Horizon Zero Dawn - Preview Thread [Up: All Previews Live]

I was watching the gameplay Sony released in their PS Youtube channel, and right when I clicked at 12:35 the guy said it felt a little bit as Far Cry 3. Funny when saying it in some threads here people go crazy.

I think the game looks amazing, but the Far Cry elements are all over it, even the menus and the upgrade system seems quite similar - it's okay as long as these elements doesn't feel as shallow as it is in the FC series. I'm gonna watch that Easy Allies preview though, to see how they feel about it.

Edit:
That dynamic whether tho!! That's pretty impressive!
 
Nightengale said:
Still hard to believe that andromeda animation looks so... dated.
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I expected better from both games, significantly better. It won't be stop me from buying them, but they're still disappointing.

And The Witcher isn't that much better either, the animations are still very stilted.
 
danowat said:
Just watched the Easy Allies preview of this game, I haven't really followed this game much, but understand there is a fair amount of hype about it, from what I saw, it seems to follow the footsteps on Far Cry (in particular, Primal), what set's it apart from those?
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Do you really not see a different combat? or an actual engaging monster battles?

This game feels so Japanese when it comes to non human enemy battles which is something Western devs kinda struggle with.

They even take notes from Platinum games with the whole eyes glowing before attacking thing.

i look at mammoth hunt from Far Cry and Thunderjaw fight from E3 demo and I see different things

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fQb-7km7qs
https://youtu.be/qAS9VO8qoKM?t=4m40s

that mammoth fight looks like a snoozefest to me in comparison.
 
Skux said:
Agreed, this looks like the action-adventure gameplay we'd expect from something like Deus Ex or MGSV. There's scouting and marking, to give you an idea of how to approach a combat scenario and place traps and take advantage of environmental objects. There's stealth, which opens up a lot of hit and run options. There's different components to shoot off which you can prioritise to gain combat advantages. And there's real-time shooting mechanics which rewards good aim.



The best "Ubisoft towers" are the ones that aren't just towers, but have the puzzle of "how do I get there?" attached to them. Watch Dogs did this best, with each CTOS server being its own mini-mission. It seems like GG has taken this into account as well, with the player needing to figure out how to get to the right point to scale the creature.
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yeah, the variety in combat looks second to none. Assuming the best and most challenging boss fights and weapons are towards the end of the game, I can't imagine this one not wowing the critics and fans alike. Finally some combat that compete with classics like Vanquish or Metal Gear!

Another point to all this Ubisoft tower hate, I have no idea what you guys are talking about as I haven't played a Ubisoft game since like AC2, and didn't finish that. I don't think as many ppl have a problem with this design style as GAF implies, like at all.
 
Yeah, I too am getting the feeling that this is just an improved formula on Far Cry. This is going to let me down if there's a lot of fetch quests without any NPC character development.
 
GinoFelino said:
Too bad? You mean, so you couldn't call it your GOTY?

You still got to play two amazing games, which is cause for celebration, right? :)

I really hope Guerilla was able to take it to the next level with Horizon. It'd be a small miracle coming from Killzone: Shadow Fall.
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Shadow Fall doesn't mean anything for this game. It was done by a smaller B-team and was developed within what? 1,5 years? While the main guys worked on Horizon for many years now. It's a bit like judging or writing off Platinum because they did Legend Of Korra or the Ninja Turtles game. Killzone 2 was great and Killzone 3 pretty good too and they hired a lot of new guys with RPG, story and open world experience, so they know on which aspects they needed to work on and improve.
So I'm pretty optimistic for Horizon, the previews are great and I am looking forward to play the game.
 
YouTube comments never cease to amaze me, I don't usually read them but I thought I'll give it a shot and see what they're saying about Horizon.

lo and behold, some are out in full force talking about downgrades. Why spread such obvious lies?
 
Pyroblazer said:
Shadow Fall doesn't mean anything for this game. It was done by a smaller B-team and was developed within what? 1,5 years? While the main guys worked on Horizon for many years now. It's a bit like judging or writing off Platinum because they did Legend Of Korra or the Ninja Turtles game. Killzone 2 was great and Killzone 3 pretty good too and they hired a lot of new guys with RPG, story and open world experience, so they know on which aspects they needed to work on and improve.
So I'm pretty optimistic for Horizon, the previews are great and I am looking forward to play the game.
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I'd like to see the receipts on bolded, please.

Guerrilla hasn't made a truly great game since Killzone 2, eight years ago. That's very different from what you can say about Platinum. In that timespan, Platinum has released classics like Vanquish, Bayonetta 1+2, The Wonderful 101, MadWorld and Metal Gear Rising and will soon release the likely wonderful Nier Automata. So yeah. Can we put that comparison to rest? :)

Of course the studio's last game matters for people's anticipation/scepticism. That's only healthy and in this case, pretty fair as well. It doesn't mean people aren't open to Horizon: Zero Dawn being amazing!
 
Omnistalgic said:
yeah, the variety in combat looks second to none. Assuming the best and most challenging boss fights and weapons are towards the end of the game, I can't imagine this one not wowing the critics and fans alike. Finally some combat that compete with classics like Vanquish or Metal Gear!

Another point to all this Ubisoft tower hate, I have no idea what you guys are talking about as I haven't played a Ubisoft game since like AC2, and didn't finish that. I don't think as many ppl have a problem with this design style as GAF implies, like at all.
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I like the "Tower" aspect in Horizon with the Tall necks because at least it presents some sort of platforming challenge to the player.
The need to figure out climbing pathways helps keep things fresh every time you have to clamber up one (helps that there's always a gorgeous view once your on top!)

And its cool we can totally ignore them if we feel like wanting to discover quests, icons etc organically too, but I'm crunched for game time usually so will do a mix of both.
 
https://twitter.com/Guerrilla/status/826412330707722240
We are proud to announce that Dutch Actress Hannah Hoekstra lends her likeness to Aloy.
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C3gBe16WEAAOd0p.jpg:large
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I don't know, Farcry gameplay look pretty good to me, watched some high skilled gameplay video, seems deep.
Maybe I never played Ubisoft open world, or open world games in general, I don't see why any of those open world's game structures turn GAF off so much.
 
Equanimity said:
What do you mean? Are you talking about a levelling system like The Witcher 3?
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He is talking story wise.

wapplew said:
I don't know, Farcry gameplay look pretty good to me, watched some high skilled gameplay video, seems deep.
Maybe I never played Ubisoft open world, or open world games in general, I don't see why any of those open world's game structures turn GAF off so much.
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Repetitiveness. You do the same thing again and again and again
 
silva1991 said:
Do you really not see a different combat? or an actual engaging monster battles?

This game feels so Japanese when it comes to non human enemy battles which is something Western devs kinda struggle with.

They even take notes from Platinum games with the whole eyes glowing before attacking thing.

i look at mammoth hunt from Far Cry and Thunderjaw fight from E3 demo and I see different things

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fQb-7km7qs
https://youtu.be/qAS9VO8qoKM?t=4m40s

that mammoth fight looks like a snoozefest to me in comparison.
Click to expand...

The combat does look more, active,as for engaging?, as in what?, having to hit a glowing target?

Outside of that, and the RPG mechanics, there are a lot of Far Cry / Ass Creed ism's, so you can't blame anyone for drawing a comparison.

I'll look into the game in a bit more depth, because I haven't followed it, and don't know much about it.
 
deim0s said:
I watched a video from Playstation (Access? I forget) the one they published are from OG PS4s, and it looks fine. They mentioned that the Pro ups it a level or two and will melt faces off.
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So one version looks fine the other melts faces off.

Sounds like quite the disparity, can't wait for DF comparison vids.
 
I actually enjoy the Ubisoft house style of open world games and their loop of explore - discovery - conquest, so comparisons to Far Cry are only a positive for me.

I think a lot of people are against it because it is recognisable, like people who rattle off discoveries on TV Tropes as if it makes a movie bad for deploying them. If tropes are used effectively - both in story terms and game design terms - the game can still be high quality and have a presence of its own.

The Ubisoft house style doesn't work if the game and the systems that surround them aren't enjoyable. For example, Far Cry games, Black Flag, Ezio-era AC, AC Syndicate and Shadows of Mordor are all examples of the formula done well, whereas Unity fell flat because the discovery part of the loop was both overwhelming and dull, while exploration was marred by frustrating control and glitches, and conquest fell short because of limited combat and stealth options.

From what we've seen of Horizon, it seems the systems and content surrounding the explore - conquest - discovery loop are well crafted, so I see no reason to be concerned by the Far Cry-esque structure. The combat alone appears to be deep and dynamic, but we'll have to wait and see on the narrative side.
 
GinoFelino said:
I'd like to see the receipts on bolded, please.

Guerrilla hasn't made a truly great game since Killzone 2, eight years ago. That's very different from what you can say about Platinum. In that timespan, Platinum has released classics like Vanquish, Bayonetta 1+2, The Wonderful 101, MadWorld and Metal Gear Rising and will soon release the likely wonderful Nier Automata. So yeah. Can we put that comparison to rest? :)

Of course the studio's last game matters for people's anticipation/scepticism. That's only healthy and in this case, pretty fair as well. It doesn't mean people aren't open to Horizon: Zero Dawn being amazing!
Click to expand...

Sorry but half of those Platinum games aren't classics, they are for you but they got the same or less critical praise than Killzone 3.

Also, people are talking as if both Killzone 3 and Shadow Fall were a complete disgrace and they are still very competent shooters.
 
Equanimity said:
What do you mean? Are you talking about a levelling system like The Witcher 3?
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No, I never even mentioned The Witcher 3, and I'm not talking about role-playing character statistics, but rather if the side-quests bring us any meaningful development of NPCs in the story department.
 
MegaSackman said:
Sorry but half of those Platinum games aren't classics, they are for you but they got the same or less critical praise than Killzone 3.

Also, people are talking as if both Killzone 3 and Shadow Fall were a complete disgrace and they are still very competent shooters.
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I see my point was lost on you, then. Too bad.

FelipeMGM said:
yep thats Aloy for sure
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I hope she hasn't been reading all those comments about Aloy being homely-looking.
 
AerialAir said:
No, I never even mentioned The Witcher 3, and I'm not talking about role-playing character statistics, but rather if the side-quests bring us any meaningful development of NPCs in the story department.
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Yeah you should see some meaningful development and choice based consequences.

"Some decisions you make have consequences down the line, even if some character dies or not. There are some dialogues that cause reactions, as you play along, completing quests, NPCs will notice your choices."

http://www.eurogamer.pt/articles/20...a-historia-influenciam-a-morte-de-personagens
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So, what am I supposed to take from this quote?

"Side content is more like farcry than witcher"

Disclaimer: Its not that I want a Witcher at all... but Farcry type of side quests? Yeah, that worries me a bit... I mean that is pretty much the epitome of boring generic side questing.

Did other previews share similar impressions over this?
 
valkyre said:
So, what am I supposed to take from this quote?

"Side content is more like farcry than witcher"

Disclaimer: Its not that I want a Witcher at all... but Farcry type of side quests? Yeah, that worries me a bit... I mean that is pretty much the epitome of boring generic side questing.

Did other previews share similar impressions over this?
Click to expand...

Maybe the "taking down outpost" kind of thing but I think with yesterday's previews we have a better idea on what to expect. It looks more deep than Far Cry in regards of side activities.
 
GinoFelino said:
I'd like to see the receipts on bolded, please.

Guerrilla hasn't made a truly great game since Killzone 2, eight years ago. That's very different from what you can say about Platinum. In that timespan, Platinum has released classics like Vanquish, Bayonetta 1+2, The Wonderful 101, MadWorld and Metal Gear Rising and will soon release the likely wonderful Nier Automata. So yeah. Can we put that comparison to rest? :)

Of course the studio's last game matters for people's anticipation/scepticism. That's only healthy and in this case, pretty fair as well. It doesn't mean people aren't open to Horizon: Zero Dawn being amazing!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call The Wonderful 101 a classic and MadWorld is average imo. The others are fine, but so are Killzone 2 and 3 imo. And I didn't want to compare them anyway, but I didn't wrote Scalebound off because Platinum did TMNT, because that was obviously a rushed game with not much budget and that will affect even very talented studios.
You just need to google who worked on Shadow Fall and the New dinosaur IP was a thing long before Shadow Fall. For example the director od KZ2+3 (de Jonge) wasn't involved in Shadow Fall and is directing Horizon. Shadow Fall felt like a rushed tech demo to show off with the PS4. Even if they worked on it since KZ3 it wasn't a long development cycle and rumors suggest that Horizon was already a thing back then.
 
I noticed one thing people might have missed. We now know that "cauldrons" are the dungeons in this game and I noticed that in our inventory we have a notebook with a machine catalogue. If you read the information it says exactly which cauldron built the machine. This is what I'm talking about:

Cauldron RHO (SPOILER New machine type):

z460b59.png
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Cauldron ZETA:

wB4jy04.png
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Cauldron PSI:

MzNjaGF.png
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Cauldron Sigma is the one we saw in the new gameplay videos:

R2UhjS4.png
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I guess there will be more? I'm excited. Really hope these are some good dungeons and not just small things like the tombs in Tomb Raider reboot.
 
Aloy's lip sync and voice acting is quite poor. The couple of NPCs I saw also had poor voice acting and lip sync. One female NPC had good voice acting and lip sync. Main issue would be to fix Aloy's voice acting and lip sync at least.

Combat seems way to ranged for my liking. It just feels like a shooter in disguise. Also, do we have to capture the mount every time? That could get annoying.

The graphics are awesome though, and the NPC faces are very detailed. The locations look great and the environment artists have done an excellent job. The level design seems nice too. I'd love to run around and do quests in this world, but the combat puts me off.
 
Pyroblazer said:
I wouldn't call The Wonderful 101 a classic and MadWorld is average imo. The others are fine, but so are Killzone 2 and 3 imo. And I didn't want to compare them anyway, but I didn't wrote Scalebound off because Platinum did TMNT, because that was obviously a rushed game with not much budget and that will affect even very talented studios.
You just need to google who worked on Shadow Fall and the New dinosaur IP was a thing long before Shadow Fall. For example the director od KZ2+3 (de Jonge) wasn't involved in Shadow Fall and is directing Horizon. Shadow Fall felt like a rushed tech demo to show off with the PS4. Even if they worked on it since KZ3 it wasn't a long development cycle and rumors suggest that Horizon was already a thing back then.
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The classics thing is not the point, really. The point is Guerrilla has had both a very barren release slate in the last eight years and quality has been debatable at best. I was using your example of Platinum to illustrate that.

If they've really been working on this game for 6 years, well, it better be good! :) Again, the point is that scepticism is understandable in this instance.
 
Exentryk said:
Aloy's lip sync and voice acting is quite poor. The couple of NPCs I saw also had poor voice acting and lip sync. One female NPC had good voice acting and lip sync. Main issue would be to fix Aloy's voice acting and lip sync at least.

Combat seems way to ranged for my liking. It just feels like a shooter in disguise. Also, do we have to capture the mount every time? That could get annoying.

The graphics are awesome though, and the NPC faces are very detailed. The locations look great and the environment artists have done an excellent job. The level design seems nice too. I'd love to run around and do quests in this world, but the combat puts me off.
Click to expand...

You only have to capture another if your current mount gets destroyed or gets left behind.
 
valkyre said:
So, what am I supposed to take from this quote?

"Side content is more like farcry than witcher"

Disclaimer: Its not that I want a Witcher at all... but Farcry type of side quests? Yeah, that worries me a bit... I mean that is pretty much the epitome of boring generic side questing.

Did other previews share similar impressions over this?
Click to expand...

Witcher 3 had "Far Cry" type side quests too. Secret Treasures, Monster Nests, Witcher Gear, and Bandit Camps. People just completely forgot about all that stuff apparently because it doesn't fit their narrative.

edit: Forgot about Places of Power, Monster Dens and Spoils of War. Man the Witcher 3 was literally Far Cry.
 
Equanimity said:
Amazon UK sales rank for the PS4 Pro and Horizon Zero Dawn shot up after all the media yesterday:

Sony has got a system seller in Horizon :)
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I'd say this has the chance to be the first big impact game Sony has had outside of Naughty Dog games. Always felt their own output was mainly solid (or critical indie darling), not quite breaking through into blockbuster.
 
AerialAir said:
Yeah, I too am getting the feeling that this is just an improved formula on Far Cry. This is going to let me down if there's a lot of fetch quests without any NPC character development.
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I've been getting that vibe for awhile. I'm still interested, but not at $60 and I want to hear impressions from GAFers. Seems like a game I'll pick up this summer.
 
What really wow me is the Decima engine. All those lushes of greenery. Imagine a Monster Hunter or even a Elder Scrolls game with it.
 
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