What are your expectations for Horizon Zero Dawn?

I feel like it's gonna ultimately gonna turn out the same way I feel about every Guerilla-developed game I've played so far: stunning tech and passable, but unexceptional, gameplay. I've come away from just about every Guerilla title I've played feeling like it's a 7/10 game -- I've played Killzone: Liberation, Killzone 2, Killzone 3, and Killzone: Shadowfall.

Granted, they're all in the same franchise so I imagine there is something of an IP-based impression that carried through all of the games for me, but every time I personally see Horizon, I really like the art and the graphics but never seem to feel like the gameplay is really wowing me. It's odd, because the closest comparison I feel I can draw at this point is the new Tomb Raider games meets Far Cry, and I really enjoy the new Tomb Raiders and recent Far Cry titles.

That said, I do still look forward to playing the game eventually. I still think it looks interesting, but I do have a healthy amount of skepticism.
 
The writing will make or break. I'm still a little anxious after 1886, which actually made me angry during certain setions. Better talent is on this, so good thoughts are being taken.

The gameplay itself looks fine, great even. Missions look standard. Writing will be the test.
 
All the previews have been extremely positive, all the footage looks amazing and Sony are clearly confident that the quality is excellent.

But this is GAF so I assume it's gonna bomba, hurr hurr me pundit now, me like to say "told you so", me smarter than casuals.
 
I actually have low expectations outside of the visuals and maybe combat.

Im really hoping to be surprised. I'd love to pick it up. Come on gaf buzz and good reviews!
 
Lord of Castamere said:
The writing will make or break. I'm still a little anxious after 1886, which actually made me angry during certain setions. Better talent is on this, so good thoughts are being taken.

The gameplay itself looks fine, great even. Missions look standard. Writing will be the test.
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This game couldn't really have less to do with The Order other than them both being first party game.
 
eravulgaris said:
Reviews will be glowing at first, people will cheer and declare it GOTY. This is the first-week "HYPE".

But then, in week two, people will realise it's just a third person Far Cry game in a new scifi setting.

You'll see.
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Review copies are going out early and they have plenty of time to find faults and see if the game has lasting appeal, so If the reviews are glowing, then it's because it's great game.

Also the last 3 Far Cry games have been great, so if that was really true, I'm really not seeing the issue and with it being an action RPG, it will have more depth, when it comes to story, characters and probably gameplay too.
 
I can't handle but feel it is being massively over hyped..

Plus I want more games with real dinos.. this robot ones don't do them justice.
 
Yautja_Warrior said:
Review copies are going out early and they have plenty of time to find faults and see if the game has lasting appeal, so If the reviews are glowing, then it's because it's great game.

Also the last 3 Far Cry games have been great, so if that was really true, I'm really not seeing the issue and with it being an action RPG, it will have more depth, when it comes to story, characters and probably gameplay too.
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Killzone reviews (PS4) were good and the game is (for me) a huge pile of sh*t (a beautiful shiny sh*t but it still is). That's why I'm waiting.

PS4 Killzone bundle at launch was a mistake :/
 
It's gonna be sweet (I hope). I'm ready for an openworld game with a kind of new setting. So day 1 for me and fingers crossed.
 
Absolutely no idea. Guerilla is inconsistent in their output and this game, on the surface, looks like it adheres to the open world Ubisoft formula so much that I just can't bring myself to care about it. I'm getting sick to death of AAA games that pride themselves on how big and vast their environments are ("You see that mountain over there...?!), when in actuality roaming about in big fields and spacious canyons and what have you is not my idea of a good time anymore. That sort of thing is becoming too played out now. But to be fair, I haven't really been following the previews of the game, so maybe it's setting itself apart from the likes of your typical open world game in radical ways. I'll just wait for reviews and see if I like what I read.
 
Lord of Castamere said:
The writing will make or break. I'm still a little anxious after 1886, which actually made me angry during certain setions. Better talent is on this, so good thoughts are being taken.

The gameplay itself looks fine, great even. Missions look standard. Writing will be the test.
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That's a really strange comparison ... The writing in Crash Bandicoot wasn't good, so I'm dreading this will be the same.
A lot of people in here always chooses to be negative in advance so they can post "I told you so" afterwards if the reviews are bad. And if the reviews are good it's because the reviewers are biased.
 
I think reviews will be much higher than people think (>90 for sure), but I don't expect to share the enthusiasm for a simple reason: i watched several previews and i saw many reviewers praising stuff that i hate in games, or at least that i'd rather see less. I'm open to being surprised when i play it, but i think i have a pretty good idea of what kind of open world game this is.

About the general reception on gaf and the rest of the internet, like for every popular game it will have a huge vocal fanbase and many people who will vocally shit on it, but i can see it placing second on neogaf goty behind P5.
 
I have no expectations, and maybe that's the best thing for it. Just get it and play it without having any preconceived notions as to what it might be or what I want from it.

If it's good, it's good.
 
Chû Totoro;230120885 said:
Killzone reviews (PS4) were good and the game is (for me) a huge pile of sh*t (a beautiful shiny sh*t but it still is). That's why I'm waiting.

PS4 Killzone bundle at launch was a mistake :/
Click to expand...

Killzone SF (73 meta) had 46 good, 42 mixed reviews.

Killzone 2 (91 meta) had 90 good reviews and only 4 mixed reviews.

Killzone 3 (84 meta) had 75 good and only 10 mixed reviews.

Killzone Libiration (77 meta) had 39 good reviews and only 16 mixed reviews.

Killzone Mercenary (78 meta) had 62 good reviews and 24 mixed reviews.

The other KZ games hardly had any bad or mixed reviews but Killzone SF had plenty of reviews saying it might not be as good, as some of the other games in the series. I was disappointed with it too but only when it came to the story, the gameplay was still solid and some of the level design was great, like the open ended forest level.

Everyone is going to be different though and reviews should be there as a guide but not taken as a certainty that you will enjoy a game, even if the majority of people do.
 
I have none whatsoever. Didn't get the hype when it was announced, and I still don't feel it. I do hope the game is able to meet the hype and revolutionize open world or whatever it is meant to be. A good game benefits everyone.

But honestly I unfortunately think the game will flop.

If it turns out to be a good game I'll probably pick it up at a discount later.
 
It'll probably be pedestrian and sort of mediocre in the gameplay (and gamedesign) department, with poor writing and stunning visuals.

Pretty much a Ubisoft game with better art.
 
Yautja_Warrior said:
Killzone SF (73 meta) had 46 good, 42 mixed reviews.

Killzone 2 (91 meta) had 90 good reviews and only 4 mixed reviews.

Killzone 3 (84 meta) had 75 good and only 10 mixed reviews.

Killzone Libiration (77 meta) had 39 good reviews and only 16 mixed reviews.

Killzone Mercenary (78 meta) had 62 good reviews and 24 mixed reviews.

The other KZ games hardly had any bad or mixed reviews but Killzone SF had plenty of reviews saying it might not be as good, as some of the other games in the series. I was disappointed with it too but only when it came to the story, the gameplay was still solid and some of the level design was great, like the open ended forest level.

Everyone is going to be different though and reviews should be there as a guide but not taken as a certainty that you will enjoy a game, even if the majority of people do.
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THIS is the KZ 2&3 director. THIS is also a studio that hired new writers and quest designers. Sure, game can turn out mediocre, but I don't know if what they showed and what people have reporterted point to that.
Number 3 of NeoGAF's most anticapted games 2017, behind Zelda and Persona 5.

Edit: Expecting the gameplay to be mediocre or bad is pretty much giving me the vibe that the poster did not pay any attention at all.
 
Well, i payed attention to the gameplay, still find it simplistic and boring.

There are several kind of arrows, there is a weapon that creates a line machines can stumble in and that's used when there are groups of enemies.

There is a rifle like weapon but for me the most part of gameplay is shoot at weak spots then continue to shoot from distance until the machine go down. Meanwhile, avoid to be hit by enemies by sliding or rolling forever.

Even graphics, while outstanding, have that orange like tint during the day that doesn't feel natural to me.

My expectations were great when they revealed the game, then gameplay videos left me totally uninmpressed. Now i think it will be an 80> game (mostly because of its great graphicsm animations and being open world), but definitely not for me, and not the masterpiece many are anticipating.
 
Great graphics, good gameplay and a bad/mediocre story. The cutscenes I've seen so far are.. not good. VA is poor and facial animations are horrible.
 
Kenzodielocke said:
THIS is the KZ 2&3 director. THIS is also a studio that hired new writers and quest designers. Sure, game can turn out mediocre, but I don't know if what they showed and what people have reporterted point to that.
Number 3 of NeoGAF's most anticapted games 2017, behind Zelda and Persona 5.

Edit: Expecting the gameplay to be mediocre or bad is pretty much giving me the vibe that the poster did not pay any attention at all.
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I get that some people won't want to jump in blindly on a brand new IP but yeah I get the feeling some people are not paying attention or are just straight up trolling at this point.

Personally I think it will be a great game. I'm sure it will have it's share of faults, like any game does but from what I've seen so far, it's looking like a top quality AAA game.
 
For game that does everything I’m looking for, I’m a wee bit pessimistic.

I like open world games. I like Ubisoft open world games. I will spend hours exploring and looking for doodads, secrets and side quests.

When I was a kid, I thought Zoids were cool. I had a robot panther, I think.

I put 100 hours into Monster Hunter on the Wii.

For a long time I’ve wanted a game set in verdant ruins of the modern world.

Out of the blue I’ll think of this Fight Club quote

In the world I see - you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. ... And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway.

Horizon should be an ideal game for me. But for some reason I’m not excited about it.

I'm concerned that I'll quickly become used to attacking the same sorts of creatures, aiming for the same weak spots, using all-too-familiar weapons (fire! ice! tripwire!) using the same tactics again and again.

Yet, the only things I can think of that I’d want to see from the game, are having monsters with some level of randomisation in terms of vulnerability and platform placement.

So you might encounter group of fuel carriers, where some are vulnerable on the back, others on the side and so on. Or larger monsters where climbing them for attacks will change from beast-to-beast. (And actually, the fire doesn’t seem to spread after explosions. -2 Far Cry points.)

In my head, these few things should add enough randomness to keep it exciting in the long run. Of course that can’t be true — yet it’s what I really want to see in these videos.
 
Belker said:
For game that does everything I’m looking for, I’m a wee bit pessimistic.

I like open world games. I like Ubisoft open world games. I will spend hours exploring and looking for doodads, secrets and side quests.

When I was a kid, I thought Zoids were cool. I had a robot panther, I think.

I put 100 hours into Monster Hunter on the Wii.

For a long time I’ve wanted a game set in verdant ruins of the modern world.

Out of the blue I’ll think of this Fight Club quote

In the world I see - you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. ... And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway.

Horizon should be an ideal game for me. But for some reason I’m not excited about it.

I'm concerned that I'll quickly become used to attacking the same sorts of creatures, aiming for the same weak spots, using all-too-familiar weapons (fire! ice! tripwire!) using the same tactics again and again.

Yet, the only things I can think of that I’d want to see from the game, are having monsters with some level of randomisation in terms of vulnerability and platform placement.

So you might encounter group of fuel carriers, where some are vulnerable on the back, others on the side and so on. Or larger monsters where climbing them for attacks will change from beast-to-beast. (And actually, the fire doesn’t seem to spread after explosions. -2 Far Cry points.)

In my head, these few things should add enough randomness to keep it exciting in the long run. Of course that can’t be true — yet it’s what I really want to see in these videos.
Click to expand...

Strange complaint in a world where every shooter that ask us to aim at the head with all too familiar weapon (handgun, assault rifle, shot gun) using same tactic again and again.
 
Acquiescence said:
Absolutely no idea. Guerilla is inconsistent in their output and this game, on the surface, looks like it adheres to the open world Ubisoft formula so much that I just can't bring myself to care about it. I'm getting sick to death of AAA games that pride themselves on how big and vast their environments are ("You see that mountain over there...?!), when in actuality roaming about in big fields and spacious canyons and what have you is not my idea of a good time anymore. That sort of thing is becoming too played out now. But to be fair, I haven't really been following the previews of the game, so maybe it's setting itself apart from the likes of your typical open world game in radical ways. I'll just wait for reviews and see if I like what I read.
Click to expand...
I was gonna ask if you followed the coverage but you clearly didn't. But you did follow the baseless criticism though.
 
They really confident with their game, hell in BTS video they put two quest designers (can't remember their names, iirc they were CD projekt devs) and John Gonzales (narrative director) to be featured in interview. Being the only fan of one Killzone game (love Killzone 2, hated KZ3 and SF), i can say they sold me this game based on previews and bunch of gifs across Horizon thread.

OT: I really hope they remaster KZ2 or make a spiritual sucessor of Shellshock: Nam' 67.
 
I'll be waiting for word of mouth. It looks great and I really love the post-post-apocalypse setting and robot dinosaurs but these months have been so jam packed with games that some will have to fall my the wayside. I'll be prioritising Nier and Berserk so I'll wait to see if people think this is actually good before jumping in.
 
Acquiescence said:
Absolutely no idea. Guerilla is inconsistent in their output and this game, on the surface, looks like it adheres to the open world Ubisoft formula so much that I just can't bring myself to care about it. I'm getting sick to death of AAA games that pride themselves on how big and vast their environments are ("You see that mountain over there...?!), when in actuality roaming about in big fields and spacious canyons and what have you is not my idea of a good time anymore. That sort of thing is becoming too played out now. But to be fair, I haven't really been following the previews of the game, so maybe it's setting itself apart from the likes of your typical open world game in radical ways. I'll just wait for reviews and see if I like what I read.
Click to expand...

Show me the particular quotes or you just dick riding into Horizon hate bandwagon.
 
bigol said:
Well, i payed attention to the gameplay, still find it simplistic and boring.

There are several kind of arrows, there is a weapon that creates a line machines can stumble in and that's used when there are groups of enemies.

There is a rifle like weapon but for me the most part of gameplay is shoot at weak spots then continue to shoot from distance until the machine go down. Meanwhile, avoid to be hit by enemies by sliding or rolling forever.

Even graphics, while outstanding, have that orange like tint during the day that doesn't feel natural to me.

My expectations were great when they revealed the game, then gameplay videos left me totally uninmpressed. Now i think it will be an 80> game (mostly because of its great graphicsm animations and being open world), but definitely not for me, and not the masterpiece many are anticipating.
Click to expand...

Is that a witcher for an avatar?
 
Just play Far cry- Primal and...WTF Stupid
This game is a Far Cry clone unless Pakistan is a Kaspersky clone
 
hasidan said:
That's a really strange comparison ... The writing in Crash Bandicoot wasn't good, so I'm dreading this will be the same.
A lot of people in here always chooses to be negative in advance so they can post "I told you so" afterwards if the reviews are bad. And if the reviews are good it's because the reviewers are biased.
Click to expand...

Crash Bandicoot isn't a story based game. Horzion, The Order 1886, Infamous SS and Uncharted 4 are. They're all also first party Sony games that are going to draw comparisons. I was just saying I don't want it to end up like that other first party game.

I'll take cautious optimism over unbridled hype, or negativity, any day. It is funny though. If I had said "Man this game looks so good. I hope it's as good as Uncharted 4!". Just as weird a comparison, doubt it would have received the same response.
 
wapplew said:
Strange complaint in a world where every shooter that ask us to aim at the head with all too familiar weapon (handgun, assault rifle, shot gun) using same tactic again and again.
Click to expand...

You're not wrong. I'm aware of the dissonance; maybe it's because people are so hyped about this, I was hoping for something more. Or perhaps it's because I think that robots greater opportunity for tweaking the formula than other types of enemies.

Also, for a while I've really wanted games to do something interesting with weapons and they so rarely do. In an SP game - esp. one that's sci-fi - you can play with anything in the game world and find a justification for it.
 
I don't think it'll live up to the hype but I think it'll still be decent. I'm expecting performance issues on base PS4 as well. I'll be waiting for reviews and Digital Foundry's analyse before jumping in.
 
John Kowalski said:
Far Cry clone with varied gameplay but lacking in novelty, and a poor sci fi story with no real strength or value outside the game proper.

Real pretty tho
Click to expand...

a game with reportedly 20+ different enemy types of robo dinos with different attacks, weaknesses and behavior lacking novelty?

???
 
bigol said:
Well, i payed attention to the gameplay, still find it simplistic and boring.

There are several kind of arrows, there is a weapon that creates a line machines can stumble in and that's used when there are groups of enemies.

There is a rifle like weapon but for me the most part of gameplay is shoot at weak spots then continue to shoot from distance until the machine go down. Meanwhile, avoid to be hit by enemies by sliding or rolling forever.

Even graphics, while outstanding, have that orange like tint during the day that doesn't feel natural to me.

My expectations were great when they revealed the game, then gameplay videos left me totally uninmpressed. Now i think it will be an 80> game (mostly because of its great graphicsm animations and being open world), but definitely not for me, and not the masterpiece many are anticipating.
Click to expand...



Can't help but feel like your avatar tells the real story.
 
actually regret coming in this thread. some of the replies here you'd think horizon has personally attacked some posters

like wth:

Greedings said:
I expect it to be mediocre, but because it's a Sony 1st party exclusive, it'll get a ton of praise, and a ton of marketing, so it'll sell well.
Click to expand...
 
Orniletter said:
It'll probably be pedestrian and sort of mediocre in the gameplay (and gamedesign) department, with poor writing and stunning visuals.

Pretty much a Ubisoft game with better art.
Click to expand...

What is it with this game? Are people just neglecting the available information?
Example from Games TM:

One thing is immediately clear from the moment you get your hands on a controller: the combat is intense and deeply tactical. It's a far cry from the heavily refined (yet ultimately tiresome) combat systems found in the Batman Arkham and Assassins Creed games, far more fluid and intuitive than the heavily scripted systems of The Witcher and Dragon Age, precise in a way that Skyrim could only dream of. Horizon Zero Dawn might be branded an action-RPG, but it often feels like an action game first.

What continues to surprise us is just how deep Horizon: Zero Dawn seems to be. It's a game that requires you to think your way into every combat and situation and then, subsequently, to victory. Whether you choose to shoot off armor to expose enemy weak points - making use of traps, your bow and numerous arrow variations to make precise shots - or you decide to shoot weapons off the larger enemies and turn them on the machines, it will force the smart AI to react in new and interesting ways.

While we have (and will continue to have, until we can see the final game in action) concerns of how well the studio will be able to manage quest design and overall cohesion between its wider narrative and overworld - something genre veterans still struggle with to this day - the core of the game is just so damned impressive.
Click to expand...
 
Rodin said:
I think reviews will be much higher than people think (>90 for sure), but I don't expect to share the enthusiasm for a simple reason: i watched several previews and i saw many reviewers praising stuff that i hate in games, or at least that i'd rather see less. I'm open to being surprised when i play it, but i think i have a pretty good idea of what kind of open world game this is.

About the general reception on gaf and the rest of the internet, like for every popular game it will have a huge vocal fanbase and many people who will vocally shit on it, but i can see it placing second on neogaf goty behind P5.
Click to expand...

You hate great game play and a narrative that is surprisingly engaging? You hate games that have protags that are so interesting that you can't wait to get the full game to find out more about them? That's pretty much the consensus of everyone that previewed the game. You hate that kind of stuff?
 
Krakin said:
You hate great game play and a narrative that is surprisingly engaging? You hate games that have protags that are so interesting that you can't wait to get the full game to find out more about them? That's pretty much the consensus of everyone that previewed the game. You hate that kind of stuff?
Click to expand...

Yeah, people just seem to neglect all that to push their own narrative. I wonder why? Because it's a big exclusive?
Eurogamer talked about a compelling story based on 5 hours with the game, The Guardian praised Aloy and the progressive elements of the game, Games TM wrote in-depth why the combat is so great, and yet some people just shout Far Cry clone and leave it at that. If towers and an open world make you a FC clone, so is Zelda.
The third person combat, focus on world-building and quests, and extremely varied enemy design alone make it very different to FC.
 
Crankshaft said:
Uhh pretty graphics. No multiplayer. Nope no comparisons here.
Click to expand...

raw


They're practically the same game!
 
Im really looking forward to this but after being stung with TLoU automatic updates and the devs removing the supersampling in version 1.08 my internet connection is being turned off after installing Horizon, I dont want any nasty surprises again.

I hope GG dont pull the trigger on any silly updates that 'downgrade' the game like ND did. Worst decision NG have ever made and the fact they have remained totally silent about the matter to all the fans just makes it worse.

Please GG, dont release bad updates and listen to your fans.
 
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