If You Like Action Combat With a Strategic Twist
Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the few games where wielding a bow doesn’t make you wish you just had a gun instead. But while it’s always fun to shoot away, Horizon’s battles also require a little more technique. Because machines come in such complex and dangerous varieties, Aloy needs all of her arsenal to really make a dent in their armor.
A battle with the t-rex-like Thunderjaw is a symphony of tail dodging, metal ripping, missile countering, and explosive trapping. Accessing your Machine Catalogue, you’ll learn that those missile launchers are weak to your special tear-damage arrows. A few moments later, its offensive powers may be weaker, but you’ve still got to get past its layers of protective armor. Maybe once you’ve accomplished that, you’ll find just the right moment to shoot a fiery arrow into its insides. A different opponent will be an altogether different set of requirements and tactics. You may find yourself dodging the blows of a dive-bombing Stormbird or frantically trying to outrun a Watcher. If you’re skilled enough, you may even stealthily override the machine in your sights, turning it into a mount or combat ally, or lure an unsuspecting Grazer into the perfect explosive trap.
Machines feed directly into the fun of Horizon’s combat, making each encounter weighty and that final kill intensely satisfying.
