Author:
Simulacrum
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Date:
2/19/2023 10:25:38 AM
Subject:
Horizon Zero Dawn
Cons:
1. Excessive feminist horse-beating. The vast majority of the women characters are wise, strong, fierce warriors and unerring authority figures. With very few exceptions, the men are mewling, emasculated screw-ups and feeble knotheads.
2. Consolitis. Most of the enemies hesitate before attacking so you'll have time to target them with your DualSense. With a mouse and keyboard, this is "balanced" by squirreling your aim. I can have an enemy machine or human dead in my sights -- center mass -- and about 30% of the time, my arrow will curve away at the last nanosecond. This is apparently an artificial mechanic intended to generate excitement for pc users because any time you miss, every enemy in a group becomes alerted and can instantly find where are. There's also a lot of rolling around on the ground and limited save spots (campfires = typewriters).
Pros:
1. In spite of the tiresome superiority of women, the main character is very likeable. She's wholesome, forthright, intelligent, and has what I can only describe as an energetic innocence. She never comes across as a blustering dingbat like most of the women in, say, Borderlands 3; and she's certainly nothing like the ridiculous main character in Forespoken. She's just a nice kid doing her best.
2. The world crafting may be the best I've ever seen. Locations have different climates and looks, but the change from one biome to another is usually subtle and believable. All landscape features are well done, and everything in the world just works. Also, it can be quite beautiful.
3. The machine enemies are very impressive. I mentioned their hesitation, but not all of them mess around. Some are simply there to kill you, and they do a great job. They are also quite convincing in their design, movements, sounds, and general animation. Someone put a lot of work into this.
4. The skill trees are very good. It's rare that a skill is a waste of points. Most of them make useful and worthwhile changes. They're also all on one screen. There are no sprawling "nature trees" or interconnected circles that extend four feet beyond the screen real estate. Everything is right there, and it's all well-designed.
5. The weapons are all created for certain uses and situations. Like the skills, you have what you need to get something done and no more. All weapons have the same base damage, but the higher tier versions have more slots for inserting damage, handling, or elemental-effect modifications. It works well.
6. There is no real armor. Instead, you can buy get-ups intended to offer a bit more elemental or melee or ranged resistance, and they too are slotted by tier. There is a special armor "set" in the game which gives you a kind of Borderlands shield or forcefield, but it takes a lot of rigmarole to acquire.
7. The campaign story is moderately interesting but nothing really special. I put it in the pro category because it's better than a lot of the dreck you see now.
I have to say: in spite of its cons, I really love this game. I've been playing it non-stop because there's always something to do -- something to figure out or accomplish or collect or whatever. If you haven't played it, get it. It's on sale nearly every other week on Steam and well worth the $17 asking price.
