Game reviews / Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn
2017 · PlayStation 4 · Microsoft Windows · PlayStation 5 · Action RPG · Open world · Adventure
6 scored sources · 4 countries contributing scores
Review consensus
Horizon Zero Dawn earns its reputation through a striking post-post-apocalyptic world, memorable machine design, and combat that rewards preparation, precision, and creative use of traps, elemental weapons, and weak points. Aloy’s journey and the mysteries surrounding the old world give the large sandbox meaningful momentum, while the tribes, ruins, and environmental storytelling make exploration consistently rewarding. Critics commonly noted that the game borrows familiar open-world structures, with repetitive human encounters, simplistic platforming, uneven dialogue, and occasional inventory or pacing friction. Even so, its visual ambition, tactical machine battles, and cohesive science-fiction setting make it a highly accomplished and broadly appealing adventure.
Limited geographic coverage. Treat this score as an early indication.
Last researched: 2026-09-20
Pros
- Strategic and varied combat against distinctive machines
- Beautiful, expansive world with rewarding exploration
- Strong science-fiction premise and world-building
- Compelling protagonist and central mystery
Cons
- Familiar open-world structure and borrowed mechanics
- Human enemy encounters are less interesting than machine battles
- Simplistic platforming and sluggish melee movement
- Some repetitive crafting, side activities, and uneven dialogue
Review sources
6 sources found across 4 countries. This is not exhaustive worldwide coverage.
- Stevivor · Australia · 70/100
- CGMagazine · Canada · 85/100
- GamesRadar+ · United Kingdom · 90/100
- PC Gamer · United Kingdom · 86/100
- Destructoid · United States · 75/100
- Shacknews · United States · 100/100