Hyper Realistic Plants
Horizon Zero Dawn may be set in the future, but it’s not one filled with hovercars and chrome. Instead, nature has begun reclaiming this world, and as such, you’ll see a ton of trees, plants, and shrubs just about everywhere you look. In a large, panoramic view, these add a bit of color and scenery, but get up close, and they become a spectacle in and of themselves.
Take these large-leaved shrubs in the image above, for example. Just by looking at the way the light is catching them, you can tell they have a thick, waxy coating. Sunlight doesn’t catch the entirety of the leaf, either, with creases, crinkles, and folds that plague the surface providing tiny intervals of shade.
Leaves don’t just remain the same color, either, with discolored sections tarnishing a deep green sea of leaves. Never before have I found leaves in a game as photogenic as those in Horizon Zero Dawn.
