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[Muninn]

84 is a bit too much for the description I guess, but I doubt it would ever go below 80 even with the faults I listed.

I understand I might seem like a blatant "hater" but I can't help it, this game screams disappointment to me.

Fuck metacritic. It doesn't even define how how games change over time. Reviewing Hitman or Steep a year after their release is fucking pointless. People need to get over their metacritic fetish. It's embarrassing at this point IMO.

This game screams anything but disappointment.

 

[DrD]

Will this thread be the new "Sony is dead" thread from 2012?

I have no expectations. Just want to see crow being served! When are reviews expected to be released? On release day?

I think review embargo drops a week before release. I have a feeling this thread will be looked upon similar to that "Sony is dead" thread.

Edit: Make that more than a week. Reviews drop Feb 20.

 

[John Kowalski]

What are these well known mechanics?

Third person shooting, limited platforming, open areas with enemy bases and roaming animal life which can be farmed for items, climb something to get map icons of which there are a bazillion, crafting, resource gathering, equipment, inspector mode.

 

[sense]

I am expecting a great looking game with good gameplay and decent story.

I don't understand but some people really seem to be setting very high standards for this game just so they can say "I said so" when it disappoints in some parts. It is a new freakin open world ip from the devs that made linear games like killzone. It is new territory for them and most likely going to have some flaws on the first try. Wait for the uncharted 1 to uncharted 2 jump...you can hope it knocks it out of the park on the very first attempt but just don't go in expecting it.

 

[AstroNut325]

Third person shooting, limited platforming, open areas with enemy bases and roaming animal life which can be farmed for items, climb something to get map icons of which there are a bazillion, crafting, resource gathering, equipment, inspector mode.

Can you point me to a game that's breaking new ground on gameplay mechanics, preferably open world?

 

[John Kowalski]

Can you point me to a game that's breaking new ground on gameplay mechanics, preferably open world?

Else Heart.Break() is a 2015 open world adventure game that lets you hack most things in the city and read their code, and you can get good enough at coding pathways through the city that it inherently alters your perception of it by the end of the game.

 

[Hindl]

I think at worst it'll be an Assassin's Creed situation, where you see the potential but it doesn't quite get there, and the sequel becomes a megahit

 

[More_Badass]

Third person shooting, limited platforming, open areas with enemy bases and roaming animal life which can be farmed for items, climb something to get map icons of which there are a bazillion, crafting, resource gathering, equipment, inspector mode.

You can do the same for pretty much any game. SuperHOT has first person shooting, arena stages, slow motion, interactive items, high scores. Duskers has resource management, squad controls, roguelike progression, a tactical map view, typing/text parser, gear to equip

If you're going to get that granular, nothing is orignal and everything has well-known/previously done mechanics. Even Else Heart.Break()

Execution is always more important than originality

 

[Loudninja]

Third person shooting, limited platforming, open areas with enemy bases and roaming animal life which can be farmed for items, climb something to get map icons of which there are a bazillion, crafting, resource gathering, equipment, inspector mode.

You are just naming stuff this could be done for any game.

The whole point in is the unique spin, very few games have so call unique gameplay.

 

[VanWinkle]

I expect it to put Guerrilla on a higher pedestal and get people to finally think about them as a better developer.

I expect it to be an imperfect but great new start for Guerrilla, with incredible visuals, fun varied gameplay, beautiful dense world, and linear action game sensibilities. That's what they're bringing to the table, and I expect it to get an 83 MC or higher.

 

[Omnistalgic]

I'm expecting 90 in metacritic.

yup...

Honestly, would be surprised if it isn't 88-91 on meta. Just seems like a well made game.

 

[John Kowalski]

You can do the same for pretty much any game. SuperHOT has first person shooting, arena stages, slow motion, interactive items, high scores. Duskers has resource management, squad controls, roguelike progression, a tactical map view, typing/text parser, gear to equip

If you're going to get that granular, nothing is orignal and everything has well known mechanics. Even Else Heart.Break()

I did what was asked of me. Most importantly for Horizon is how is arranges those mechanics into an experience which is by and large very similar to existing games. Which is to say that the game is comfortable in industry standards and doesn't do something to subvert them, which is not the case with your example, Super Hot.

Super Hot introduces an arrangement of mechanics that inherently separates it from the games it appears to mimic at first sight. Very few games have been made where standing still means that time is also standing still, and frankly i can only recall the impression of having seen something like that before.

Execution is always more important than originality

That's beside the point really but i wholly disagree with that statement.

You are just naming stuff this could be done for any game.

The whole point in is the unique spin, very few games have so call unique gameplay.

What is the unique spin that Horizon has? Robots? Because that's all i can notice.

 

[Omnistalgic]

Else Heart.Break() is a 2015 open world adventure game that lets you hack most things in the city and read their code, and you can get good enough at coding pathways through the city that it inherently alters your perception of it by the end of the game.

Stop being so pretentious man. Everything doesn't have to be super unique to be good, and those elements you highlighted can feel completely different on a game by game basis.

Freakin Titanic, Avatar, and marvel movies like Avengers and Spider man are some of the most beloved and highest grossing movies of all time. It's not about breaking new ground all the time. The Last of us is a perfect recent example of a cliche premise that was executed with perfection. Horizon is already doing something different because most open world games have simplified mechanics because of the vast gameplay mechanics open worlds call for. Horizon is action engine thrown into a GTA-sized world, that's a different take on the genre right there.

 

[jack_package_200]

80 Metacritic

Awesome gameplay with tons of side content and giant robots to hunt let down by generic story with bad writing and awful voice acting.

I would have written this off due to it being Guerrilla Games project and all but the pre release footage and preview impressions have been good.

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

All these ppl saying others will eat crow nah bruh I've learned they'll move that girl post so quick you would've thought they were super Sonic. They aren't owning up to being wrong about anything.

85-88 meta

Great sales

New franchise and new face added to the PlayStation roster.

Same loud ppl will still be bitter and loud

We move to the next exclusive/and or big third party title for a console or pc.

 

[John Kowalski]

Stop being so pretentious man. Everything doesn't have to be super unique to be good, and those elements you highlighted can feel completely different on a game by game basis.

Freakin Titanic, Avatar, and marvel movies like Avengers and Spider man are some of the most beloved and highest grossing movies of all time. It's not about breaking new ground all the time. The Last of us is a perfect recent example of a cliche premise that was executed with perfection. Horizon is already doing something different because most open world games have simplified mechanics because of the vast gameplay mechanics open worlds call for. Horizon is action engine thrown into a GTA-sized world, that's a different take on the genre right there.

So your position is that the game can be just like everything else and it can be good too. That's great. Haven't ever said the opposite. Made only a qualitative statement as to its story, which i might be wrong about.

Otherwise i'd really rather you not call me pretensions because there's not a hint of pretense in valuing original and subversive game design.

 

[Omnistalgic]

80 Metacritic

Awesome gameplay with tons of side content and giant robots to hunt let down by generic story with bad writing and awful voice acting.

I would have written this off due to it being Guerrilla Games project and all but the pre release footage and preview impressions have been good.

I think awesome gameplay gets you higher than an 80. Many feel MGSV story was kinda weak, gameplay made it some outlets GOTY though.

Should be see soon enough, I'm going 90.

 

[More_Badass]

I did what was asked of me. Most importantly for Horizon is how is arranges those mechanics into an experience which is by and large very similar to existing games. Which is to say that the game is comfortable in industry standards and doesn't do something to subvert them, which is not the case with your example, Super Hot.

Super Hot introduces an arrangement of mechanics that inherently separates it from the games it appears to mimic at first sight. Very few games have been made where standing still means that time is also standing still, and frankly i can only recall the impression of having seen something like that before.



What is the unique spin that Horizon has? Robots? Because that's all i can notice.

Bringing mechanics and combat used reserved for action games, dual stick shooters, and such to the open world genre. Basically leveraging their FPS experience

As I said before, usually enemies in open world games, especially non-fantasy ones, are guys categorized by the weapon they use. The sniper, the heavy with a flames thrower or mini gun, the up close shotgun guy, the regular enemies with pistols or machine guns. You can defeat them all with firing indiscriminately

Horizon plays more like a Vanquish or Enter The Gungeon. Enemies with 7, 8, 9 different attacks for different distances, melee or ranged, with precise weakpoints that require positioning and careful aim to hit, and telegraphed attacks and aggressive movement that encourages dodging until you have the time and space to return fire.

The machines are also driven by AI and interact with each other outside of your presence. Given everything we've seen and read, it's the closest thing to Rain World in depicting a dynamic ecosystem, in the AAA space,

 

[depths20XX]

I'm hoping it's good.

Main worry is that it will be another Asscreed with a terrible gameplay loop that gets old fast.

 

[Omnistalgic]

So your position is that the game can be just like everything else and it can be good too. That's great. Haven't ever said the opposite. Made only a qualitative statement as to its story, which i might be wrong about.

Otherwise i'd really rather you not call me pretensions because there's not a hint of pretense in valuing original and subversive game design.

whatever, I think it is a pretense to act like original work and mechanics are always something more valuable or appealing. You said Horizon seems like a bunch of mechanics with a "fresh coat of paint.", implying it's a negative thing, when some of the best games of all time are just iterations on previous gameplay designs.

And you're downplay how different Horizon already is than many other open-world games. Previews have specially mentioned it doesn't feel anything like Watchdogs or Far Cry because of the mechanics. It's like saying MGSV and Fallout are similar lol. They just share the same genre.

 

[John Kowalski]

Bringing mechanics and combat used reserved for action games, dual stick shooters, and such to the open world genre. Basically leveraging their FPS experience

As I said before, usually enemies in open world games, especially non-fantasy ones, are guys categorized by the weapon they use. The sniper, the heavy with a flames thrower or mini gun, the up close shotgun guy, the regular enemies with pistols or machine guns. You can defeat them all with firing indiscriminately

Horizon plays more like a Vanquish or Enter The Gungeon. Enemies with 7, 8, 9, different attacks for different distances, melee or ranged, with precise weakpoints that require positioning and careful aim to hit, and telegraphed attacks and aggressive movement that encourages dodging until you have the time and space to return fire.

The machines are also driven by AI and interact with each other outside of your presence. Given everything we've seen and read, it's the closest thing to Rain World in depicting a dynamic ecosystem, in the AAA space,

I watched the Waypoint videos and didn't have any impression of what you mentioned, but point taken.

whatever, I think it is a pretense to act like original work and mechanics are always something more valuable or appealing. You said Horizon seems like a bunch of mechanics with a "fresh coat of paint.", implying it's a negative thing, when some of the best games of all time are just iterations on previous gameplay designs.

And you're downplay how different Horizon already is than many other open-world games. Previews have specially mentioned it doesn't feel anything like Watchdogs or Far Cry because of the mechanics. It's like saying MGSV and Fallout are similar lol. They just share the same genre.

Yes i do think ill of safe iteration, especially the industry wide kind. Game can be good in summation but i consider my perception of it as largely very similar to its kin as a negative.

 

[Omnistalgic]

^Cool...agree to disagree. No worries...

 

[FATALITY]

What's the problem with that?

bloody boobs

 

[Magic Mushroom]

I'm hoping it's good.

Main worry is that it will be another Asscreed with a terrible gameplay loop that gets old fast.

Have you read any previews? The gameplay loop is getting high praise. Why would it get old fast? There are lots of different machines, each with their own attacks and role in this world. There are dungeons. There is lore to uncover.

I can't shake the feeling that some people want this to be bad and I don't know why. It's not that often we get a AAA new IP, starring a non-sexualized female that is already inspiring lots of cosplayers and artists.

 

[LotusHD]

I can't shake the feeling that some people want this to be bad and I don't know why. It's not that often we get a AAA new IP, starring a non-sexualized female that is already inspiring lots of cosplayers and artists.

It's more the fact when some people decide they're not into a game, they want to be justified that they were right to dismiss it. They don't truly want it to "fail", but if it does, they get to be like "Heh, called it." It's all about being them being right at the end of the day.

 

[Yopis]

Not expecting great sales honestly. Hope GG stays around though. On the fence, will probably give a shot.

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

It's more the fact when some people decide they're not into a game, they want to be justified that they were right to dismiss it. They don't truly want it to "fail", but if it does, they get to be like "Heh, called it." It's all about being them being right at the end of the day.

This.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

It's more the fact when some people decide they're not into a game, they want to be justified that they were right to dismiss it. They don't truly want it to "fail", but if it does, they get to be like "Heh, called it." It's all about being them being right at the end of the day.

I think this applies to the opposite side, too.

 

[Spirited]

85-90 metacritic

Probably going to have fun gameplay, big open world, great graphics and well designed enemies but probably will be brought down by the writing, story and voice acting.

Hoping it's good though and not too much like far cry/assassin's creed(Because I'm burnt out with that kind of ubi open world game).

 

[Bull_peeler]

I have no expectations. I never do. On the other hand I am never disappointed by anything.

Spoiler

I expect mechanical beasts, though.

I'm not very good at this pre-launch stuff and lead a very care free life.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

I think this applies to the opposite side, too.

Maybe, but it seems kinda ignorant to beat that "it'll have bad gameplay" drum when the gameplay gets tons of praise from those who actually played it.

 

[DrD]

I can see where people are coming from when they say Horizon borrows a lot from other games with Ubisoft towers, crafting, big focus on collecting stuff, The Witcher 3 style quest design, Mass Effect inspired dialogue trees, the traversal mechanics.

I think what sets it apart the most from other games in terms of gameplay is the combat. I can't think of any recent AAA games that are quite like it. They really nailed the hunter aspect of the game from what I've seen. The different ways of tackling all these different creatures with their own strengths and weaknesses from setting up traps with rope and/or bombs, environmental kills like making rocks collapse, or targeting specific weak points. Targeting specific parts of the machines will change up their attack patterns and limit their capabilities while you can also turn their own weapons against them. It also helps that the enemies themselves are pretty unique with seemingly great AI.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

Maybe, but it seems kinda ignorant to beat that "it'll have bad gameplay" drum when the gameplay gets tons of praise from those who actually played it.

That was not where I was getting at. I think most criticism for this game has been pretty silly.
But whatever, we will know in less than 9 days.

 

[Art Vandilay]

Any word on early reviews? I'm hoping and expecting for the best, but I'm reluctant to preorder. Nioh is keeping me so busy that I don't really have much time for day one playtime anyway.

I've typically always played my XB1 more, but damn Sony is doing well this quarter in terms of first party games. It's quickly becoming my platform of choice for non FPS games.

 

[Loudninja]

Any word on early reviews? I'm hoping and expecting for the best, but I'm reluctant to preorder. Nioh is keeping me so busy that I don't really have much time for day one playtime anyway.

I've typically always played my XB1 more, but damn Sony is doing well this quarter in terms of first party games. It's quickly becoming my platform of choice for non FPS games.

The embargo is up on Feb 20th review copies have been out this whole week.

 

[depths20XX]

Have you read any previews? The gameplay loop is getting high praise. Why would it get old fast? There are lots of different machines, each with their own attacks and role in this world. There are dungeons. There is lore to uncover.

I can't shake the feeling that some people want this to be bad and I don't know why. It's not that often we get a AAA new IP, starring a non-sexualized female that is already inspiring lots of cosplayers and artists.

I said I hope it's good dude. Why would I want it to fail? It's one of my most anticipated games this year with Nioh and Persona 5. Stop looking too much into things.

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

I'm excited for it but I'm not expecting 10's across the board. It will be an amazing rpg for sure and I already like what I see of it. We'll see!

 

[fargofallout]

I've been curious about the game, but I've had reservations because of the developer, and now that we're getting closer, I've heard a couple of comparisons to Far Cry, and I'm slightly pessimistic. I think it will be well made, but part of me suspects it's going to be the sort of open world design that I'm beginning to find tedious. I hope I'm wrong, though.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

I said I hope it's good dude. Why would I want it to fail? It's one of my most anticipated games this year with Nioh and Persona 5. Stop looking too much into things.

I just wondered why you're afraid it'll have a terribe gameplay loop when the thing that gets the most praise (besides the graphics) is the gameplay loop.

 

[Art Vandilay]

The embargo is up on Feb 20th review copies have been out this whole week.

Well then fuck yeah. They must be feeling confident. May be day one after all haha

 

[FATALITY]

yep the tension in here ha ha ha i can feel it.
review thread will be a bloodbath

 

[depths20XX]

I just wondered why you're afraid it'll have a terribe gameplay loop when the thing that gets the most praise (besides the graphics) is the gameplay loop.

Because many different open world games fall into that trap. If there was a demo or something maybe I would be less leary. I'll wait for impressions when it's released and hope they're positive.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

Because many different open world games fall into that trap. If there was a demo or something maybe I would be less leary. I'll wait for impressions when it's released and hope they're positive.

Well, yeah. Most open world games don't have strong mechanics to begin with, but Horizons seens designed around them. From Games TM, quoted before.

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.

 

[Gudji]

It's going to be good, isn't that the most important thing?! I know I'll enjoy it.

One things for sure, gameplay is king and from what I've seen the game nails it.

 

[WordsintheWater]

I think the game will be the greatest game of all time, it will surpass Ocarina of Time easily, #1 game of forever, 99.5 metacritic score.

 

[El-Pistolero]

I am expecting a technically superb, mechanically solid game that will fall short of greatness by a nose; and I can see it laying the foundation for a better, more polished sequel, ala Uncharted 2.

 

[Chaostar]

I think the game will be the greatest game of all time, it will surpass Ocarina of Time easily, #1 game of forever, 99.5 metacritic score.

Pfft wishful thinking, it'll be 99.4 tops.

I am expecting a technically superb, mechanically solid game that will fall short of greatness by a nose; and I can see it laying the foundation for a better, more polished sequel, ala Uncharted 2.

 

[WordsintheWater]

Pfft wishful thinking, it'll be 99.4 tops.

Whelp looks like it's a no buy for me then

 

[BrownieBrownBrown]

Expectations are low.

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

Because many different open world games fall into that trap. If there was a demo or something maybe I would be less leary. I'll wait for impressions when it's released and hope they're positive.

What about all the recent positive previews ? they seem to suggest the gameplay is pretty damn good. Surly they would have brought up concerns about things like that, wouldn't they ?

At this point, I think the only thing that could possibly let it down a little, is the stuff we haven't seen like the story / end game but I personally don't think it will be enough to stop it being a great game, if that was disappointing.