Horizon Zero Dawn Previews
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While the bigger news for those of you who live in the UK might be that Horizon Zero Dawn's release date has been moved up to March 1st, the rest of us are more fixated on the pair of new hands-on previews for the open world RPG that have emerged online.
The first article comes to us via GamingBolt:
The demo involves the main protagonist Aloy as she readies her equipment to hunt down these mechanized animals that roam the lands freely as the humans stay in hiding. Why is she hunting them down? It’s not answered in the demo as to why, but once I got my hands on the controls, it didn’t matter. With a smooth and precise configuration I hadn’t felt a third person adventure game with controls this good in a long time.
There were opportunities where I had to go hunting so I gave the old weapon a try. Aloy’s bow just had that feel, that, not only did it work perfectly it felt as though it knew how comfortable with it, especially when running or sneaking through the demo. The bow had a weight to it, a feel as though pulling back on it gave me the time I needed to look at exactly what I needed to take down, and it gave me the opportunity rather than feeling as though my pull back force amounted to nothing.
And then we take in a few more details, courtesy of SheAttack:
Horizon: Zero Dawn has a variety of primitive inspired weapons. You can use melee weapons for attacking up close and finishing off enemies when they are trapped or on low health. You can also used ranged weapons such as the bow and a sling shot type of weapon (my favorite) that can fling ice and fire bombs at enemies. I particularly admired how natural it felt to move around and dodge when necessary. I also felt the game was extremely fair and balanced as to how the enemies approached, charged, and attacked. There were plenty of ways to get out of a sticky situation by rolling, running, or using the variety of weapons. Maneuvering and using the ranged weapons felt spot on, and whatever I felt like doing, I did it. Whether it was shooting at enemies with my bow at a long distance or trapping an enemy to hot wire it and use as a makeshift vehicle, I felt like I was in charge.
I have no reservations or worries when it comes to the controls of this game, the overall feel, and the fun factor when hunting enemies. I had a blast and felt a rush of adrenaline each time an enemy sensed my presence and started charging at me. The music and sound effects definitely played a part in making it feel intense and gratifying.
