Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition - PlayStation 4

After 80 hrs on the main campaign and DLC on Normal and then, another 60 hrs on NG+ Ultra Hard mode, this is definitely the best open-world game for me so far. What I love about HZD is that it has a very good balance all around. Besides robot dinasaurs, tribe, and archery, I came into this game blind; I didn't even watch any of the trailers and boy I'm so glad I did! The story completely caught me completely by surprise (once you reach the "The Grave-Hoard" quest, everything will begin to tie together so be patient). Each side quest is different: each either gives you a different view of the main story line or complements it (rather than mindless random tasks for an NPC that has nothing to do with the main story). I like that the story doesn't have a clearcut right/wrong: each side has their own perspective. The collectibles (metal flowers, datapoints, ancient vessels, and vantage points) also give you more insights about the past. All the NPCs are have great personalities with decent back stories that I like them all. Your conversations with some NPCs vary depending on your dialogue with them and/or other NPCs at a certain order. The combat is smooth and fast-pace; I love the thrill of taking down different machines with various methods depending on their strengths and weaknesses (those hunting grounds are good boot-camp for beginners). I heard some complaints about melee combat but this is NOT the focus of the game: you are doing it wrong if you try to hack-and-slash a Thunderjaw, Stormbird, or Fireclaw/Iceclaw to death! You do need to level up and gather materials but as long as you do all the side quests and tutorials in the game, you'll never have to worry about these things (at least I never had to purposely go out of my way to farm for lv/materials at Normal difficulty, though you will definitely need to on Ultra Hard because items cost a ridiculous amount of shards). You can override machines and/or use them as your mounts or fight buddies. Last but not least, Aloy's sass is priceless! HZD is definitely one of the most visually-stunning game that I've seen on PS4, just look at the screenshots! I'm forever thankful to have photomode. The characters' mouth movements are not the best in the beginning, but you can see a vast improvements in the Frozen Wilds DLC so I'm not too concern about it if they were to make a second installment. I must admit sometimes I override these machines and spend a lot of time in photomode just to appreciate the effort that Guerrilla Games put into this game. p/s: Shards and Mods farming tip: go to the spot right above the Sun Ring that has 2 behemoths and 2 longlegs, then use your corruption arrows (if you can't override them yet) to have them kill each other and enjoy the loot.

On a PS4 Pro and on a large screen, UHD display that supports HDR, this game has no equal. This game is a poster child for justifying upgrading a PS4 or TV or both. It is that good. The early parts of the game where your character and protagonist, Aloy, is a child gave me chills simply on the merits of its graphics alone. This makes the world feel very alive and helps to make up for very good but not great gameplay. The setting changes as you get into the game, so it is not all out in the wild also. There are “dungeons” (I use term loosely to avoid spoiling anything) (10/10 for graphics, atmosphere and setting) It has been described as an Action RPG, but it is really just an action game where you level-up and can spend skill points to improve abilities. With about 15 hours into the game and level 20, those abilities don’t really make for unique experience, and the game will play the same for just about everyone. In terms of gameplay though, it is derivative of a number of previous titles, but does carve out a niche with a few mechanics. At times it feels very much like Assassin’s Creed. Others like Far Cry 4. Then it feels like the Tomb Raider reboots and Witcher 3, and finally Metal Gear Solid V. There are creatures to climb to the top of to unlock locations on your map. You can hide in brush and whistle for enemies to come close and stealth kill. You can tag enemies from a distance to help with taking out a bandit camp and turning it over to your people. Story driven quest lines and choices that rarely have any impact though to how the game progresses, and often the conversations are monotone and bland. (8/10 for gameplay) Quest lines can be selected and unselected at will from main story-line quests to errands or side quests. The side quests so far are ok, but a lot of travel involved, and feels unnecessary. In the early game, travel by foot is preferred and most players will use as opportunity to get better at playing game, etc. However at mid game when it shows I have to go from one end of map to another, you still have to run or ride the first time to unlock fast travel. The story lines of the quests are very good, but not Witcher 3 good if that is the standard. (7/10 for Story so far) Equipment upgrades can be crafted, and the game allows you to create customized quest for regents needed to craft these updates. For example, an ammo pouch upgrade from 4 to 8 slots may name some metal shards and some skins or bones from a particular animal. Apparently, most rabbits in this game are invertebrates, as you may kill several before getting one with a bone needed for crafting. There are close to a dozen different pouches that can be upgraded 4 times each I believe, and I am still taking time to hunt for parts to upgrade. There is probably a merchant I can get them from, but overall just annoying. Perhaps there is later game equipment, but a lot of higher end rare equipment can be purchased early game and none feels unique so far. Unfortunate that these upgrades are available to the player from the start and a grind. Upgrades work like skill trees where you have to upgrade to each level one at a time. Why not just upgrade to level 4 pouch if the game tells me what I need, but you have to go through each one. Inventory cannot be sorted, and weapons/armor cannot be compared side by side. Hoping for patch. (5/10 for crafting and upgrades and equipment) This is not a fast paced game, but I suppose one could focus on the main story and get through faster. There are collectables and locations and other places to explore off the main story. I enjoy that, and one of the aspects that reminds me of the Tomb Raider games. There are items to find that give back story to the post-post-post apocalyptic world you are in, and I have had fun tracking down. Overall, very good game and hard to put down, but I do realize some may get bored with side quests, slow pacing, and grinding aspects. Amazing visuals that cannot be beat. (8.9/10)

Well, you've seen the reviews from others and there is a reason why. I really don't have to say anything more than what others have already said. If you want a game that demonstrates HDR and all of the goodies of your 4k TV, this game is it. If you want a well-thought out and planned storyline, this game is it. If you want to see opportunities to continue on AFTER you have beat the normal mode, this game is it. It's an open world, which is incredible in itself. There are only a few places in the story where you are constrained, but even then you can abandon that quest and go off and do something else, though you'll depart from the story line - which is necessary for continuation. The character animation is incredible as well as the world. If you take the time to enjoy the storyline and not just blow through it like some can, you'll find an incredible background to this game. Once you beat the game on normal mode, never fear - more new options become available when you do hard modes - specifically, customization of your main character. So, they give you a reason to keep playing. I am still playing the game, although I have long since beaten it and the expansion, Frozen Wilds. I enjoy just going out and farming for items and fighting machines. I don't even ride mounts because they can move really fast and I want to enjoy the scenery by moving on foot. A game that will keep you entertained for many hours (days, months?), you will not regret this purchase. Now that it is $20 WITH Frozen Wilds, it's hard not to buy this game. If you don't own a PS4 Pro, this would be a great reason to invest in one now. I find the greatest fun is playing on the hardest mode - enemy health bars are removed, machines and wildlife are more susceptible to your presence (unless you have a stealth outfit), you take more damage, and you just can't be careless. There are some machines that will one-shot you if you take the brunt of their attack. A great feature of this game is the Photo mode, where you can take a picture of your character and enhance your photo shot with the many of the tools they give you (overexposure, aperture, time of day, etc.). This is just a gorgeous game to behold and a fantastic game to play.

Received this on release day December 5. Started the game on the same night and it is amazing. The graphics are great. I have a PS4 slim and a Vizio HD smart tv 39 inch and it looks great, so you DO NOT need a PS4 Pro or a 4k tv to enjoy this game. I'm only about an hour and a half into the game and so far the cut scenes and game play dynamics are pretty easy to pick up - that being said, if you are like me and have never played a game like this, you might have a bit of a learning curve learning the controls since this game makes use of the directional pad, the touch pad, and the L1/L2/R1/R2/L3/R3 controls on the controller more than some games as it has several different menus you can pull up and access and many different controls/actions for the character. Talking about game mode - I chose normal difficulty, and so far in the tutorial section of the game it has not been hard, but that may change as I progress. There is a pretty clear explanation of the different difficulty settings when starting the game, and normal mode is described as a balanced game play with a decent amount of challenge, and I believe you can go in the options and change the difficulty while playing if needed, so do not worry too much about it. Definitely take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the controls as soon as you get out of the beginning tutorial before you venture out into the open world. One thing is the game was loose in the case when I opened it, but it was fine, no scratches, and I have heard this is common with PS4 game cases even when you buy a new sealed game, but apparently the discs do not scratch easily. Make sure to take out the booklet insert and turn it over to get your Play Station Store redeem code for downloading the theme and the digital art book (THIS CODE HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE!!)

Great price, right off the bat. You will have everything on the disc. As for the game itself, it makes a very good first impression to an open world game that is filled with an intriguing premise, some very solid gameplay, and some absollutely gob-smacking graphics and art directions. Its not a perfect game, the RPG mechanics are somewhat basic, although if you are the type of person who doesn't much experiences with RPGs, this is just the right amount of complexity for people who are looking for a more straightforward action game. However, for an action game, it attempts to be something different. It doesn't rely on traditional shooting or driving. There's archery, there's some melee combat, there is stealth involved, it allows for some creativity in how you approach enemies. It involves alot of traversal over land, some climbing. Your enemies can be very small, they can flank you, they have their own attacks, they can be big fellas that require you to be very alert and evasive. And then you can find yourself in a situation with a combination of enemies, both land, water, or in the air, and things can get really hairy and chaotic and you will need to use every single move and weapon at your disposal. Given its futuristic sci-fi premise, the fairly decent lore that the game establishes, you can tell that this game is the start of a very promising franchise. We need more games like this.

First time playing, about 30 hours in and could easily see another 60+ with exploring and trying to collect everything. The story is unique, and really wants you to take your time discovering the world, but also allows a direct approach if that's more your speed. If you liked the most recent two Tomb Raiders, this game is absolutely for you; with similar game machanics and on a far more massive scale. Along with a few Mass Effect aspects. A post-apocalyptic survival, with fantasy elements woven around sci-fi and sentient machines. And for the first time, for me, there is a real fight or flight response. Some groups and specific creatures, you always avoid regardless of level; if only to spare your resources. ** NOTE: Outfits and Weapons included content** It is the same Deluxe content. You will get the added resources, tokens to trade for free to any merchant, for a treasure box, HOWEVER, the outfits and weapons tokens will NOT show up in your inventory, until past the open-world point. Be aware that you will have to wait and progress the main questline for the majority of items -- a difference from the Deluxe Edition to the Complete Edition) **Frozen Wilds DLC + Deluxe Content** It is within the same download disk for the game, only extra code is for the "Art of Horizon Zero Dawn" insert on the inside cover.

Horizon Zero Dawn portrays a well-realized world with a well-considered, well-written lore. It is a world which you will want to revisit, which is good because the complete edition offers more of the game by including all of the DLC. While a great experience, it's not perfect. Combat can get repetitive rather quickly, especially on the MUCH longer battles with tougher beasts. It doesn't help that the combat system isn't very engaging. The cover system is hit-or-miss, as enemies seem to be able to spot you in some cases while being oblivious to you in others. Also, if you strike from cover, even if the beast didn't see it, they often seem to be able to pinpoint your location with unreal accuracy. The open world, for as beautiful as it is, suffers from the same open-world sandbox conventions found in Far Cry, Assassins Creed, etc.. That is to say, climb a tower, unlock a map and all the markers, make your way to the marker OR follow a clearly marked trail. Repeat. This can get tedious if it's not your thing. And if you do venture off the beaten path, invisible walls are prevalent and numerous. Overall, a very good if not great experience. Still absolutely worth your time at under $20.

One of this generations most solid and fun gaming experiences, hands down. Entirely original in its narrative, the game on the whole feels like a blend of Terminator and Jurassic Park, with gameplay similar to Tomb Raider. That comparison, like most, can be seen in many different lights, but by them I mean that you’ll run around as female protagonist Aloy, fighting off mysterious robotic dinosaurs in the future’s past. The story is solid and engrossing. Gameplay is tight and incredibly fun, with lots of choices at your disposal. This is probably one the most choice-oriented games you’ll play in terms of combat. The world is lush and full, especially with the complete edition that offers the Frozen Wilds expansion (on disc). Highly recommended for all types of gamers, as this is the type of game that has something to offer everyone. It is a lengthy game, even with just the story players are looking at 40-50 hours of solid gameplay.