Horizon Zero Dawn: Photo Mode (large images: dial-up warning)

Last edited Tue Jul 11, 2017, 11:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Horizon Zero Dawn is a PS4 exclusive that debuted back in February. I picked it up on sale recently and have gotten into it in a way that I haven't gotten into many games in quite some time.

It's a third-person action RPG which is a bit heavier on the action than on the RPG, set in a strange world where human beings use (at best) medieval technology but futuristic machines roam the landscape. Battling these machines is most of the fun of the game.

However, the (literal) show-stopper for me is the photo mode that the developers added in after the game's release. You can pause the game at any point, even in the middle of cut-scenes, and take pictures. You can move the camera around the player's position (in most situations), change depth of field, add filters, remove the player altogether, even change the time of day. Given that the game is absolutely gorgeous to look at, it's become really difficult for me to just play the game without pausing it every couple of minutes to take pictures!

Here are some shots of the world taken on my travels. Remember, these are all in-game screenshots from the gameplay engine and they are not just backgrounds, they are traversable landscapes.


Landscapes:












































Perhaps the most amazing thing about the game though is the level of detail. The above shots show long-distance landscapes and buildings, but the game has a procedural generation system than creates individual trees, plants, rocks, even blades of grass and plant fronds down to the tiniest detail:












They even included insects!




This is the game's main character, Aloy (pronounced EH-loy)






Her main weapons are bow and spear, but sometimes she gets access to slightly more overpowered hardware:




Which comes in useful when you're up against one of these buggers:






My first Stormbird kill:




A corrupted Trampler, charging:




A Deathbringer:




As the game progresses you learn to "override" machines, making them friendly. You can use some of them as mounts.




Aloy is also pretty good with a grappling hook:




Remember when I said the landscape was traversable? See if you can spot Aloy near the top of this waterfall:




Has anyone else enjoyed this game?