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Horizon Zero Dawn Spoiler-free Impressions (for real this time)

D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
Two good excerpts from a podcast on the game

On how the combat is tactical


On the "towers" and how this game improves upon what people consider a very annoying Ubisoft thing
Could you source these? For whatever it's worth.
 

Wag

Member
Well, because of Horizon I went and bought an open-box PS4 Slim off Blinq.com for $200. Mainly a PC gamer but why not? If/when I get a 4k TV I'll just sell this and get a Pro. I'll probably get almost what I paid back.
 
Anyone has the chance to Fight with two Thunderjaws?? is that Even Possible??

Yeah I've done 2. Possible. :)


use a powered up rope caster and tear arrows to remove their rocket launchers from afar. Then tie them down if need be, and use their rocket launchers to tear them apart. I'm also able to now override them

Heheheh. Soo satisfying to kill thunderjaws. So much loot.
 
Sorry if has been asked already but don't have time to read all the thread but how big is the open world compared to other games. Also is there plenty of secrets amd other places to discover in the world, are you free to roam it.

It's very very big. Lol. That's all I got. Big and diverse. And yes secrets and hidden things to find.
 

vivekTO

Member
Yeah I've done 2. Possible. :)


use a powered up rope caster and tear arrows to remove their rocket launchers from afar. Then tie them down if need be, and use their rocket launchers to tear them apart. I'm also able to now override them

Heheheh. Soo satisfying to kill thunderjaws. So much loot.

At once,Thats amazing!! Do you have any screencaps or something , because that would look Great with photomode!!

Also
What does the Override actually do , i don't think you can ride them.

Thanks for answering.
 
At once,Thats amazing!! Do you have any screencaps or something , because that would look Great with photomode!!

Also
What does the Override actually do , i don't think you can ride them.

Thanks for answering.

the override controls them so they're fighting for you. if you can't ride them, that's what it does. You can even shoot them and they won't even attack and you get the XP if you kill them. I haven't tested enough but I'm at full override time (permanent) but I haven't had them go aggro on me since. I can override thunderjaw, stormbird and one more top tier robot
 

philley

Neo Member
2 nice timelapse gifs from IGN Germany

ezgifcom-video-to-gif_ykqh.gif
ezgifcom-video-to-gif-1_c8xs.gif
 
D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
HDR should be on the disc. At the sony show case, it was already working on the tv there and that's off the discs they had.

The patch is to enable you to change settings HDR/SDR + other like framerate/visual quality on the PRO.

Nice. Thanks.
 
Even if it doesn't beat Uncharted 4 (I still find that claim hard to believe until I see it with my own eyes), that an open world game can look this good feels like one of this generation's defining leaps
There's a noticeable difference comparing texture quality, shaders, and subsurface scattering. Lastly Decima is one of the very few engines that have really good eye shaders. Just compare both gameplay models here. Uncharted 4 rarely even has subsurface scattering activated during gameplay while Horizon seems to have it turned on at all times. Important to note that these are both gameplay photo-mode models and not cutscene models that clearly do not represent what gameplay looks like (I'm not sure if Horizon features improved shaders and other effects like Uncharted 4 did).
comparison10u44.png
 
what podcast?
Could you source these? For whatever it's worth.
http://shallweshow.com/2017/02/horizon-zero-dawn/

There's a noticeable difference comparing texture quality, shaders, and subsurface scattering. Lastly Decima is one of the very few engines that have really good eye shaders. Just compare both gameplay models here. Uncharted 4 rarely even has subsurface scattering activated during gameplay while Horizon seems to have it turned on at all times. Important to note that these are both gameplay photo-mode models and not cutscene models that clearly do not represent what gameplay looks like (I'm not sure if Horizon features improved shaders and other effects like Uncharted 4 did).
comparison10u44.png
Impressive

But that's Uncharted 4 Elena? I recall her looking more realistic than that in-game
 

Kaze2212

Member
That is UC3 Elena I think??
But that's Uncharted 4 Elena? I recall her looking more realistic than that in-game

Sometimes it was quite challenging to get really good shots of the in-game character models, because the lighting was just looking too flat or the lack of subsurface scattering was just extremely jarring in certain situations. But if everything fell into place it looked really good.

Aloy's model looks to be a lot more consistent all-around.
 

vivekTO

Member
wow, sorry my mistake .I haven't played the game , but i never seen her like this in any previews or trailer. Maybe due to the lighting as said above .My bad.
 
Sometimes it was quite challenging to get really good shots of the in-game character models, because the lighting was just looking too flat or the lack of subsurface scattering was just extremely jarring in certain situations. But if everything fell into place it looked really good.

Aloy's model looks to be a lot more consistent all-around.
It doesn't help that the camera is tied to Nathan. It makes it much harder to compose a shot of anyone other than Nate.
 
No, it is UC4 Elena. The lighning didnt do it justice though.

lol yeah that's UC4 pro version during gameplay under normal circumstances just like that horizon pic. The model is still consistent with or without good lighting. Impressive how good horizon looks considering it's an open world.
 

dr guildo

Member
There's a noticeable difference comparing texture quality, shaders, and subsurface scattering. Lastly Decima is one of the very few engines that have really good eye shaders. Just compare both gameplay models here. Uncharted 4 rarely even has subsurface scattering activated during gameplay while Horizon seems to have it turned on at all times. Important to note that these are both gameplay photo-mode models and not cutscene models that clearly do not represent what gameplay looks like (I'm not sure if Horizon features improved shaders and other effects like Uncharted 4 did).
comparison10u44.png

Just to be fair by showing UC4's NPC under a better day, 100% ingame :

NPC's finest said:
 
In the dev stream, regular grazers would flee when alerted, but corrupted ones would charge at you

Do other corrupted machines have such drastic behavior changes, or gain new attacks in their corrupted variants?
 
In the dev stream, regular grazers would flee when alerted, but corrupted ones would charge at you

Do other corrupted machines have such drastic behavior changes, or gain new attacks in their corrupted variants?

they're generally aggressive and more dangerous to fight. No new attacks. But yeah, seeing corrupted
rockhunters
x02 made me go hell no.


Story Comments: - so obviously some plot spoilers


so now that I'm more or less done with the open world (not quite - i've got lots of things to do still/collect/explore - my aloy is level 46ish) I'm starting to do the main quest and I've just gotten to
sunworld and now just entering zero dawn
.

In the previous 2 story sections, now that I've moved past side quests/errands; Guerilla's/HZD's plot and story telling properly is coming to the forefront and there is a lot of depth in story telling here. I was really wowed by what they've done and you will be too. There is some well implemented dialogue and the whole
meeting hades and follow escape with explosions and soldiers everywhere
was really quite thrilling - also loved the plot about
how this world came to be and the elizabet sobeck storyline

Also
seeing what's his face (the actor from Fringe) in it, made me wonder if Aloy is based on a real person.

Very excited to play more. Who knows how many hours I'm at now. 34 hours?
 
There's a noticeable difference comparing texture quality, shaders, and subsurface scattering. Lastly Decima is one of the very few engines that have really good eye shaders. Just compare both gameplay models here. Uncharted 4 rarely even has subsurface scattering activated during gameplay while Horizon seems to have it turned on at all times. Important to note that these are both gameplay photo-mode models and not cutscene models that clearly do not represent what gameplay looks like (I'm not sure if Horizon features improved shaders and other effects like Uncharted 4 did).
comparison10u44.png

Damn Sony's 1st party doesn't wait around. They love to surpass each other. Guerrilla (Shadow Fall) < Sucker Punch (Second Son) < Santa Monica (The Order) < Naughty Dog (U4) < Guerrilla (Horizon) <= Sucker Punch (?) Santa Monica (GOW) Naughty Dog (TLOU2)
 
Also got a shipping email from Best Buy and tracking says it's expected on Monday. I hadn't even planned to buy this right away but after the good impressions and videos I saw I impulse bought it with the Visa Checkout deal. Hope it compares to how much I loved Witcher 3!
 
People keep saying the game world is huge, but why are playtimes 30-50 hours? I was hoping 60+ hours...

(in before people say they can't finish long games anymore...zzz)
 

The Lamp

Member
People keep saying the game world is huge, but why are playtimes 30-50 hours? I was hoping 60+ hours...

(in before people say they can't finish long games anymore...zzz)

It is huge. That has nothing to do with how large the campaign is. I'm at the end and there are corners of the map I hadn't explored yet.
 

Skux

Member
People keep saying the game world is huge, but why are playtimes 30-50 hours? I was hoping 60+ hours...

(in before people say they can't finish long games anymore...zzz)

Is a 50 hour game not huge? That's old school JRPG length.

At 50 hours at least it's reasonable for me to completely 100% the game... I have no chance when it comes to a Skyrim or Fallout to do the same.
 
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