Horizon Zero Dawn was once the most beautiful console game ever made. Guerilla Games ditches Killzone for a vibrant open-world adventure with a compelling protagonist, in a setting that combines hordes and robots like never before. It’s mesmerizing and a huge success judging by the millions of copies sold.
Forbidden West followed in its footsteps a few years later, and a third installment and online spin-off are currently in production, but to fill the void and bolster its lackluster library of exclusives, Sony released Horizon Zero Zero “Dawn” remake. It’s a renaissance that didn’t need to exist, and cements the return of the PlayStation brand to the arrogance of delivering the latest games in a slightly new coat of paint and acting like they’re hung with stars.
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered Makes This Beautiful Game Even Beautifulr
However, when you break it all down, what Nixxes has achieved here is impressive, but it doesn’t push itself far enough to compare to the original game and its ambitious sequel. It shows its age in its animations, mission design, cutscenes and lack of quality of life, and a remaster like this really should take that into consideration.
Whether you own a physical or digital copy of the original, Sony will charge existing owners $10 to upgrade to the new version. Otherwise it will cost you $49.99.
Let’s get this out of the way right away – Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered is fantastic. We didn’t have a chance to test the game on PS5 Pro, but it’s still visually striking on the original console, both in terms of visuals, performance, and balance presets.
We worked together to make the open world feel more alive, with deep flowing water equipped with lifelike reflections and lush foliage giving the impression that nature has long since taken over this once bustling cultural landscape, while the characters within it feel more alive. Full of life. More alive than before. It’s never looked better, but by adding to its cosmetic beauty, the remaster only highlights how Horizon Zero Dawn has aged in other ways.
Characters can feel stilted when walking around the open world, especially in large cities like Meridian, and the way robots and natural wildlife react to Aloy in combat feels weirdly dated compared to Forbidden West. . It would have been nice to see the sequel’s gameplay advancements baked into Zero Dawn, but most of the new additions are just cosmetic. Luckily, the new hours of motion capture data do a decent job of transforming the conversational exchange into something more than just two talking heads gnashing their teeth at each other.
If you have a variable refresh rate monitor, my recommendation is to choose the “Balanced” preset. Like many first-party releases over the past few years, it strikes a balance between crisp 4K graphics and solid 40 frames-per-second operation. Best of both worlds.
The camera has been pulled out, allowing Aloy and other characters to express emotion through arm and body movements, occasionally moving around the scene rather than standing frozen in place. You’ll see some animations repeated in more generic side missions, but key narrative milestones and large set pieces have been surprisingly overhauled.
The character model looks stunning, with tons of detail on the body and costume, and Aloy received special upgrades to make her even more attractive and radiant. You can enter Photo Mode and spend a few minutes picking out finer details, most of which are more consistent throughout the experience than before. Zero Dawn has never looked better, but it’s also never felt older.
But it’s not enough
Every underwhelming visual enhancement, outdated mission design, gimmicky UI that’s cumbersome to navigate, and an open-world template that’s become stale over the past seven years brings me back to reality. Obviously, you can’t expect Nixxes to add tons of new content or completely change the fundamentals of a version of the game that most of us would spend $10 on, but the lack of meaningful quality-of-life changes is harder to forgive when Forbidden West exists . If the goal was to bring Zero Dawn in line with its successor, why were so many of its obnoxious elements completely untouched?
Where the user interface felt overcrowded and poorly organized in the original game, Forbidden West takes a number of steps to completely change the look and feel of its navigation. In the remaster, you want these advancements to be applied retroactively, but it’s pretty much the same as the original. You’ll see the same lack of attention in the on-screen icons and content like this, which should be improved upon more than stuck with an outdated basic design. The decision not to make similar changes to the combat system, climbing mechanics, and constant interaction with the open world makes Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered feel strangely dated.
Seven years later, original game shines
I’ve turned down Zero Dawn and Wild West many times in the past, so I saw this remake as an opportunity to confront my biases and take another step forward.
The end result is a success, and while the remaster highlights how dated the experience is in many ways, it’s still fun enough. This sweet world is a joy to explore, filled with collectibles to find and secrets to uncover, while encounters with robotic wildlife are both challenging and varied. Aloy has many weapons and equipment at her disposal, and it’s still incredibly satisfying to combine them to blow machines to smithereens. If you’re a huge Horizon fan and want an excuse to revisit where it all started, this is the perfect way to do it, and arguably the best way to play the game right now.
Unfortunately, I still found Aloy’s hero’s journey to be average and unsatisfying as a protagonist. Her introduction and journey to become an explorer who ultimately saves the world is compelling in theory and the surrounding lore is interesting, but the way it’s executed is so mediocrely predictable that it’s hard to watch Feel engaged. Aloy becomes so obsessed with who she is and where she comes from that she forgets to develop a personality beyond that.
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered continues the tradition of launching alongside highly anticipated role-playing games, launching on the same day as Dragon Age: Veiled Keeper.
The supporting cast doesn’t do enough to mitigate this shortcoming, so despite my best efforts, Horizon Zero Dawn just didn’t light the narrative fire in me. It’s frustratingly dull, predictable, and out of place in a creative open world. Those who don’t like this aspect won’t have their minds changed by this cheap and enjoyable remake, but it’s still engaging enough on a mechanical level that I still had a lot of fun playing it.
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered doesn’t need to exist, but we already have it, and given the $10 upgrade fee, its existence will likely be even more brutal. Passionate fans looking for an excuse to replay Aloy’s first adventure and enjoy the lovely visuals and fresh trophy list will find this remaster a no-brainer, but for skeptics like me That said, it’s hard to ignore the lack of quality-of-life improvements, which just highlights how far things have come since Horizon Zero Dawn first launched, and how difficult it is to look back.
Comment on PlayStation 5
Horizon Zero Dawn has received the remaster treatment. The PS4 game’s visuals have been completely revamped for PS5, and 10 hours of dialogue have been re-recorded, bringing the first Horizon game to the same standard as Westin.
- A gorgeous upgrade to an already gorgeous game
- Still a fun and engaging open world adventure
- The $10 upgrade fee is easy to swallow
- Conspicuous lack of gameplay and quality of life improvements
- The narrative still feels unoriginal and cliche