Is Horizon Zero Dawn Any Good?

Every now and then you’ll look at a game store page and see that it’s got pretty good reviews, and wonder if it’s actually any good. Well, I decided to play Horizon Zero Dawn and see if it lived up to the Very Positive user reviews on Steam.

What is Horizon Zero Dawn?

Released back in 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn is an action role-playing open-world game developed by Guerilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Originally, the game was exclusive to the PlayStation 4 but in 2020 received a Steam port.

What are people saying?

Well, Horizon Zero Dawn is a heavily praised game throughout many platforms. Nominee for GOTY 2017 fighting against behemoths like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, the game is clearly beloved by many. So I was shocked to see the Very Positive reviews rather than Overwhelmingly Positive.

The top and most common reviews speak of how good the port is and how amazing the game’s visuals are. However, I decided not to blindly trust the reviews and added the negative tag to find that some people face a slew of bugs and crashes - specifically on AMD based cards, and people complaining about a mandatory data collection agreement.

Is it actually any good?

Indubitably. Horizon Zero Dawn has easily become one of my favourite games, with breathtaking visuals, wonderful gameplay, and a beautifully written female lead. I could gush about Horizon Zero Dawn for hours.

However, the main problem lies around the port. And although I didn't personally face any of the issues nor mind the data collection agreement, it doesn't mean that those problems don't exist. Sporting a very high-end PC, I couldn't tell you if the game is properly optimised or not. But gameplay-wise—and my personal experience with the port—everything is absolutely perfect.