Horizon Zero Dawn was released over three years ago back in 2017 and it was one of the hottest launch releases to date as well as holding its place as one of the best-selling Playstation4 games. As an exclusive, it remained in Playstation4-only status for the past 3 years but that changes today, as Guerilla Games’ hit is now on PC.
We’ve checked out Horizon Zero Dawn before for Playstation 4 and you can check out our gameplay and story review in our original look at the game (Horizon Zero Dawn PS4 review). In this article, we’ll break down the gaming experience and try to compare side-by-side the graphical and gameplay differences of the PS4 and the PC release. We’ll also try and see if there are any PC-only changes and see how that affects gameplay.
About Horizon Zero Dawn
[letsinfoup]Let me make this very clear from the start: this is a story-driven game and is a single-player experience. There’s no multiplayer of any sorts nor leaderboards to tackle. But if you’re the F2P/esports crowd, this may not be for you so feel free to continue reading or click away now.
Echoing much of our initial review of Horizon Zero Dawn over 3 years ago, not much has changed in our perception of the game but there are particularly some details worth pointing out on the PC experience of HZD.
For the most part, Aloy’s story is now opened to PC gamers bringing the sequel a wider playerbase who may wish to look forward to the game once it at arrives although a time-exclusive delay may be in effect. Still, Horizon Zero Dawn was a beautiful game on the Playstation 4 and the PC version cranks that up to 11.
 Going back to the plot of the game, we focus on our heroine Aloy whose story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the player is left much in the dark about the reason why humanity has reverted back into a tribal way of living. Machines also roam the land and their origins are left a mystery. Aloy, outcast since birth, finds her way back to the Nora tribe of her birth and her lifelong training to prove she’s a Nora Brave also serves as a foundation on helping her solve the mysteries of her birth, why a faction wants her dead and so much more. Despite forbidden by her tribe, Aloy, adapts technology for her own use and this mixes a very raw, weapon handling mechanic with tech-assisted hunting tools which is a nice change of pace from the typical hack-and-slash. The appeal of Horizon Zero Dawn comes mostly from the game’s story and the openness of the game provides relative freedom to move about and proceed at one’s pace. There’s plenty of gameplay footage as well complete story videos if you want to spoil yourself. This review though will focus on the performance of the game on PC.
