Even though she's only been in our lives for a little over seven years, she still feels like such a big part of our gaming history. I'm talking about Aloy, of course. When Guerrilla Games chose to create an open world game, they borrowed liberally from a lot of what was already out there, but I still thought Zero Dawn felt pretty fresh in many ways. There were two things in particular that stood out: Aloy was a cool character and the world was stunningly beautiful. I remember thinking during my hours with the game that it was among the most technically accomplished I had ever seen. I was incredibly impressed by the visuals back then and somehow I feel that this remaster above all does what these types of polishes often do: It makes us look at the game today as we did back then. You know it's a visual upgrade but it still looks the same, somehow.
We know the story: Aloy is an outcast and as a child finds a mysterious object when she falls into a cave. We are in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have reverted to a more primitive lifestyle and live side by side with dinosaur-like robots. These suddenly start to run amok and why this is happening is one of the many mysteries we must unravel during this adventure.
It is possible that someone is picking up this remaster to play Horizon: Zero Dawn for the very first time. But I think most people who are curious have played the original or at least know it. Since I've already mastered the story as it happened, I'm jumping more into this version to make a clean comparison. To summarise what I think of the game as such, as a lover of open worlds, I'm someone who appreciated it very much when it came out. I liked the atmosphere, the world, the story and fighting people. For those who want more meat on the bones regarding the game as such, you can read our review from when it first released.
By the time I get reacquainted with Aloy, as I said, it has been more than seven years. In fact, we are approaching eight. I immediately notice that from a purely technical standard, there is no doubt that Zero Dawn Remastered looks like how I imagine it actually looked in 2017. But at the same time, I realise that this is not the case. The visuals are top notch anyway and definitely one of the most technically beautiful things you can experience. The lighting is particularly magnificent, but there are many other things here that are also greatly improved. One notable one is that the game's populated locations feel much more alive with more characters. There is, however, some odd behaviour from the added characters, who traipse around in a classic manner, either on the spot or in circles. But the atmosphere is much denser and more populous. If you make clean comparisons between how it actually looked in February 2017 versus today, there is no doubt that a lot of care and work has been put into raising the bar. Added to that are many hours of new motion capture work that makes the dialogue sequences much more vivid.
But... because yes - there is a rather big but, one might ask if there is really any point in remastering a game that is so 'young' and still looks so incredibly good. Horizon Zero Dawn looked and looks fantastic and even though this version of the game is very good, you can philosophise about the need for it for a long time. I mean, you could argue that we could get another one in the future that runs in 120 frames and in 8K where also the characters faces look like they do in the cutscenes. It's kind of polishable, again, if you wanted to. When the foundation is already fantastically beautiful, it feels a bit unnecessary, after all. In addition, there are some visual glitches, so it's not quite perfect, anyway. But on the other hand, we get sequences where Aloy talks to someone who feels much more alive, we get terrific weather effects and light and we get settlements with more characters and more life and movement. If you also put this remaster next to its sequel Forbidden West, we also have two games that look more coherent together.
I also find that as soon as I start Aloy's first journey again, I am hooked. It is still a grand and entertaining adventure in so many ways. The environments are incredible and when the light falls between the foliage, I stop and use the game's photo mode. The action sequences against the machines are often absolutely fantastic and in addition, the expansion is included and if you own the original but want to upgrade, the price for this is very affordable.
The game mechanics as such are intact, which makes it a bit limited around some things. I remember in 2017 reacting to the fact that you could not jump up or over things that reached Aloy's knees and the climbing is more elaborate than in the sequel. But if you haven't played this in almost eight years or are about to experience the adventure for the first time, this version is either a good reason to do it again or the best way to do it for the first time. It is therefore quite difficult to oppose this new version when it is as fantastic as it is in many ways. Even if I still can't let go of the idea that it really wasn't needed.