xi and finally Zeta.
- In Meridian, you encounter characters that give you hunting-related side quests. They have some of the game's more interesting battles, and reward Aloy in a way that helps her during the latter part of the game. As a bonus, you'll also learn more about the Horizon Zero Dawn world.
- Fast trips between campfires are not free. Each trip costs a so-called travel pack. When you visit the Meridian area, you can buy a unique travel pack that means that fast travel no longer costs anything. A smart purchase that makes travelling in Horizon Zero Dawn a little easier.
- One of the best armours in Horizon Zero Dawn is the shield-weaver armour. It generates an energy field that absorbs a certain amount of damage before Aloy does. The shield-weaver armour is so good that you cannot get it until the end of the game. To get your hands on the armour, you must find five power cells as part of the Ancient Armory mission. Start your search in Devil's Thirst.
- A unique detail about Aloy is that she has a so-called Focus. An object that helps you see more in your surroundings than other characters in the game can. Among other things, your Focus can show weaknesses in enemies and tag them so that you can more easily keep track of them. Use your Focus often.
Hang on, what happened to Horizon Forbidden West?
Horizon Forbidden West is the official successor to Horizon Zero Dawn. The upcoming game will be released exclusively for Playstation 5 and is expected to arrive sometime in 2021. An exact date is not set at the time of writing.
In Horizon Forbidden West, Aloy continues her journey in a world destroyed by machines. She explores new, large areas and meets a number of new enemies – this time including underwater.
There is a lot of information missing about Horizon Forbidden West as much information about the game still has not been revealed. Some of the details we do know are that the game is almost completely free of loading screens (thanks to the performance of Playstation 5) and Forbidden West is an area in California, USA.
Big games released for Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X
Are you waiting for the new game consoles Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X to be released in late autumn of 2020? Then you might want to check out some of the great games that Microsoft and Sony have highlighted at their major gaming events this summer. We have collected ten gaming videos for each game console that are guaranteed to make you want to start gaming.
This article is written by Prisjakt’s editorial staff. No one else has influenced the content of it. There are no paid links or other types of advertising collaborations. Daniel Haaf can be reached at [email protected].