A Stellar Voice Acting Performance
The lid is finally off Horizon Zero Dawn, and we absolutely loved it. With its beautiful environments and intriguing story, we couldn’t help but find ourselves spending hours at a time just living in the world. Of course, driving all of this along is Aloy, a young huntress who seeks the answers to this world, as well as some more personal questions she has of her own. While we’re not going to go into story beats and spoil any of the exciting adventure that lays in store, this will simply give you an idea of the kind of character you can expect to spend 30+ hours with in Horizon Zero Dawn.
Some video games have protagonists that don’t quite realize their full potential. Instead, acting merely as an empty vessel for you to assume in order to absorb the experience and become immersed in the world. That’s not the case with Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn, thanks to a stellar performance by Ashly Burch as her voice actor.
Whether it’s a witty quip or a monologue of contemplation, Burch delivers each and every line with just as much life and character as the last. Just as Burch managed to bring the well-loved Tiny Tina from Borderlands 2 to life with an excellent performance full of character, she manages to deliver an equally impressive performance in Horizon Zero Dawn. With an excellent script behind her, Burch brings Aloy to life as a likeable, relatable, and strong character that will become one of PlayStation’s greatest heroes going forward.
She’s a Badass Hunter
Let’s get the most obvious thing out the way, already. Aloy is a complete and utter badass. Whether she’s facing off against a ton of machines, or traversing the highest reaches of the world, leaping from hold point to hold point, nothing ever phases Aloy. In fact, she’ll quite often make funny little quips about how the odds aren’t stacked in her favor, or something to that extent.
Always cool-headed and ready to take on whatever the adventure throws her way, Aloy is an inspiring character. And when she’s taking down giant T-Rex-like Thunderjaws on her own without breaking a sweat, your admiration for her will only grow fonder. Seriously, playing as Aloy gave us some of the most badass-feeling moments in video games we’ve had in quite some time, and you’ll only find the red-headed heroine even more endearing with each one.
Young Aloy Is Just the Best
As was revealed in a trailer for the game, Horizon Zero Dawn doesn’t just focus on Aloy as a young adult, taking down machines with relative ease. The story also takes the time to dive into her younger years leading up to the real meat of the story. In doing so, Horizon Zero Dawn provides you with the context needed for her development throughout the game to truly shine. You’ll learn a lot about who Aloy is as a person in these parts, and it’s where you’ll really begin to care about her.
Her acts of selflessness and courage from such a young age are telltale signs that she’s got that hero DNA inside her, with plenty of potential in her future. Young Aloy is inquisitive and kind hearted, and it’s this combination of traits that really drives her search for answers and makes her cause such an easy one to be invested in.
She’s Always Well-Meaning
Whether it’s her larger quest or running errands for some of the NPCs, Aloy never intends to do anyone wrong. With every action, Aloy means well in Horizon Zero Dawn, in the hope that it’ll help to somehow make the world a better place. From her humble beginnings, Aloy is someone who puts other people first before herself, and it’s something she never loses sight of throughout the duration of her adventure.
Never does Aloy berate someone for asking for her help with something seemingly quite basic, especially when compared to the scale of her main objectives. She’s not a pushover by any means, and isn’t afraid to speak her mind when she thinks it needs to be heard, but even in these moments of brashness, Aloy has good intentions at heart.
Published: Feb 21, 2017 11:04 am