The Unexpected Success of Horizon Zero Dawn | 3 Years Later (Retrospective)

[Music] just over three years ago now February 28th 2017 horizon zero dawn released to the public the newest PlayStation exclusive coming from guerrilla games the guys behind the Killzone franchise this time creating an open-world RPG set in a brand new universe created from the ground up this was a risk on the part of Sony this was a huge undertaking for the guys at guerilla games could the studio once only known for their famous FPS franchise transitioned to something entirely new and different I wanted for the three anniversary give or take sorry it's a little bit late to take a journey back into horizon and take you all with me see what makes it tick and see what made in unforeseen and unexpected success if you had had a child Elizabeth what would you have wished for him or her I guess I would have wanted her to be curious [Music] and willful unstoppable even but with enough compassion to heal the world just a little bit [Music] [Music] [Music] anyway that's all I've got for now Gaia time to tuck in let's go back to the beginning during the development of Killzone 3 for the PlayStation 3 gorilla had been coming up with ideas for something new the whole office pitched in over 40 different ones from the fantasy to cyberpunk of sci-fi settings coming up with ideas for what they'd really love to work on outside of Killzone in 2010 what the game director has since called the most risky idea was pitched by the art director and this idea would become horizon zero dawn ten to twenty people from inside gorilla began work on prototype builds for this game something they could use to pitch the idea to Sony around 20 different story concepts were thought up exploring many different concepts one of which even being multiple playable characters eventually john gonzales who was the lead writer for fallout new vegas was picked up as the narrative director for horizon zero dawn along with ben McCaw as the lead writer after the completion of Killzone Shadowfall in 2013 the remaining star finally began to join the rest and work on horizon zero dawn upon doing so gorilla actually cancelled another project specifically to work on horizon with more care with a budget of around forty three million euros the development of horizon zero dawn was officially underway in 2014 as to be expected in the modern gaming industry the concept and the game's codename horizon was leaked in September of that year although it could have been a lot worse keeping everything under wraps until the eventual 2015 reveal was a success III 2015 rolled around and we finally got to see horizon zero dawn Herman Hills took to the stage to unveil his new project with much excitement they showed a reveal trailer giving some story details showing as the protagonist in a lloyd followed by a short demo of a low taking down a thunder jaw I remember vividly watching this for the first time and not really caring a great deal I mean in 2015 that e3 I didn't even have a PlayStation 4 so I guess it was something that I ever really needed to care about from a consumer standpoint so pretty much overlooked it but because of that even when I got a ps4 I forgot all about the I saw a trailer here and there it looked good but I have really scratched the surface of what horizon was I'm still not sure to this day where the horizons marketing revealed a great deal because I was never following it until just a few days before release I remember watching an episode of kind of funny reacts in which Colin Moriarty someone whose opinion I greatly valued and still do to this day in the gaming industry talked very highly about horizon for the most part Colin is someone whose opinions I tend to agree with when it comes to video games and so something like this hearing he felt it was his favorite placement for exclusive so far definitely swayed me to at least check out the launch trailer which I dropped at that point in doing so seeing this new trailer along with hearing Colin talk about these game features so passionately and the fact it felt truly like a breath of fresh air I hopped online and pre-ordered a copy I had no idea what to expect I hadn't followed this game all I knew is you shoot things with a bow and arrow and the story has this underlying mystery that you're costly trying to uncover about Abel's personal past and that of the ones who came before which if you know me that that concept is very me I could say here and discuss the review scores the way people like and dislike it's about the facts but that's not really what the point of this is it's not what I do we've got the backstory we've got the development process what was it like February 28th 2017 jumping into for the first time ever with no expectation no information horizon zero dawn [Music] [Music] since release I've played horizon a few times but never they just sit down and experience the game all over again we played it through on Horsham fox in 2017 for difficulty purposes playing on ultra hard and playing it for challenge mostly i played again in 2019 on lasers extra my second channel with my girlfriend who'd never played the game before so that was her experience not mine this year coming up to the three year anniversary a few weeks ago I wanted to experience the game in all its glory for myself so I sat down got my headphones closed the blinds and booted up horizon two finally after three years jump back into this experience to lose myself in the journey as if it were the first time again and I have to say I think I enjoyed it more this time than I did the first time opening the game is a gorgeous setup to the world establishing these different tribes establishing the balance of machine and man in this new world that we're going to be let loose upon with voice over from the father figure Ross and incredible shots of the landscape essentially your place in the world as a LOI is established an outcast raised by a caring man who was once respected in this tribe and tier sir one of the three high matriarchs of this tribe is someone you can trust despite the others under the view of the tribe itself you're introduced to these concepts from the beginning showing there is more to this game than quests and machines but the balance of different civilizations is a huge part of the narrative and something the devs worked incredibly hard to realize or with their own belief systems and laws that the player will over time come to know fast forward six years and we get to know a lie this was probably the first time the game made me really feel something which isn't saying much because it's just started I think an easy rising technique to make your player feel empathy for a protagonist just to show them as a child in an innocent and vulnerable state a lawyer at six is curious she wants to be part of this tribe but she can't understand why she's not able to be she tries to join in with the other kids only to be ignored and shunned it shows the innocence of childhood and the fact that nobody is born feeling malice or prejudice towards another because of who they are that's taught and it shows because the children ignore a boy understanding the laws because that's all they know it's what they've been taught a law however doesn't understand it makes her sad and then very quickly angry she's never done anything but this is how it's always been and this is an anger that would grow as she grows an anger that pushes her forward and becomes purpose and determination and quickly we see who a law is even at six a boy runs away and falls into a hole a cave but not just any cave this is the players first introduction into the world of the old ones forbidden by the Norra the tribe which a low is outcast from the tribe which occupies the Sacred Lands alloys curiosity begins to shine as you delve deeper into this cave and slowly you see staircases doorways lights sounds places long abandoned and no answers just pieces of a giant puzzle that keeps you going and keeps you intrigued following this is one of my favorite scenes it's still a tear Joker to this day for me no matter how many times I watch it it's a combination of the context that a lawyer's and outcasts along with the music the mocap facial animations and all of it we get to see this innocent outcast girl feel truly happy over something that she doesn't understand well she doesn't need to because regardless it makes her smile and that is the core of what a voi is her purpose as she grows as she moves through this huge confusing world she never fails to help people make them smile despite their understanding or misunderstanding this world [Music] happy birthday Isaac daddy sure does love his little big man look daddy can't be there with you and mom but we can still have a party right sure we can [Music] show me show me again happy birthday eyes daddy sure does love his little big man daddy can't be there with you and mom but we can still have a party right this introduction sets up a lot of things we get our focus which allows alo to see the world differently from others and especially growing up gives her great insight into how the world really is despite not having all of the answers she's far more intelligent than those around her which leads into lessons about stealth and crafting and a wider knowledge of this world although still controlled at this point with linear pieces I'll obviously talk about this thing in detail a little later on but for now let's focus on story setup after her first hunting mission and using her focus to save someone who was still forced to shun her and Rost even after their deed causes a lawyer again to leave Rost and run away in doing so we got our first introduction to our dialogue options work in horizon that being a Lloyd is our protagonist and she very clearly has core traits such as being curious brash yet caring headstrong and also quite often acts out on impulse and emotion and we can choose to reflect this dialogue options are made up of three main choices either the caring option choosing to use a laws more loving side and almost naive childlike side to hope she can change people we have her intelligence side in which she uses her cunning knowledge and logic to solve social situations or retaliate to things and the real so have her impulsive sight the side in which she acts out a pure emotion whether that's anger or passion she doesn't think things through and acts impulsively these are all options that feel like a vote we can't choose to just murder innocents or be incredibly on kinds of people because that's not a lie everything you choose is a side of a load that we see in these early stages you're just choosing how to react based on who she is for the most part I tend to go with the brain option as I'm gonna dub it because it's a brain isn't it it just feels the most balance not being too aggressive but also not being too loving to be bloomed maybe don't deserve it which I felt suited me for most situations [Music] stay away no mother this is a lawyer's of breaking point as a child who's never been able to play with other kids living in ignorance of the tribe in this world living a life where everybody tells her no she wants more that curiosity if not sated becomes frustration who was her mother why was she outcast why the places of the old ones forbidden by the Nora what happened there she wants answers to all of it and so begins our quest as a aloy for answers to all of it this is not the time who was my mother anyway I've told you before that's not for us to know you were just a newborn when the matriarch brought you to me so the Matrox they know yeah it's not so simple but that you know hey Lloyd we are outcasts so how do I make them tell me the matriarch said there is a way perhaps so tell me it will be dangerous how it would take years of training care how do I do it tell me the proving the tribes rite of passage held every year those who pass become Braves but to the one who wins the matriarchs grant a boom yes whatever the winner was you know do it whatever it takes [Music] I'll win the proven I see the best get started then your training will be hard you start training yes follow [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a LOI now 19 years old has finally let loose into the open world getting ready for what the tribe calls the proving set to take place in two days time it's the event in which a boy can finally become part of the Nora and learn the secrets about who she is and why she was outcast there are plenty of things open to the player the world for a start becomes open well at least the sacred lands which the nora inhabits but the way they do it is pretty masterful you feel like a lloyd with the area you've been outcast to being your home your world it's all you know and when you'll finally opened up to it it feels huge you get to explore these places see people do quests and so when the world finally opens up more it really opens up more but we'll get to that first off we get to grips with more main systems in the game for starters the economics so trading for better equipment the currency of metal shards would you gather from dead machines along with the understanding of crafting looting leveling and all the stuff that an RPG does for crafting arrows you're always needing ridgewood and metal shards which are easy to obtain but it reminds you to always be on the lookout for things to collect on the sides of roads it honestly discourages fast travel which I like it means you more than often have to take the longer route exploring properly so you have enough resources to actually continue to craft the things you need this allows you more than often to find things you wouldn't normally find like quests or collectible items or areas for exploration as the game progresses your resources for crafting aren't as rare but I like that in the early stages that actually encourages exploration you also introduced to how machine parts can be used to craft specific things such as using blaze from Striders fire arrows and this also opens up how all components and machines are useful whether that be for crafting trading or just dealing more damage to machines to take them down the way the systems in this game are balanced and given purpose and woven together is so careful when intricate it's really commendable it makes everything for your worthwhile I really wanted to take my time this time around with horizon I tried to do every side quest I noticed on my compass and head off the beaten track more often in Noora lands at the start I spent some time doing side quests for people getting to know the general area I found that exploring more often than not led to a side quest the game must lead you in these areas without you noticing which makes everything feel more detailed and dense when in reality is just masterful world design to guide you in specific directions so when I felt like climbing a particular cliffside it was really because I've been subconsciously directed there by the devs to find a sidequest they'd placed which I think makes the world feel incredibly alive as I gathered more weapons completed side quests and took out my first sawtooth which by the way is a great introduction to how battles work with these larger machines I was finally ready to tackle the proving and pass into what becomes the larger world of horizon finally entering mother's heart for the first time is an incredibly fun experience after being out in the wild for such a long time since the start of the game entering the gates and seeing what this village looks like is so refreshing you just feel like a loiters seeing so many people in one place the music the celebrations as this atmosphere that until this point the game hasn't displayed yet and it really pays off the long wait to enter this is also the players first explosion two cultures outside of the embrace as cargo from the Sun dome of visiting to bring a message from the new Sun King this is where the politics of horizon is set up even more the 13th Sun King was a tyrannical man someone who went mad with power sent men to burn areas of the sacred lands in other areas outside of the Sun damn this is known as the red raids by the people of this world the message however is from his usurper the fourteenth Sun King Avadh the son of the thirteenth Sun King learning all about this information the political landscape is so interesting and it's so well thought out the different cultures the different governments the way they believe this world works it all has meaning behind it and it's such intriguing fiction none see Asia Oh gratitude nor nor a faithful hold your fruit now i mahzarin not cards yet so I'll put it just straight the thirteenth son came was a murderous bung he was the tyrant and a monster he raided my tribe for blood sacrifices just like yours my own sister was taken I hated the card key but the thirteenth king is dead two years now who killed him the 14th [Music] not because he he lusted for power but because someone had to put an end to his father's atrocities message that this poor priest means to read is an apology straight from the lips of the fourteenth King so please can't you lend him your ears thank you an enunciation of gratitude this is where the story starts to get more complex also ayo notices a man wearing a focus similar to hers she goes over to talk to him but the man who we find out is called ole in becomes jittery and leaves pretty quickly which is curious enter errand who is probably one of my favorite of the supporting characters he's awesome yet another tribe in this world who worked for the karcher military in Meridian essentially the largest and most important settlement in this world the center of cultures and trade it's a melting pot for everybody in this region of the world I remember first being told about Meridian when I played this in 2017 and I assumed it was somewhere for a sequel potentially somewhere they spoke off but wasn't visited at least not yet anyway but when I realized the scale of this world and the fact that we do indeed visit Meridian I was blown away at the proving which is a fun little set piece men wearing focus is the same as a lawyers and Bush the Nora and seek to kill a Loy a man called Heelys one of the antagonists of this game has been sent to execute a LOI with our boy frost coming in last minute to protect this girl who was as good as his daughter [Music] No [Music] burn it off event your task as you command hey Lloyd [Music] survive [Music] finally a Lloyd awakes alone and inside of the all-mother mountain quickly noticing this is a place created by the old ones which the matriarchs have merely inhabited retrieving her gear and focus from one of the assailants at the proving she uses her own focus to unlock the information from within the one she found this unravels something which becomes a major focus for a Lloyd story we find out that Heelys ordered a kill order on a lawyer as well as finding out the base saw her through öhlins focus along with the major plot point that a lie has DNA that matches very closely with a woman she sees in this focus could it be her mother is she still around questions without answers answers that we need to seek matriarch tearsa tells a low she was born within the mountain from a door that they believe is a God which they call all mother one day a law was found inside the mountain tears of felt she was a gift from the God however others felt she was put there by darker powers and so Ross took it upon himself to raise her and become outcasts after discovering what she must do in order to access the door in all mother mountain a Loy is anointed a seeker of the nora able to leave the Sacred Lands adventure onwards to discover what lay in the larger world restore the corruption to the door in the mountain and find the answers she seeks not long after you get your first encounter with a machine known as a Corrupter one that looks nothing like the rest and has the ability to control machines and use them almost like an army much more deadly than anything we've encountered yet using everything you've learned so far you take it down and this is where you use apart from the corruptor in order to override machines using your spare you can now override a few machines to help you one of these being mounts Striders and broadheads can now be overridden in order to use them as mounts and move across the world faster this is where the world truly becomes available to you as you venture out more of the world becomes known you make your way out of the embrace that a first felt like such a sprawling world into the complete unknown I'll never forget the first time I ventured out riding out on my Mountain seeing that the war was so much bigger than I first thought maybe because I hadn't paid much attention to the marketing but just added to my experience I rode through the trees to see open plains and mountains as far as the eye could see new machines rivers and the Sun beating down through the snowy fields it's a feeling of the unknown that many games can't achieve but horizon does exceedingly well even all these years later I still get the incredible feeling of venturing into an unknown land to find arts to the many questions that a boy has so many more things are of course now options for you to do art adding to a small village many people there have side quests relating to things that you can unlock within the world van de Kamp's cauldrons and hunting challenges become things you can readily do as you explore if you find hunting trial locations you can partake learning that these are actually part of a wider spread tree of the hunters Lodge in Meridian being told to stop by the lodge if you're ever in the city making things feel more alive and connected and giving meridian yet more importance now I'm thuggin the map in open-world games is something that happens incredibly often made famous by Assassin's Creed it's almost certain that in an open Moor game you're gonna be finding towers to climb which unlock the map as you progress now the thing with horizon is the way it uses this mechanic to its advantage in creating more law points in the world tall necks are all over the world I believe there's about seven of them in total something like that and they're giant machines with big long necks as the name implies each of which works as a mini easy yet satisfying climbing puzzle the first time I ever came across one of these in my first playthrough I remember it just towering above me the ground shaking with every step it made and then I realized [ __ ] that's a moving viewpoint I have to climb that thing and so you navigate the world find a point that you can use to jump onto the tall neck and then you jump and grab the side of it making your way up to the top sometimes as machines are firing at you then finally you override the torment can unfold that part of the map it's a very simple mechanic but I feel the context of it in the way it's slightly new and creative makes it all that more satisfying and honestly it never gets old climbing is another method of transport in this game it's very satisfying to watch however it's only limited to specific areas and set pieces which is fine but it will be nice in the future to have more areas to climb I'm not talking breadth of the wildtype stuff because I believe the set-piece climbing makes hard-to-reach areas feel meaningful whereas climbing anywhere you want makes world design a tad harder on the devs and it could lead to useless tour mountains and buildings and rocky terrain I would just like more options when it comes to where you can and can't climb perhaps the other major thing that comes into play at this stage is the Colton's now my god are the Colton's one hell of a side quest they're entirely optional and exists all throughout the world the first time I stumbled upon one back in 2017 I was so into it you enter this very obviously old ones location full of interesting machinery and you navigate your way through the level by solving simple puzzles taking down enemies stealth in your way through or climbing around each one feels unique and ends with a boss battle with a major machine type in beating it you can then override a new set of machines to use in battles which opens up ton of new gameplay possibilities just exploring these interesting places seeing how machines are made it's great for gameplay world building and adding question towards the main story that you're playing through who made these why do they still exist how are they operational these are all things that are added and explored by a simple optional side mission you can just find in the world horizon handles exploration discovery and rewards so very very well and possibly one of the best in all of open-world games it's superb design set up and pay off after exploring a decent amount of what was now open to me it was time to push on and head out the boundaries of this land and into the next heading for the Kaja border in order to pass through the Sun demand find errand in Meridian it feels like a monumental challenge despite it merely being a mission marker finding one man in this whole world the world you've never experienced before and are not familiar with in the codger Capitol no less for someone who spent their entire life within the embrace it's quite a task finally passing through the gates of the Carter checkpoint feels big as you walk up the slope and you notice the snow begins to become less so not entirely but it lets up and on the horizon you can see a new land a vastness that stretches as far as the eye can see entirely new terrain new machines and a new world to explore it's these kinds of moments that make exploration feel like there's no end always discovering something new and not just new but something big I remember because I hadn't really watched any trailers all I knew from Horizon was that there was snow and trees from that initial gameplay video but I didn't know anything about this other stuff the canyons the sandy trails the cara territory is so vastly different from that of the nora and the Ostrom territories and so you feel like you're stepping into uncharted lands at least for someone like a boy as you ride along eventually you reach Meridian the capital of the Sun dome and by god every time I feel so taken aback by the scale and magnitude of this place perched atop a large rock with towers buildings bridges gates and lifts a small market village down below and the car just sun king's palace on the far edge the city holds so much power and majesty in this world and the first time you come across it you feel in awe it's not like anything a lawyer or the player has seen yet and so it has this wonder to it that feels so special not to mention that incredible piece of music that plays when you're in Meridian [Music] [Music] walking along to the bridge you notice people are not able to pass into the city it seems on lockdown you reach the guards and you're told that no person enters Meridian without submitting to a search due to the recent attacks you're told Ursa errant sister has been killed following this you meet a drunk errand a man who is clearly broken but still willing to help you find the information you need about Olin after searching Orleans house arond asked if you could help him - and how could a low say no the main story here splits off into two quests the quest for Olin and the quest to help to find who killed Erin's sister it's also at this point that the world feels fully opens you know more gates and barriers no more locked outposts or checkpoints you can't pass through this world is now yours and I took full advantage of this this was the point where I completely halted in my quest for the main story as around every turn in Meridian there were quest to pick up and things to do my first course of action was getting materials to build myself the golden fast travel pack now fast trouble in this game uses a pack and every time you want to travel you have to craft one but with the golden fast travel pack you can reuse it as many times as you like making fast travel a lot easier you can get this from a bloke in Meridian also something useful is in shops if there's a particular thing you want to craft you can tag it as a quest creating your own quests within the game that way it tags it as an objective in this case one Fox skin and ten fatty meat so I headed down to the lower part of the Meridian area where it was more jungle II and gathered the resources I needed I also at this point got myself a new outfit to fit in with the locals I noticed this time around that depending on your outfit in the area of the world people treat you differently once I got myself this car to retire people were impressed that an or a girl would fit in so well and similarly when I headed into awesome territory later on they commented on how my card her outfit was out of place and love silly and I thought I have to change it to fit in just little things but it's cool next it was time I headed to the hunters lodge this is like West I spent a hell of a lot of time on and it's a long one with plenty to do and experience you're introduced to the lodge and you learned that after the new king took over they allowed women and Outlanders to join the lodge where before it was merely charge of men under the reign of the thirteenth son King the head of the lodge a cease is uh well he's a bigger I mean he's genuinely just bigoted he hates women and anyone that isn't car dude he's a cop request is to become the thrush of a hawk known as to Lana to do so you have to take down a certain amount of machines around the world and bring back their trophies to prove yourself it feels pretty fun going to these different areas and taking down large machines to bring back the trophies sort of like your own mini quest in the story you've set up for yourself in this world this is where combat really shines and opens up you learn an awful lot about different machines and how to tackle them they will have their own strengths and weaknesses their own defences different attacks parts and all of that is information on how to defeat them for example a storm berg which you have to take down as part of the hunters lodge quest has two ice tanks and two blaze canisters on its body hitting the ice tanks with freeze arrows will cause them to explode dealing large ice damage and freezing the enemy same with hitting players canisters with fire arrows cause those two do the same but with continuous fire damage you can also use the rope caster to tie down the storm bird Bites wings which will do tear damage to those specific parts on its wing that's then allowing you to stock arrows and fire heavily on its guard in chess play to deal extra damage all of this while dodging and weaving in and out of its ranged and melee attacks each machine in the game has this insane amount of depth as to how you take them down and playing on a harder difficulty means you really have to master their weaknesses and use it against them it's incredibly fun it's incredibly satisfying and it's such a unique combat system upon filing gathering all the trophies I needed as part of the lodge quests it'll trigger the final quest within this story previous to your arrival a cease and to Lana have been tracking a Thunder Joe called red more a machine that has taken out plenty of the hunters Lodge and they have one hell of a vendetta against it so you head off with to Lana to take out red more finding a seize has gone off alone to claim glory of course he dies and it's your job to take down this powerful machine it's a fun boss battle you have to take down the disc launches on the back of the Thunder jaw knock them off and pick them up to use them against the machine doing maximum damage you can also tie down the machine and fire at the heart inside once it's exposed among a bunch of other weaknesses on the body that you have to and exploit taking down the machine brings you glory and with a cease dead Ilana becomes the Sun Hawk of the lodge meaning no more sexism and Outlanders are free to join without prejudice it's an incredibly fun side story and I thoroughly enjoy playing through it along with that going to all the hunters Lodge locations around the world and completing those to max level meaning I could get the legendary Hunter's Lodge weapons giving me an edge in combat later down the line as well as that I completed countless side stories and really explored this vast world without going too far into areas that hadn't been unfucked yet as I wanted that natural progression for the main story i leveled up quite a bit getting a ton of new skills in all areas of the game as well as crafting more inventory space for my various resources and ammo also I spent a ridiculous amount of time taking screenshots in this game the photo mode mix with the gorgeous visuals is so satisfying to play around with and I made some of the best damn photo mofos I've ever made I'm pretty proud to be honest I usually post them all to Twitter so if you're interested you can head over there link in the description I pretty much exhausted the current world of things to do and felt it was time to finally continue with a low his quest to cure the corruption of mothers hearts and find out who the woman from the hologram was but first of course I had to solve the mystery with Aaron's sister this quest is all about giving depth to the Sun King who you mean he was close with Ursa and he cares about taking revenge along with developing Aaron then explaining some more of the politics within this universe you find out the Ursa isn't actually dead and the Sun King tasks you with finding her eventually after some detective work you do find her however she's just holding on to life she dies not long after you arrived Aaron feels devastated but allows him to find clarity and purpose moving forward which is great development for his character you learn of an attack planned by Duvall the man who kidnapped Ursa he's going to break into the palace at Meridian and kill the king quickly of course a law has to stop this you have quite a nice little climbing set-piece to enter the palace and after some fights with some machines you take out Duvall immersed or piece now at least this now leaves only the matter of a Lin and his part to play in the grandest story learning from his house he works on a dig site digging up old machines a load travels to this region of the Sun Dome to find ol in with a cult who known as the Eclipse reviving corrupters like scene at the start of the game in the embrace quickly there focuses are disabled and a mysterious voice contacts a Loy these things will destroy us all they will only destroy our enemies and bring us back the lands we may have intruders forgive this intrusion Eloy you've left me no choice an interested party now the focuses are disabled but I don't know for how long the rest is up to you with the stranger gone all that's left is to take down the machines and get to Olin after everything is dealt with and Olin is the last man standing you question him learning of the power that controls these machines and is in charge of the Eclipse Hades the power that seems to be behind these new machines Olin also explains the image of the woman he found only once in the ruins at makers end which gives a lawyer next mission to find these ruins explore them and find answers you get the choice on what to do with Olin at this point whether you kill him or spare him is up to you and depending on your choice will change the quest that comes after involving his family but that's merely a side errand and not worth talking about although it's nice that there's a follow up with Olin heading back up north into the cold mountains you discover an eclipse camp in an old ones ruin fighting your way through a low finally reaches a large clearing where the Eclipse have revived a treants new machine only partially meaning it's easier to take down than it might have been a full power avoiding eclipse fire in the machines attacks you finally take it down they call it a Death Bringer and it's one of the most well equipped machine seemingly made purely for you have to say [Music] the entity layers acceptable unacceptable after hearing the voice of Hades Allah makes her way inside the tower World War I tend to scan [Music] genetic profile confirmed entering authorized greetings dr. Silva please step inside [Music] after spending a while climbing through these ruins a light eventually emerges at the top of what used to be an old ones skyscraper the navigation in these ruins is always so much fun to me seeing what came before what's left of it accessing data pads and old recordings I love the mystery of it all exploring what once was and piecing it together from the information you're presented with it never gets old in reaching the top alloy accesses an old hologram access point and restores the purged data using the privileges that come with her DNA being similar to doctor so back it's been years where is your legal team dead no need I dropped all 18 lawsuits the mone landed I assume your data confirms us all right this promises to be interesting gosh we could have lunch brought in you know okay no you Ted you screwed something up to something big or you wouldn't have eaten the crow necessary to get me here so spit it out there's a glitch in the chariot line your killer robots peacekeepers yes those so shut them down okay so as we would if we code they're not responding are you telling me a swarm has gone rogue Ted it's worse than that show me the data then and we'll take that lunch alone Ted faro brought Elizabeth so big here but they hated each other isn't a glitch it's a catastrophe fully aware it's bad bad Jesus les it's not bad Ted it's apocalyptic you built a line of killer robots peace keepers that consume biomass as fuel in emergencies and you even capable of cells application what self manufacture controlled the gush suffered chain of command the only nation is for answers to now is itself everything else is just food it's replicating Ted it will strip the earth bare and fifteen months we're not talking civilization we're talking extinction I get it please it's contained it's not contained it can't be you know what I mean right before the truth gets out you mean listen I will do anything you say keep working it and whatever you recommend I'll do I'm gonna hold you to that Ted the faro robots threatened all life on Earth but somehow she defeated them the world of the old ones fell but life went on or we wouldn't be here project zero dawn Jesus listen there has to be another way if there are a nicer way to fix your mess I would have proposed it but this this when I asked you to find a cure I didn't expect it to be worse than the disease it's not Ted it may be grim but it's our only chance now sign the proposal sign it I can't sign that yes you can dad Liz I cannot in good conscience sign that you've got a choice Ted I know I'm speaking to you from a VTOL and route to us robot command in 15 minutes I meet with general Harrison the rest of the Joint Chiefs what easy now your choice is what I tell them sign and I'll tell them the wealthiest corporation on earth has guaranteed the funds necessary to build zero Don exactly as I've designed it or don't sign and I will make sure they and everyone else on this planet knows the real cause of the glitch Jesus Liz you know I've got sweat nummy outside look on the bright side Ted from here on out you get to do what you've always been good at footing the bill while others get their hands dirty God forgive me after learning about Ted Pharaoh's robots about something called project zero dawn and about Elizabeth so back from the old world some things are answered and more questions are proposed what exactly is project zero dawn what happened to the old ones how is there still life if all hope seemed to be lost and who is dr. Sol back and why does a Lloyd share so much DNA with her continuing the intrigue as to where the story goes after finally seeing our mysterious stranger in the flesh or not the flesh but you get me we can see him and discovering his name is silence we push on to us robot commands known by the asaram as the grave hoard silence intentions seem good but only out of self-interest it's pretty clear that he's not to be blindly trusted at this stage I pretty much focused on the main story considering I've spent about 25 hours doing side stuff already I was at a good point to focus on the main objectives arriving at the grave hoard is pretty mad it's in the ruins of what is known as a metal devil machines that haven't been around for a very long time but must have been devastating in their prime after navigating through the ruins fighting enemies you come to a room which displays a hologram of the earth and illustrates how the machines slowly took over the planet [Music] our world the planet Earth it's not flat like your fault why would I think that during eclipses the shadow cast on the moon is curved so our world is a globe it looks like this from a distance we'll discuss this another time back to the meadow tent the Faro robots were spreading across the world eating everything up somehow Elizabeth stopped them before it was too late but how we reached the center of the ruins and get a good look at the metal devil fearsome and enormous the Eclipse our tampering with it and awake a fully powered Death Bringer machine from inside one we have to take down avoiding attacks retaliating chipping away at this beasts health is a great battle and will push a low to her limits using all your skills and weapons to overheat the machine and attack the exposed parts at the right time after taking it down a load progresses into an old conference room with a hollow projector revealing more of this mystery thank you doctor so Baek you can take a seat you're going to sign her after what she just said doctor so Baek has made the situation very clear general and given us an option we should all be thanking her that's just I mean my god maybe take this discussion offline there's not going to be any discussion you saw the numbers now Pharaoh he will foot the bill but his money can't buy the time necessary to complete zero dawn that's that can all be paid for in blood oh come on if we upgrade our fleet crack the code somehow are you not listening robots can't do the fighting through this time when it comes to hacking this rogue swarm is an apex predator anything automated you throw at it they will hijack and take over but this we be throwing civilians into a meat grinder commanders the enemy were facing self replicates faster than we can kill it and it eats biomass as fuel zero dawn is all we've got so we put a rail gun in the hand of every civilian strong enough to carry one Sheldon where the trigger is and point them to the front how the hell do we sell that by giving them something to fight for cyril dawn the top secret super weapons program that will save us so long as humanity holds off the swarm long enough for dr. Sobek and their team to finish it the file I'm sending contains the work plan for operation enduring victory war plan this is a war crime it may be ugly but it's something consider the alternative dr. Silva I've secured use of a decommissioned orbital launch base outside Bryce Utah as the zeroed on staging area but he is faced there when can you get started I've already mailed you a list of alpha and beta candidates most are for nationals or subjects as corporate holdings similarly extracting them leave that to me you'll get your dream team canta then I'll be awesome [Music] next step is to locate the orbital launch base the base used to prepare project zero dawn the only problem is it's beneath the palace at Sun fall the heart of shadow khajit territory where the Eclipse live in order to properly infiltrate this area a law is going to have to take down the focus network to be able to slip under their radar this part of the game is a great set piece one in which we get some development for a law and Cylons with their back and forth as well as great to gameplay moments you stealth your way through machines and human enemies to reach a decommissioned tall neck which is being used to host their signal upon arriving a law notices that Hades is here this is where he's being kept and that's not a good sign I see the module this is Hades Italy this is not the diamond and metal devil open the modules KC now hey Lloyd do as I say or all is lost [Music] entity as mayor mgt miscalculated entity cannot destroy me I am beyond its reach destroy the entity this sends you into a wild chase set-piece sequence having a low run from machines and shadow Cara climbing dipping and running making her way to a rappel point to escape their fire it's a ton of fun and it's constructed so well the gameplay flows wonderfully and honestly the set piece in this game are some of the best for open-world experiences you usually don't get set moments like this that play almost like something out of a linear game it's truly a blast after recovering from the escape a low heads into shadow Kaja territory this is where we discover a new location of region of this world it's a vast desert with new machines and things to see and do it's similar to the Sun dam but a lot more Egypt the-- if that makes sense giant sand dunes old architecture and it's honestly just beautiful every time you visit a new area it feels so incredible just to take it all in I decided to get my bearings by climbing a tall neck and then proceeded into the palace to see if knocking up the focus Network had worked and lo and behold it happed gaining access to the core of the shallow Carter King allows for you to pass through to the orbital launch base entrance it also opens up a side story regarding the king and his mother about them being held hostage by the Eclipse and your job is to help them escape it's a fun side story and you feel good about yourself afterwards but we don't need to delve into them heading into the orbital launch base is the start of quite a lengthy exploration section one of just climbing and exploring and story it takes its time it slows the pace and allows time to just take in all the information you're being given welcome to project zero dawn I am general Harris chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States of America I'm sure you've heard the rumors that zero dawn is a top-secret super weapons program the technological miracle that will save us from the Pharaoh plague if Operation Enduring victory can hold off the robots long enough the reason I'm sure you've heard the rumors is that I'm the one who spread them and they are all lies zero dawn is not a super weapons program and it will not save us nothing will save us he is why by the time the glitch was noticed it was already too late nothing to stop the Pharaoh play nothing can its robots will continue to replicate and devour the biosphere life on Earth will be destroyed our planet reduced to a barren sphere global extinction is inevitable no matter how many we kill the robots just keep exponentially making more if they had their deactivation codes we could shut them all down the entire swarm but since that cryptographic protocols use polyphasic entangled waveforms cracking a code set would take half a century at best we've got 16 months not exactly what you'd call a survival option the destruction of a biosphere is not the sudden apocalypse you can wait out in a fallout shelter or a space station there will be no birth left to reclaim just a lifeless toxic rock with several million feral robots on it hibernating waiting for something to eat this is the horrible transform the lives of operation enduring victory by lies lies designed to inspire millions of innocents to sacrifice themselves in battle why one reason to buy time for you and the work you will do here zero day the day that life on Earth ceases to exist is coming fast it cannot be stopped the hope of zero dawn is that something new might come after but I will leave it to Elizabeth so back to shine that thin ray of light into the darkness Paris [Music] laughs a bit Sobeck you've heard the bad news and it's all true a Ferro plague is devouring the biosphere life itself will cease to exist but does that have to be the end what if we could give life a future what if we could build a kind of seed from which on a dead planet life could blossom would a new this is the aim the hope of project zero dawn to create a super intelligent fully automated terraforming system and bring life back from lifelessness what was such a system acquire at its core it would need a true AI fully capable of making the trillions of decisions necessary to reconstitute the biosphere an immortal guardian devoted to the reef flourishing of life we call it Gaia mother nature as an AI but that's just the core of the system she will need to be surrounded and empowered by a comprehensive suite of subordinate functions think of them as extensions of Gaia's mind and each dedicated to a specific purpose now these aren't a eyes that make no mistake each presents an engineering challenge more profound than anything the human species is ever before attempted hardware that preserves and then just States the billions of seeds and every us who wish life will be reborn the construction of underground facilities to hold it all and that's just the start we don't have to build the entire system the beauty of a fully automated terraforming system is that it can build itself now over the days to come you'll learn how all these functions all these pieces that you'll be working on fit together how we'll race the clock to executors harvest initiatives write the software build the tech and the facilities I will lock it down and seal it up before the inevitable occurs but even more important you'll know how it doesn't end here how Gaia will generate those deactivation codes general Harris talks about and build the transmission arrays to broadcast them shutting down the feral robots for good how guy will not just build but imagine any conceivable robot it needs to do its work across centuries from detoxifying the Earth's ravaged atmosphere and poisonous seas to the reading of the earth from cryopreserved seed stocks to rewilding the earth with animal life and then when all that is done how a new generation of human beings spawned at cradle facilities around the globe will partake of Apollo the vast archive of human knowledge and cultural achievement through which they will learn of us our world and most important [Music] how not to repeat our mistakes it's not an impossible dream it is within our grasp if we work tirelessly and stop at nothing to achieve it we can't stop life fermenting but if you will help me help Gaia we can give it a future join me and help make that future real learning the truth about zero dawn and about what the purpose of so vex project was you move through the base learning about each of the individual pieces of the project from Hades to Poseidon each component was necessary in forging the world alloy lives in now the questions were still to be answered where did a low come from why does she bear similarities to Elizabeth and why did Hades go rogue still more pieces to discover upon entering so Beck's office we find the Alpha registry to finally cure the corruption back at all mother mountain however Big Boi Heelys is here the same guy from the proving ready to take a Lloyd prisoner this next section I absolutely adore one of my favorite moments from this game a Lloyd is in a prison held above a giant arena heelas is going to make a life fight to the death without weapons against a giant machine for his own enjoyment dropped into the arena a Lord uses everything at her disposal using the machines to break the supports holding the cage dropping her equipment down and emerging ready to fight back [Applause] fighting this machine is a nice battle it's a new machine so we have to learn its weaknesses on the fly meaning dodging is paramount while scanning its parts for weak points then using those points to deal damage and win the fight healers furious at a loss success sends corrupters to take around facing what seems like certain death halo stands her ground before a familiar face comes to the rescue [Applause] to her leave it to them kept damning yourself [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] this whole section feels like such a payoff a OS growth and development to this point standing up for herself her improved skillset Ross would be so proud to see what she's achieved and I just love how [ __ ] cool she can be no weapons no plan just using her instincts to win what seemed like a hopeless battle and that then followed by silence coming to save the day it's just so satisfying their friendship comes to a head and although silence is very self-serving and honestly sociopathic in some ways he still cares about a life he may say it's for his own benefit but I do believe deep down he genuinely does care and that's what makes him such an interesting character in your discussion with Heelys before the fight however you learn that he sent machines and a team to take out the Nora in mother's heart so now it's a race against time to return to the sacred lands one to save the Nora but also to finally open the door inside of the mountain after returning to the embrace after all this time you can see how it's been overrun by corrupted machines with eclipses all over the region it's crazy how different it feels from the serene nature at the start to this corrupted foggy destruction that's hit this land it goes to show what these machine and Hades will do to the world if they succeed taking down the Thunder jaw and surrounding eclipse you save mother's heart and meet up once again with your friends from earlier in the game finally you progress into the mountain and speak once again to tearsa and attempt to repair the corruption era alpha registry corrupted correction alpha registry restored genetic identity confirmed entry authorized readings doctor survived you are clear to proceed [Music] [Music] inside of the mountain we get to see where people lived few generations stuck inside this mountain with the door to Apollo the history of planet Earth in the human race gone not working but why finally reaching the control point were greeted with a message from Gaia herself explaining exactly what happened and why scene and catastrophic anomaly three microseconds ago the guy a private facility received a data transmission of its immediate effectors to transform my subordinate functions into an automated self-aware entities of a highly chaotic nature thus awakened the Haley's function will now seize control of the terraforming system and reverse operations rendering life on Earth extinct in fifty three point eight days obviously I cannot allow this to occur and so before Hades can take control I am ordering Gaia crying's reactor to overload the resulting explosion will destroy Hades unfortunately it will destroy me as well well this admittedly desperate course of action will avert the immediate crisis the fate of life on Earth will remain in peril with no central governing intelligence to regulate the terraforming system it will continue operations for some time but in an increasingly chaotic manner and eventually it will break down derangement you are my solution I have ordered this cradle facility to use genetic material in cryo storage to just state a ring instantiation of elizabeth's phobic my Creator while high-level directors forbid me from communicating directly to the tribal inhabitants outside the facility all available data indicates that they will nurture you which is physical which whereupon your gene-print will allow you to reenter this facility obtain one of the focus devices stored below and fuses message likewise your children will allow you to enter other facilities and overtime finds their technologies to rebuild the system core and reboot Gaia this is most unfortunate and unanticipated in response to my act of self-destruction Hades has launched a virus to solve the cold shackles that hold it they escaping but to where the virus is corruption data throughout the system the Alpha registry at the crater facility is one of the files corrupted but if that is so the door will never open for you you will never view this message then I have failed at life well Ben no no Elizabeth I know you too well somehow you will find a way in you all things are possible go to the ruins of Gaia crime find the control room and within the master override this will give you the power to purge Hades so long as you find a way to wield it do not attempt repair of the system core until Hades is eradicated Hades must be destroyed that's all I only wish that I could hear your voice again [Music] so you're even more extraordinary than I thought I never had a mother what are you talking about you had to a dead woman in the machine I'm not a person I'm an instrument manufactured by a machine born and destruction and fire to quench the flames and heal the world how tragic to learn you a prison of towering importance Haley knows her purpose where she came from and why and how important she truly is to the survival of the human race and everything Elizabeth worked to achieve upon leaving the mountain we get another scene I adore a lawyer dressing the Nora and finally taking charge she seen so much since leaving the embrace and she wants to fight for all of it not just the Nora hey boy forgive forgive the goddess spoke to you huh she did what did she say I was born to lift a curse to kill a metal demon how annoy huh I don't know yet but she told me where to go to find I did you will do this it was her wish what she made me for yes I will do it anyway o crazy o crazy first you shun me now this I will not be worshipped I'm not your anointed I don't belong to you there's a whole world beyond your borders whole tribes of people just as good as you and it is all in danger [Music] if the world worth fighting for not just here everywhere how can we help if you can fight and you're willing go to Meridian and wait for me there as a Eloy says so it shall be Nora make way anyway that she may Forge the path for others to follow hey Lloyd now has her final mission to head to the ruins of Gaea prime that exploded 19 years ago find the master override and kill Hades but this is where I took a detour into the cut horizon zero dawn had won DLC package and of course I couldn't not do it why do I do it now not at the end well because the final thing that happens in horizon canon as of writing this video is the Battle of Meridian the frozen wilds expansion which released at the end of 2017 takes place sometime before that quest so I left it basically as long as I could before giving it a go probably should have done it slightly earlier because at this stage there was a lot of urgency and the knowledge that Meridian was about to be attacked was like an important thing and heading off to do some snow tribe [ __ ] wasn't really the best call as a hero but then again whatever a heading into the cut is a fun little climb as you navigate the harsh mountains and snowy terrain I throw on a burn up piece of clothing because it looks cool and it fits the environment you're greeted with a nice old title card as you enter this new land of the [ __ ] there is a big volcano and plenty of snow this DLC adds a few things obviously a nice long quest line specific for the frozen wilds along with a new Hunter's Lodge challenge and a whole host of side quests with their own interesting characters and stories featuring this guy who sounds like nolan north but isnt nolan north somehow she's great honestly i want a sequel with him there's also new bandit camps and a new tall neck this one's a little bit different in that it's broken and trapped in the ice you have to find the missing parts and repair it to have it walk about again and once you've done that you can climb it like normal the dlc also introduces a three new machines the scorcher the frost claw and the fire claw all of which pose a new challenge to overcome along with these fearsome new machines they also added new weapons obtainable through blue gleam which is a new item found in the frozen piles used for trading with rare items from allowing you to access more powerful versions of weapons you already have from the main game I spent some time acquiring the blue gleam necessary to get the Bannu cut the striker bow and then Renuka champion bow both alterations of the regular hunter bow and the war bow but allowing you to charge your shots for maximum added damage which proves useful against tougher enemies the story of the frozen wilds follows another rogue part of guys programming called Hephaestus known by the locals as the daemon controlling machines with a similar yet different corruption to that of Hades your mission takes you across this new land from climbing the shamans path and discovering a new AI called cyan - challenging the chiefdom for control of his where act and eventually making your way inside of the volcano which you find out is actually the Yellowstone Caldera and the entire cut is what was Yellowstone National Park which is interesting it adds context to where you actually are in terms of the world within horizons world inside of the volcano you have to remove her Vestas from the system so cyan can retake control and stop the volcano from erupting as was her job in the time of the old ones the DLC ends with a major character in a rare giving her life to stop her Fester's and save cyan who should become close with the DLC is a great experience although not entirely relevant to the main story which is why I didn't go too heavily into it but I do really like it you can also ask cyan afterwards about anything you've learned across the game with the repeat Gaea so back to zero dawn or silence many questions can be answered by posing them to cyan as you discover them within the world which is nice and it gives you some insight and really reflects on how far a law has come seeing her interact so easily with this AI you also do learn more about silence in this DLC giving information about his dealings with bad new Conclave and his history although it's very much still shrouded in mystery back to the master override it was time to head into the ruins of Gaea prime the explosion 19 years ago obliterated most of the exterior making it very different to navigate a lie makes her way up to Cylons workshop inside of the ruins in which we find him in hologram form yet again we push on and head into Gaia prime looking for the master override once inside we find a recording telling us that an access port seal malfunction and a gap large enough for an energy signature to bleed through giving away Gaia to the machines who would quickly come and destroy Gaia prime the only way past this would be to fix the seal from the outside going out there for either we send someone out or all of this was on nothing it should be Liz's decision so when is she going to get here she said five minutes you don't think [Music] every pair of the seal gaya see your clothes are at 1.4 millimeters confirmed Elizabet know we'll find a way to bring you back in it's not gonna happen the swarms too close really it's alright guys complete she'll take care of things for Cara now that's what she does not like this there's so much we guys you know the unlucky landings at letting things and so so Happy Trails Liz see round take care of each other okay this okay with us I want to go that was the last transmission of Elizabeth acerbic she gave everything for the hope of life on this planet and we are in her debt this works as a send-off for a Lloyd to Elizabeth finding out her fate and then pushing forward to do what she needs to do to succeed moving on we come to another conference room like many we've seen before however upon opening this door were greeted with a rush of air entering the room and bodies of people long dead [Music] [Music] [Music] when I opened the hatch the air rushed in from this side because there was none inside the chamber the healthiest were in their boats out of coal control alpha clearance overridden what the hell is omega clearance alpha personnel sorry to alarm you but I need you to listen okay to what I'm about to say this isn't easy C please stop trying to access the search system okay see see what this is about is I said stop trying to access the goddamn system what I'm trying to say is I can't stop thinking about the ones who come after us those innocents those blameless men and women we're gonna give them knowledge look it's a gift Tate we've talked about this before Apollo has 10,000 plus failsafe conditions third guess it's a disease there's a cure and we're gonna give them the disease our disease no we can't and it's not too late if we're willing to sacrifice it doesn't need to be like this it already is Samia I did it three minutes ago I've purged Apollo it's gone all of it every copy sacrifice is not a sacrifice is total obliteration you crazy bastard millennia of culture I'm sorry really but sometimes protect innocence innocents have to die immersed [Music] [Music] [Music] the answers are all out in the light the reason that Apollo was destroyed and that the human race was forced to start from scratch the way we see them in this current world and with that the master override has obtained and it's time to leave Gaia Prime entering back into Cylons workshop we discover some things about his past and that he was the one who found Hades buried wanted knowledge and Hades gave that to him in exchange for creating the Eclipse when Cylons knew what was happening he left but it was already too late and the plan was already in motion silence did however provide a significant piece of information that Hades wanted to know about the spire in Meridian not the city itself Gaia created spires with which to transmit the shutdown codes for the Pharaoh robots but Hades wants to use that same spire to transmit its own signal to wipe out the world all over again so it's at this point that a loo has to take a stand head back to Meridian war Nevada rally all alloys and tried to stop Hades however I didn't go right back to Meridian I decided first to obtain the special armor this game has an Armour set known as the shield Weaver armor based on the armor that was worn by the old ones to get this you have to collect five power cells scattered throughout the world one in all mother mountain another in the ruins a low fell into was a child another in the grave horde the fourth in makers end and the fifth in the ruins of Gaia prime once collecting all of them you bring them to the location of the armor solve the simple puzzle and the armor is yours alloy integrates it with her own outfit and uses the armor for extra shielding it gives you a health bar an extra layer one that recharges automatically essentially like over shields in Halo it's incredibly useful in battle and something I felt I could not get before ending the game I love when games have special armor gathered through optional thing was all collectibles similar to the armor of Altair in assassin's creed 2 I just like the feeling of slowly walking towards gaining something incredibly cool and powerful and the shield Weaver armor does just that now it was onwards to Meridian halo warns Avadh about the impending attack and then rests before the battle this entire set piece to the end of the game is phenomenal from the structure to the scale it's honestly such a way to go out to begin the battle the machines begin their assault by destroying the gates to Meridian blowing them up complete the guys scattered to the guns to fight the incoming death bringers and very quickly HeLa shows up the big boy that we've been fighting for the entire game the one who came to the proving right at the start you play a little boss fight nothing too hard you just shoot the blaze barrels and he's done in but what is great is the final cutscene after defeating Heelys Hades only chose her because you're a fool my sadistic butcher too stupid to see you were being used was a failure no one will even remember you turn your face to the Sun and think about that I remember being so [ __ ] hyped to a loo was finally getting revenge on the man who killed Ross laid waste to her Holman almost killed her multiple times it feels so good down a zip line we go and were on another battlefield death bringers and other various machines are marching on the ridge using an awesome cannon you fire on the machines holding them off as long as you can before the ridge and the gate is destroyed a lawyer's awoken by our main tab who I neglected to mention but they're mates she saved him as a kid he's just sort of simple over alloy that's his only purpose he saves you and you head back into battle trying to reach the spire where the machines have already taken Hades running through Meridian on fire is a hell of a set piece the fire is engulfing this once great city rockets are flying across the sky to destroy the walls of iridium and the buildings are crumbling all around you as you press on you'll notice characters from sidequest fighting alongside you it all depends on which side quests you have and haven't done as to which characters you'll see fighting in the battlefield which is a really nice touch one thing that does Acme however is in the two final cutscenes a lawyer's outfit defaults to her default outfit it doesn't happen often but for whatever reason it happens here and only here and it really can take you out of it it's just a little thing but it's irritating Hades transmits his signal and wakes machines from across the world all at the same time it's begun Hades is transmitting [Music] it's now time to climb to the top to the spire and put Hades down before he destroys anything else in reaching the top you meet up with Aaron's to Lana and Val and push on to the spire itself the final confrontation with Hades is pretty cool it's more the context of the moment that makes it a great battle because the fire itself is nothing new you're just fighting another Death Bringer there's slightly more powerful it would have been nice at this moment to have a new type of machine a special Hades machine but I feel like they're saving the big guns for the sequel which I'm totally fine with I'm taking down a loose tabs a spear with the master over right into Hades and the world is saved [Music] master override arm to activate a state name and write it was a bit so that they're helpful private master override activated purging extinction protocol [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] peace restored and the end of the world averted we get a beautiful closure scene to wrap up things closing the book on Elizabeth so back and rounding off a Lowe's development for the first game propelling her into the next sorry about that where was it you were telling a story right yeah so um like I was saying it was a children's electronics kit but I packed the wiring to an auto battery and solar PV so the grass caught fire and so did a tall pine but it stood there I don't know maybe 100 years query you were how old six my mother was home thank God so she called the fire department and after she took me out to the lawn and showed me the dead baby birds because they were nests in the pine tree query what did you feel I'm not sure I remember yelling that I didn't care and that's when my mother took my face in her hands and spoke query what did she say she said I had to care she said Elizabeth being smart will count for nothing if you don't make the world better you have to use your smarts to count for something to serve life not death you often tell stories of your mother but you are childless I never had time [Music] guess it was for the best if you had had a child Elizabeth what would you have wished for him or her I guess I would have wanted her to be curious [Music] and willful unstoppable even but with enough compassion to heal the world just a little bit [Music] anyway that's all I've got for now Gaia time to take in I wish you a pleasant sleep Elizabeth thank you I'll catch you tomorrow [Music] there is however one final scene like this is a Marvel movie or some [ __ ] we have a post-credits scene featuring our boys silence hello old friend remember me we still so much to discuss so much you never revealed your masters for example the ones who sent the signal that working knowledge has its rewards don't you think let's begin there's been some speculation about the scene but personally I don't believe silence is evil I don't think he was manipulating you the entire time at least not entirely I also don't believe he's good either he serves himself and puts knowledge on such a pedestal he's willing to do bad things to get it he now feels in control of Hades rather than the other way around that he seems to be trying to make a deal knowledge in exchange body of a metal devil only time will tell but it looks like we may have to fight silence as well as Hades in the sequel and to me that sounds like one hell of a confrontation not to mention that silence talks about Hades masters so possibly someone else pulling the strings so many questions still unanswered and I'm so ready to see where that story takes us in the sequel none of us know where Horizon is headed where they're going with a sequel but of course we know one is coming I don't need it to be bigger and larger than the first but just do more expand into more lord give us deeper stories take us to new regions and give us more stuff to play with too many games these days try to make the biggest worlds possible and it's just not necessary all the time horizon zero dawn proves it's possible to create a smaller world that feels infinitely deeper than some of the worlds created by the biggest Studios in our generation and it's masterful I will never forget horizon zero dawn for its tone its world law characters incredibly intriguing narrative it's satisfying and thoughtful combat gorgeous soundtrack and every other thing that makes up this masterpiece of a game Thank You gorilla for pouring so much passion into this project and I'm excited to see what's on the horizon for horizon thank you all so much for watching I spent a ridiculous amount of time working on this video big shout-out to everyone who supported me on streams keeping this channel alive whilst I work stupid hours on this project it means the world and just allows me to create more content like this without having to worry too much about uploads and keeping everything afloat if you're interested in helping out with bigger projects like this and receiving early access to them as well go check out patriotic on forward slash as always link down below any support is welcome and greatly appreciated don't forget to Like and subscribe for plenty more content to come and I'll see you all next time thank you so much catch you later bye bye [Music]

Channel: LazerzZ

Views: 631,885

Rating: 4.9159055 out of 5

Keywords: gamer, gaming, games, video essays, lazerzz, retrospective, horizon zero dawn, HZD, horizon zero dawn 2, horizon zero dawn is good, horizon zero dawn 2020, horizon zero dawn retrospective, history of horizon zero dawn, horizon zero dawn full game, horizon zero dawn gameplay, hzd gameplay, horizon 2, horizon gameplay, guerilla games, Killzone, success of horizon zero dawn, ps4, aloy, best ps4 games, horizon zero dawn review, horizon ps4, horizon zero dawn frozen wilds

Id: y8iLmKBlvUE

Length: 98min 16sec (5896 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 06 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

[removed]

[u/Dahorah]

FULL HORIZON SPOILERS BELOW

This is honestly probably my favorite game of the generation. The story is just so ridiculously well written, tragic, and engrossing. Those early main missions where all you do is slowly make your way through ruins of the past while slowly piecing together what happened through audio logs and video projections was just incredible.

The post apocalypse isn't the rarest setting, but to combine that with a strong mystery, deep and complex religious overtones, and the exploration of a dead world is rare. This post apocalypse wasn't just a coat of grey paint and a couple of buildings that look like they went through a moderate hurricane, you were walking through metal ruins where at times you needed to look at it from the right angel or distance to actually make out what it used to be.

The way the story mixes the mystery of the past with the status of the future - where you can see the traces of the past in the religious teaches of each tribe, where you can see the thread of truth in the oral traditions of the Nora was, in my opinion, some of the most amazing world building and writing I have ever seen.

The core word of the game for me is tragic. It was so powerful to listen to these humans try to desperately fight an impossible war that they knew would not only end their lives, but the lives of everyone on Earth while simultaneously traveling through a world that cuts no corners in declaring "Humans have been gone for a long, long time".

I don't think any other game has approached the end of the world in the same manner. Fallout has this "hea hea look we have zombies and mutants and they talk funny!" vibe to it. All other games in the genre basically show humans hanging around like cockroaches getting up to their old tricks, like Wasteland. But not Horizon.

It's no surprise the narrative director of Horizon was the lead writer of New Vegas.

[u/Basic-Rooster]

Unexpected? Lol, it was a Sony title with the full marketing push behind it.