The 4 Most Hardcore Things We Did in Horizon Zero Dawn

Climbing Up & Abseiling Down a Tallneck

Tallnecks are quite possibly the most iconic type of machine in Horizon Zero Dawn. The plate-headed giants aren’t just there for show, though, their giant heads contain a ton of information about the world, and as such, are something Aloy will want to override.

Of course, with them being so huge, climbing up them is a bit of a challenge in itself. First, you need to find somewhere that gets you high enough to reach the holds on the bottom of the Tallneck’s neck, then you’ll need to climb up. While climbing in Horizon Zero Dawn is largely automated, there’s something terrifying but also seriously badass about the way Aloy nonchalantly leaps from point to point, shimmying herself around ledges and flinging herself across pretty big gaps when she’s hundreds of feet up in the air.

To top it all off, Aloy rappels herself down from Tallnecks with such effortless grace. With a leap of faith, Aloy momentarily freefalls towards the ground, before letting her line catch her and dropping her gently back on the ground.

Though your actual input in scaling and descending a Tallneck is minimal, admiring the view from the top before hurling yourself back down towards the ground will never stop being incredibly badass, and so damn satisfying.

Shot a Thunderjaw in the Heart

Chances are, you’ve probably seen a Thunderjaw or two in Horizon Zero Dawn’s trailers. Well, we can confirm they’re just as formidable and terrifying when you come face-to-face with one in the middle of the world. However, they’re not unbeatable.

In fact, they have a massively vulnerable weak spot in their exposed hearts, but it’s tricky to hit. There’s just a small gap on the side of the Thunderjaw which gives you a clear shot at the heart. Unfortunately, Thunderjaws seldom stay still for long, so nailing the shot is tough.

Using Tearblast arrows, we ripped the Thunderjaw’s side-mounted cannons off its body and unleashed hell on its torso. Strafing around to the side, we lined up three arrows, enabled Concentration to slow down time, and lined up the shot.

Moments later, the Thunderjaw roared in pain and flopped onto its side in pain. The three arrows had pierced its heart, dealing critical damage and putting its rampage to an end. Now, you can’t say killing a T-Rex robot with three arrows to the heart at once isn’t badass, right?

Setting Robots Against One Another

Aloy has a ton of weapons at her disposal to deal some serious damage to the machines, but sometimes, it’s far more fun to set the pieces in motion and just watch chaos unfold from a distance. That’s what you get when you stealthily override a few machines in the middle of a large, hostile group.

Soon enough, one of the hostile machines discovered something wasn’t right. What ensued was total chaos as bits of metal and sparks fired off in every direction. Nearby Ravagers complete with mounted dart guns unloaded fire on the infiltrators from a distance, but it wasn’t enough.

After a short while, the steel corpses of both hostile and friendly machine lay strewn across the floor, and only one friendly Sawtooth remained. A fire arrow to its flammable Blaze canister set it alight and chewed away at its slither of remaining health. We’d successfully eliminated six machines with nothing more than one fire arrow and the ability to manipulate and control the machines.

Just Nailing That Headshot Mid-Combo

Play the first 10 minutes of Horizon Zero Dawn and you’ll realize that the game’s bow play is some of the finest and most satisfying you’ll find in a video game. The way the string “boings” and visibly vibrates after launching an arrow at an unsuspecting victim, to the way the arrows fly and hit their targets with a hearty thump. It takes a while to get used to, but after a while, you’ll be pulling off headshots from miles away, with each one feeling as good as the first.

But it’s not those long-range headshots we’re talking about here. Oftentimes, you’ll find yourself heavily outnumbered in combat and will need to put some distance between yourself and your enemies. As we sprinted away, laying traps, desperately trying to heal, and avoid the mines laid down by the pursuing Ravagers, we panned the camera round to look behind us.

In one swift motion, we spotted the Ravager about to pounce through the air and tackle us, turned around, lined up the shot, and nailed the Ravager clean in the face. It wasn’t enough to kill it, but it was enough to break its attack and give us some distance. That wasn’t supposed to be the impressive part, though. It’s the way the game makes you feel like a real badass hunter for being able to nail a headshot while chaos closes in around you.