It’s finally time to plunge back into the post apocalyptic, Dino robot filled world of horizon. This time into the forbidden west. I should start by clarifying that I am a major horizon and robodino fan and I will have to try my best to be less biased then I would normally be.
With that gubbins said and done, I’ll start by simply saying. Bang tidy.
As expected I loved this game and while keeping this review as spoiler free as my tiny mind can manage, I’ll tackle the number one aspect first. This game continues to explain how everyone on earth, pre Dinobot, tackled the end of everything and their inevitable demise. Then post robosaur, how Aloy tries to stop it all from happening again. I’m in two minds on this games story, on one hand I enjoyed that the trailer for the game is the first 4 hours of story and everything after seems fresh and unknown, while some areas of the story are predictable, something I didn’t feel in zero dawn. I’m not sure what happened to the red blight. I don’t know if I missed something mid or post game, but it didn’t seem to explain if you manage to stop the expanse of death plant. It certainly mentions mid game slowing it down along with the storms plaguing the land however once the third act starts, it’s full focus on the central threat of the game.
That aside the mechanics of the game are much improved, everything seems more fluid and combat is enhanced a great deal over its predecessor. The melee combat now involves combos as well as special moves you can team with the bow to deal considerable damage. In tandem with this the A.I has also improved, what was once a fairly easy ordeal clearing an eclipse base, is now much more difficult with the improved A.I’s way of rooting you out and alerting other forces to your presence, not to mention them riding and owning tamed Dino-death machines.
The graphics are much improved in this game. Aloy’s facial features look much more real than the previous game, the dimples and imperfections in the skin can been seen and the hair texture and movement is more realistic. The same applies for the scenery, all highly improved with top notch PS5 graphics.
There is now also many more dinosaurs. From the lowly otter like burrower all the way to the aptly named SlaughterSpine, a massive Spinosaurus that’s mush more threatening than the fleshy one in Jurassic park 3. They all feel familiar and yet new at the same time, with new and old attacks along with an improved A.I.
All in all I really enjoyed this game, however I did find the story lacking somewhat, which is a shame because it was absolutely banging in the first game. That being said everything else is fantastic, maybe a few more trophies for side quests as I platinumed this game after around 50 hours and had a fair few side quests left, but that’s being a bit picky.
I’d certify this game 8/10 A highly Tasty Game … Lower than I thought I would but I feel it’s fair with the few glitches I had and the slightly lacking story. Well worth buying though.
Review By MoonHead.
Sony PS5 18th Febraury 2022
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