Release date

Horizon: Zero Dawn will be released exclusively on the PlayStation 4 on February 28th in the States and to the rest of the world on March 1st.

Who is working on it?

Horizon: Zero Dawn is being developed by Guerrilla Games, the Amsterdam based studio known for the PlayStation exclusive first-person shooter franchise Killzone. The game marks a pretty extreme departure for the studio best known for linear shooters, giving players a vibrant open world RPG to explore.

The man trying to make this transition to RPGs as smooth as possible is Horizon’s lead writer John Gonzalez. Gonzalez was one of the game directors on Fallout: New Vegas, and his experience in creating massive open worlds will be invaluable to Guerrilla.

While one of the main complaints thrown at Killzone was that the environments were made up of different shades of brown, Guerrilla are known for how far they can push a games visuals. Horizon is no different; the game looks incredible with a world that spans snow capped mountains to lush green plains.

We don’t currently know if Horizon means the end of Killzone, or if another studio will pick up the franchise but if things go well with Horizon, Guerrilla and Sony might have their hands on PlayStation’s next big franchise.

The Story

The story is still shrouded in mystery. What we do know is that you play as Aloy, a young woman born into a post-apocalyptic world where robotic creatures known as Machines rule the land. Aloy has been cast out of her tribe and she sets out to discover where she came from. Horizon’s world is a blend of the pre-historic and futuristic and the dinosaur like machines that roam the land are being corrupted, with even the more passive machines becoming aggressive.

Finding out more about who Aloy is, what happened to our world and where the machines come from and what is happening to them all look like questions that will be answered during the game.

The Gameplay

Horizon: Zero Dawn is very much a third-person Open-World RPG. Fans of The Witcher: Wild Hunt and Skyrim will feel right at home in this game. Travelling the world you will pick up plenty of side quests, engage in conversations with dialogue options and kills will net you XP to level up Aloy’s abilities.

Being stealthy looks like it will be a key part of the game, as by hiding in long grass Aloy can avert detection and strike silently. Aloy’s bow has plenty of different options, from firing electrical trip ropes, to explosive tipped arrows to take down her prey. Taking down some of the world’s bigger machines will require different tactical approaches and with both human and robot enemies, there should be plenty of variety.

Why we’re excited

Horizon: Zero Dawn is something different. Yes, there are plenty of open world games out there but for a first-party studio to be making this kind of game as an exclusive is really exciting. The game looks beautiful, the story has fantastic promise and in the short bits we have seen of her, Aloy looks like a really compelling character.

This is a big step for Guerrilla Games after 10 years of making the Killzone franchise, games with great promise and technical power that never quite reached their potential. So far, Horizon: Zero Dawn looks like it will reach its enormous potential. The good news is we don’t have long until we find out.