Getting into Horizon: Zero Dawn

It has been ages since I plugged in my PS4 – in fact last time I did, I was planning on selling it, and it was before my son was born. I ended up not selling it and I’m glad that I kept it (even if it has been neglected). Last week I saw people playing Horizon: Zero Dawn and I started watching a bit of it on Twitch – then decided that the game was just so beautiful and entertaining that I wanted to get a chance to play it myself and I didn’t want to spoil the story, so I stopped watching and swapped over to watching Zelda (which a lot of people have also been streaming, what a great time to be a gamer).

I decided to splurge and picked up the game from Amazon where my prime membership meant I would get a 20% discount. That saved me a whooping $15 (not sarcasm) – a big deal when it comes to console games. They’re typically around $80 Canadian when purchased new.

I set the PS4 back up, patched, logged into the PSN (I think I’m Stargrace if you want to add me) and added random friends who have purchased a console over the years. I only own a handful of games which seems quite pathetic. There’s Pinball (which I happen to play the most), Diablo 3, FFXIV (which I’m not even playing since it requires a subscription and I simply don’t have the time), and Little Big Planet 3 (I think this game is free atm if you have a PS+ subscription). Horizon showed up at my door two days later (yay) and required only a small little patch so I was up and playing within minutes. Ah, technology.

The game is absolutely stunning. PS4 share means I can show it off to everyone on social media, or save it for myself to view or make into a desktop. I will admit, one of the more appealing aspects of the game is that I don’t have to play a male character. I know, males play female characters all the time in video games when they have the choice (let face it, that choice isn’t around as often as it should) but I just relate more to playing a female character. You play Aloy, an Outcast. I don’t want to give things away, but lets just say that an absolutely gorgeous world combined with a strong female lead, and incredible mechanical beasts makes for a game that I won’t be bored of any time soon. There’s questing, adventuring, crafting, and just so much to do. I’ve barely scraped the surface because I keep stopping and pausing the game in photo mode and taking screenshots.

It is taking me a bit to get used to the controls – not because there’s anything wrong with them or it’s difficult in any way, but because I’ve always been a strict PC gamer, and controllers are still “new” to me. Eventually intuition takes over and I won’t have to keep looking down at the controller to see what buttons are where.

If you own a PS4 (or a PS4 Pro, or whatever they’ve come out with these days) I HIGHLY recommend picking up this game. There’s just too much good to say about it. In fact, I suppose I’ll get back to playing.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.