Just... wow. One of the best (if not the best one) games played so far (for the many decades in PC gaming). The whole impression is, I'd say, amazing.
I strictly mark this game as a 'mustplay'.
PROS:
* Plot/setting: 5 stars of 5.
* Gameplay: 5 stars of 5.
* Programming: 5 stars of 5.
* Sound/music/voicing: 5 stars of 5.
* Graphics/visuals/models/animation: 5 stars of 5.
CONS:
* If feels short. Not because it's really short (first playthrough took about 160+ hrs.), but because such perfect product will always feel too short.
THANKS:
* I'd like top thank Sony for decision to port it to PC.
* Special thanks to Sony and GOG for the game made available here.
* And of course, thanks to the Guerrilla team for creation this masterpiece.
Keep it up guys!
In a scene graph, the camera is the most important object attached to it. It represents what the user sees in the environment. It doesn't matter how anything else runs if the camera object is bad. Everything is displayed through that object.
So when the camera is hideous, the user has to decide if the developer made an error in development or if something in the software glitched.
After much research I've found that this is a developer issue. The swaying camera side-to-side was a design decision and there are no user settings to prevent it. It is nauseating and disorienting. I've no idea why they thought this disconnected camera was a good idea. It serves no good purpose but to sicken the user. This is similar to becoming sea-sick because of the viewed environment shifting unnecessarily.
I have looked for a third-party solution to the camera issue to no avail. Typically mod-makers or trainer tables might implement camera related options not in the software. Unfortunately I have found countless complaints about the camera but no concern shown by the developer/publisher about the issue.
DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! Warning to people susceptible to motion sickness: the camera in this game arbitrarily shifts side to side and can cause severe disorientation. There is no way to prevent this behavior in the software. The developers intended to cause discomfort to its users with this design. While this is clearly noticeable in 16:9 display ratios, it becomes extreme for ultra widescreen.
Much as flashing lights can cause nausea, epileptic episodes, headaches and vertigo, this camera shifting/swaying can cause the same.
Shame on the company for not offering a user option to lock the camera in place to prevent this.
The latest version appears to be 1.10 and that means the company has had numerous opportunities to implement and deploy this. It is now apparent the caused discomfort is intentional as it has not been addressed.
This PSA brought to you by another gamer.
TL;DR the game has a fantastic story and looks amazing. Gameplay is mediocre at best.
Let's start with the fact that I like me some great action games. Nioh 2, stuff from FromSoftware, DMC series, Batman Arkham series that kind of thing. Why mention? Because good action game is not what Horizon: Zero Dawn is. Melee combat is rather sluggish and unresponsive, with no lock on and any drive or fun. Weapon variety is not present at all, you only get a boring spear with a couple of boring attacks.
Fine then, maybe it's a shooter game with some nice guns? Well, ranged weapon variety is better, and some of the elemental mechanics are rather fun to play with. But without lock on or even target tracking, focusing on ranged weapons with a controller is an exercise in frustration. Fine then, use your keyboard and mouse. But it doesn't work either due to controls scheme being weird and clearly not designed with such a control method in mind.
Survival mechanics are poorly implemented as well. You have to actively scavange for your default healing method. Health does not regen between fights (you can get that effect late game, but at a cost.) So you have to do a lot, and I mean a lot of looking for some grass to replenish your health potion supply.
Ammo has to be crafted on the go and even the largest ammo pouches can only contain a handful of shots. Wanna sell all the junk? Good luck spending a lot of time looking for trash items in your inventory. You know, the ones that can only be used for selling. God, "sell junk" has been in videogames for so long I can't even remember the first game that had it.
Now for the good part. The world-building is great and the setting is the post apocalypse I could have never imagined. Story is fantastic and for the most part, well told, albeit it gets rather weird by the end of the game. Side quests are wel thought-out and are fun just for the sake of the story. It is a shame gameplay does not live up to the setting, story and characters.