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Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered review: Aloy’s first adventure gets a massive tune-up

Pabio October 30, 2024

Exam Information

Revised platform: PS5
Available on: PS5, PC
Release date: October 31, 2024

PlayStation Studios holds the keys to an impressive number of franchises, but the company, in reality, Really wants you to know Horizon.

This is the impression I have had since Horizon Zero Dawn debuted on the PlayStation 4 in 2017, the company catapulted protagonist Aloy to the forefront of as many marketing campaigns as possible since. Perhaps that’s because Hermen Hulst went from developer Guerilla Games to rising through the ranks to become the boss of Sonybut regardless, the franchise is here to stay.

And, while we’re expecting a blocky version of Aloy’s adventures this year with LEGO Horizon Adventureswe also have a stunning, breathtaking remaster of the PS4 original coming to PlayStation 5.

If you haven’t yet caught up with Aloy and her robot-killing bow skills, Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered offers the best opportunity to do so as one of best PS5 games of recent years. However, if you’re a seasoned member of the tribe, you may find less to enjoy.

A post-post-apocalypse, once again

Young Aloy and Rost explore in Horizon Forbidden West Remastered

(Image credit: Sony/PlayStation)

It’s worth noting that attaching “Remastered” to the base game’s title actually seems a bit inappropriate in this context. It’s far more impressive than a fresh coat of paint on the original first version of the game. That’s not to say it isn’t radically prettier (which I’ll get to shortly), but if you’re expecting If the game is a little less special based on this title, you might be surprised.

In ten minutes, I played the role of a young Aloy wandering the underground rooms of a laboratory buried for centuries. Aside from the way the light bounces off the water, reflecting intricately off the walls, when Aloy first grabs her Focus (the gadget she uses to navigate the world), the way its purple-hued user interface contrasting with the cavernous corridors had me sitting forward. on my chair.

The exteriors also have a significant shine. I found there was more dynamic lighting and reflections, both from the sunlight on the mountains and trees and the angry eye of the Watcher machines, but it’s the foliage that seems the most impressive.

A machine to watch in Horizon Forbidden West Remastered

(Image credit: Sony/PlayStation)

Aloy walks through him as he sways and reacts to her movements, and she reaches out to touch him in return. The cinematic motion capture has been redone in many places (at least according to Sony), but some slightly questionable animations with young Aloy seem a bit disabled, notably when she falls awkwardly into the aforementioned laboratory.

However, this lessens after the time jump that sees her reintroduced as an adult, and from that point on you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference between this remaster and the second game in the series, that of 2022. Horizon Forbidden West.

It’s not just Aloy who sees a glimmer. His mentor, Rost, has more detail in his character model, with a more realistic beard than I remember in 2017, and although some unnamed non-player characters (NPCs) look very similar, all named characters have significantly improved their feature details. and clothing, right down to sewing outfits.

This also extends to the machines that travel the world, from the Watcher to the Thunderjaw to the Stormbird, having lighter, more mechanical details like tendons and robotic circuitry.

It’s time to take another look

Aloy bows out in Horizon Forbidden West Remastered

(Image credit: Sony/PlayStation)

Sure, it’s prettier than the 2017 original, but Zero Dawn has never been a slouch in the visual department. In fact, the reason fewer people were talking about it was probably its difficult release timing alongside the Nintendo Switch And The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – another open-world game that benefits from being attached to an established franchise.

With that in mind, this remaster serves as a great opportunity to watch Zero Dawn free of these contemporary comparisons, and it’s remarkable how well the game’s underlying mechanics hold up.

It’s a game full of satisfying moments, especially in combat. Hitting a robot to see its armor fly away and sparks fly remains just as enjoyable today as it was in 2017, and while stealth remains a formal process of wandering between patches of tall grass, there is some something so kinetic Zero DawnIt’s no wonder Sony is working on a game as a service in this universe.

Using the tripcaster to take down a colossal mechanical beast, or moving away from a Strider while slow-moving to fire a fire arrow at the canister on its back is made more tactile by the enhanced rumble and haptic triggers of the DualSense wireless controller this time around, and while the sound of the Focus through the controller’s speakers seems a bit annoying at times, the whole thing tickles the brain so well that I suggest Horizon it is fighting in the third person what Fate is from first person shooter games.

Best song

Young Aloy explores an underground cavern in Horizon Forbidden West Remastered — (Image credit: Sony/PlayStation)

There’s a moment right at the start of the game where a young Aloy wanders through the ruins of a laboratory buried underground. The way the light in the area reflects off the water in the cave-like laboratory is a great early demonstration of this remaster’s graphical fidelity.

Everything is executed at such an impressive level of finesse that I can see myself grinding through levels to gain skills for Aloy again, even with missing sequel features like vertical traps and a charged spear attack. This means returning from Forbidden West doesn’t seem as shocking as it might have, and if you haven’t played Zero Dawn before playing the sequel, there has never been a better time.

A big part of why it’s so enjoyable to play is the performance mode options, which are pretty much a direct transplant from Horizon Forbidden West. Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered short in 4K in Favor Resolution mode but can run in Favor Performance mode at 30, 40 and 60 frames per second (FPS) with compromises at each level on PC, while the PS5 version only offers a 60 FPS version.

I will say that while Resolution mode is often my preference for increased detail, Performance mode has quickly become my standard way to enjoy the remaster. This is mainly due to the increased fluidity that can be felt in almost all animations, whether it’s Aloy running or aiming her bow. Regardless of the mode I tested, however, I didn’t notice any frame drops of any real consequence, nor any major drop in visual fidelity.

The only real disappointment in returning from the sequel is that Horizon Zero DawnToday’s world is noticeably flatter in terms of topography. There are still steep hills and cliffs to climb, but Forbidden West added more verticality to its terrain, making things a little less varied here.

“I’ve been here before.”

Aloy ziplining in Horizon Forbidden West Remastered

(Image credit: Sony/PlayStation)

Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered is £45/$50 for anyone getting started for the first time, but if you already own it, you’ll get it for just £10/$10. For that, it’s hard not to be tempted given what’s on offer visually, and given that it’s been free on various PlayStation promotions in the past, you might be surprised to know that you already have access to it.

This Remaster also includes the Frozen Wildlands expansion that adds a new region, quests and unlockable skills for Aloy, making it a truly complete edition – except we’ve already had one Complete edition…And also a PS5 performance patch.

This might mean you’re less enthusiastic about going back than you otherwise would have been, but you can import your save if you stopped at any time before. The process is very simple and also relies on cloud backups. I was grateful to have found some old saves from 2018 that I could use to get back to some of the most impressive machines in the game. You can also start a New Game+ from your previous save. The photo mode is also great, offering a whole host of options with which I took the majority of photos in this review and is easy to enter and exit from the pause menu.

Your level of pleasure in Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered it will probably depend on how much time you spent with him before. If this has made you a long-time fan of Aloy’s adventures, then you’ll no doubt pay the modest sum for a visually stunning facelift of the first chapter. If you’ve completed it and filed it, you may have less reason to come back.

You will be disappointed if you are looking for new content, but that is not the point of this Remaster. It’s a stunning game, and if you want to revisit the game – or if you missed it Frozen Wildlands and you want to see this in all its glory – then this is the definitive and most beautiful version of the game to play now.

Should you play Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered follows Forbidden West with a range of accessibility features including remappable buttons, hold/press options for controls, adjustable weapon wheel speed, and co-pilot functionality to allow a second controller to be used to mirror the orders. There are also a series of difficulty settings to make the game easier or harder, including modifiers for damage dealt, damage taken, and an auto-heal option.

You can choose to automatically display quest destinations on screen or be able to explore and find them on your own, while subtitles come in multiple sizes and with or without a background. Tinnitus sounds can also be turned off entirely, and sound and vibration signals are played when action prompts appear on the screen.

The biggest omission, however, is the colorblind modes. Although these were added after the launch of Forbidden West, they simply aren’t there in Zero Dawn Remastered. I hope it will be fixed soon.

Aloy in the snow in Horizon Forbidden West Remastered

(Image credit: Sony/PlayStation)

How I Reviewed Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

I played the game from the beginning for about 10 hours, before switching to an endgame save of the PS4 version to tackle bigger endgame level machines for another five hours.

I spent half the time in Performance mode, and half in Quality mode to test the differences between them. All of this was achieved on a base (launch) PlayStation 5 console with a Sky Glass 4K TV and the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P.

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Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered review: Aloy’s first adventure gets a massive tune-up

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