Developer: Guerrilla Games, Nixxes Software
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PC, PS5
Tested on: PS5
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered – Review
It hasn’t even been a year since we took a closer look at Horizon Forbidden West’s Complete Edition and there is already some new Horizon content on our site. This time, however, it’s a remaster of 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn. With Until Dawn’s recent remaster, which felt a bit redundant, we didn’t really have Horizon Zero Dawn on our wishlist to see remastered any time soon. This, of course, doesn’t mean that Guerilla Games’ title wasn’t amazing, we just didn’t expect it to be remastered so soon. Even before diving into this short review, we can already answer the main questions you’re probably asking yourselves. Was it really necessary to remaster this title already? Not really. Is the remaster worth it? Yes, it very much is.
As we won’t be delving into the nitty-gritty of Horizon Zero Dawn, we suggest reading our original review by clicking here. Granted, it was already quite a few years ago since we embarked on Aloy’s first adventure, and we welcomed the opportunity to once again play through Zero Dawn to see what the remaster has to offer. Truth be told, nothing really changed in terms of the actual gameplay experience. You’ll still be treated to an amazing action-adventure RPG experience with satisfying exploration and combat. You can opt to explore the open world around you at your own pace, but more than often following objectives and occasionally straying from the beaten path will already show you nearly everything the game has to offer. Of course, we tended to get distracted quite a bit, and this caused us to be over-leveled (again). So far our experience was almost similar to the one we had back in 2017 when the game was released on Sony’s PlayStation 4.
Of course, we reckon you’re wondering what the actual changes are. Well, other than updated textures, it seems that nearly everything has received an overhaul. Aloy’s character design leans closer to the character model we saw in Horizon Forbidden West, and we see other small improvements here as well, such as updated hair textures, more reactive clothing, and so on. The world itself has also received a significant visual upgrade, where the environment feels even more lush, and this is noticeable thanks to additional plant life and barren rocks now also have an extra layer of moss, etc. When you start playing the game, you’ll feel like Horizon Zero Dawn already looked this great on PlayStation 4, but when you actually compare the two, you can truly see a huge difference. We do have to say that due to lighting changes, some areas felt a bit overexposed at times.
Other than the graphical overhaul, hours of new motion capture footage have replaced the footage from dialogues in the game. Thanks to this, characters feel more alive, and the conversations appear a lot less static. This is even more noticeable due to the different camera angles during conversations. While the 2017 release often zoomed in on the upper body and the face of the person who was speaking, the Remastered version tends to show more of the character model. Characters also appear to be more expressive, even though a few uncanny valley moments still reared their ugly head.
Conclusion
In essence, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered offers almost exactly the same experience as the original 2017 release, albeit with so much visual polish making it a proper next-gen title. If you already own the game and are planning on replaying it, then we can say that it’s worth the $10 upgrade for PlayStation 5. If you’ve been on the fence for some time and you’ve been wondering if you should experience Aloy’s adventure for yourself, then it’s another easy recommendation to simply pick up the Remastered version. Keep in mind that the game is still priced the same as a new triple-A release, however. Last but not least, if you’re content with your first playthrough several years ago, then the Remastered edition probably won’t bring anything new to the table for you. While this remaster wasn’t exactly that high on our personal wishlist, we still enjoyed every minute of it, and it’s a remaster done right.
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[…] has only been a few days since we featured Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered on our site, and we find ourselves returning to the Horizon universe already. This time, however, […]