Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition

 PC
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1197 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 718 out of 1197
  2. Mixed: 229 out of 1197
  3. Negative: 250 out of 1197

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  1. gomozila
    Aug 9, 2020
    0
    The game is buggy as **** Can't really play it because of constant crashes. Got reimbursed for this. I mean come on? No QA at all?
  2. Jakahagar
    Aug 8, 2020
    10
    Really amazing envirenment
    Wonderful missions
    Amazing combat with bow
    Nice characters
  3. ItsMeAGamer
    Dec 29, 2020
    8
    i don't really get it why this game called for being a **** pc port and unoptimized game, even i have a mid-spec pc and enjoy the game till it last.

    really love the combat, very challenging, though you are gonna be overpowered af once you get to know how to counter the every type of enemy and got a good weapon. environtment and background story is indeed unique, but narratively it isn't    i don't really get it why this game called for being a **** pc port and unoptimized game, even i have a mid-spec pc and enjoy the game till it last.

    really love the combat, very challenging, though you are gonna be overpowered af once you get to know how to counter the every type of enemy and got a good weapon. environtment and background story is indeed unique, but narratively it isn't that good, just ok    … Expand
  4. SaadanBro777
    Jul 15, 2022
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Alloy is a great character and is perfect for a game like Horizon Zero Dawn. The concept is so good, map is beautiful and has so much to explore. For me the death of rose was one of the most emotional moments. Playing is ultra difficulty is even more fun. Guerilla games have truely made a masterpiece. A game that I will always remember and can't wait to play the sequel. The progression system keeps pulling me back to play it more.… Expand
  5. pakri
    Dec 15, 2020
    8
    Great job, exciting, The game is nice, the second mission some boring, the emotion is in the hunt.
  6. Geralt123
    Mar 12, 2021
    8
    First of all: Play the PC version in March 2021 and had NO problems. It is a good port now.

    -------- Finished it including DLC in 133 Steam hours, played quite slowly. Story 8/10 Graphics 10/10 Combat 9/10 Side Quests 7/10 This is definetley a must buy. It has a very unique setting and insane graphics. Combat feels good once you have more weapons and at times can be very    First of all: Play the PC version in March 2021 and had NO problems. It is a good port now.

    --------

    Finished it including DLC in 133 Steam hours, played quite slowly.

    Story 8/10
    Graphics 10/10
    Combat 9/10
    Side Quests 7/10

    This is definetley a must buy. It has a very unique setting and insane graphics. Combat feels good once you have more weapons and at times can be very fast. Main story is philosophic and interesting. Side quests can be a bit repetetive (Kill this, get that...) but ok.

    Overall a solid game!    … Expand
  7. szgezu
    Jan 14, 2021
    8
    I played with Witcher 3 before this game and in some sense in felt similar in some it felt like the complete opposite. Withcer 3 is a melee based game and you an deal very little damage from the distance. HZD is absolutely focused on ranged attacks, otherwise you are overrun in close combat by any machine.
    The huge difference between the two games is that there is practically no impact    I played with Witcher 3 before this game and in some sense in felt similar in some it felt like the complete opposite. Withcer 3 is a melee based game and you an deal very little damage from the distance. HZD is absolutely focused on ranged attacks, otherwise you are overrun in close combat by any machine.
    The huge difference between the two games is that there is practically no impact on the storyline on your choices.
    The main story line is interesting, and nicely done.
    Most of the side quests are boring and stupid, really mostly about grinding.
    The interesting part is that most of the skills can not be used ever really. You can not get unseen under a watchmen and hunt it from below, or going on a rope. These seem like map design forgot about them. It is interesting that you practically need to redress in a suitable outfit, change your weapons and ammo for every type of robot encounter. On the other hand there is not so many items that you an choose from, and most of the items can be purchased nearly anywhere.
    Getting a horse is tricky, keeping them is tricky, moving with them is tricky and you can not loot from them for a long time. So I walked most of the time and used fast travel. That you need to purchase time to time, as though you can fast travel from anywhere to the plethora of camp fires but you need travel pack, or need to purchase the unlimited travel pack for which you need fox skin that I was impossible to get throughout the whole game (I know I need to shoot it from long distance but still had not got, just bones). Also I played a lot during dark which I hate. This could be solved in Witcher by relaxing a few hours, but in zero dawn I just keep going and sometimes I see the world, sometimes I do not.
    In the first few hours of playing I felt it is a very bad game compared to Witcher 3 just in a very interesting set with robots and tribes in the future. After it I realized that it is a hunting game mainly which is funny as Witcher 3 is called the wild hunt but it has little to do with hunting. And so it felt very good in those terms.
    For me the most annoying stuff is the constant need of looting for ridge wood and metal shreds, medicine flowers and to craft ammo during battle. That put me off the mood so many times. But anyway it was worth playing with it definitely.    … Expand
  8. Trai12
    Sep 4, 2022
    8
    Reason for lower user score is because of how it launched, the optimization was not so good on release. Now it is fixed. Amazing story-telling, beautiful open world, a quality game overall. Don't miss on this one.
  9. Zephyr007
    Aug 26, 2021
    9
    Horizon zero dawn is an exceptional game with very well written characters and a world so unique it grasps you well enough that i was able to overlook the technical issues associated with the port. Amazing world, along with a great protagonist with and a bunch of well written support npc which makes the world lively.
  10. TheBasicReviews
    Jan 27, 2022
    8
    Story: 85/100
    Gameplay: 80/100
    Graphics: 80/100
    Music/Soundtrack: 90/100
    Main Character(s): 85/100
    Side Characters: 70/100
    Regular Enemies: 85/100
    Bosses/Boss fights: 90/100
    World/Level Design: 85/100
    Playability (Bugs and optimization after patches): 95/100
    Would I Play It Again?: Yes
    Where Does It Rank In My Top 500 Video Games of All Time List?: 55

    Rating: 80/100
  11. Klewer
    Jan 16, 2023
    8
    A great action adventure game set in a very interesting world and a strong story. The combat is very enjoyable and has multiple approaches on how to tackle enemies. Sadly some of those are not usable at times when they might be the most fun and the game side quests can feel repetitive. Still well worth playing.
  12. Mahdiar
    Dec 2, 2022
    9
    Gameplay : 9
    Graphics : 10
    Story : 9
    Sound : 9
    **********************************************************************************
    Overall : 9
  13. ScienceAdvisor
    Mar 10, 2023
    6
    Most missions are boring go there and kill that, rinse and repeat 1000 time. Some of the writing for the missions is great, especially two DLC characters, while others are like most of the main story, pure intersectional feminism. The main character turns out to literally be "the key to everything", and while they did not bother explaining how someone with zero muscles can be the amazingMost missions are boring go there and kill that, rinse and repeat 1000 time. Some of the writing for the missions is great, especially two DLC characters, while others are like most of the main story, pure intersectional feminism. The main character turns out to literally be "the key to everything", and while they did not bother explaining how someone with zero muscles can be the amazing fighter and parkour expert, pulling off leaping grabs that should dislocate her shoulder (making her fall and die), they did make sure to repeat how amazing she is, over and over. Luckily you can skip most of the story when it starts to get woke. If you do not, and you actually pay attention, the main driving mission ends up making absolutely no sense functionally. They toss technobabble at it, but it does not actually work. If they could do what they claim, they could easily have stopped the bots themselves. They even manage to break a lot of their world building by the end.

    One other major issue are the bugs. Some center around the camera, especially in tight spaces. But the two largest are the inability to lock onto an enemy for melee combat, and the ridiculous number of ways to get stun-locked by enemies, making any encounter with more than three robot dinos and exercise in frustration. More minor is that enemy bots will ignore enemy NPC to focus on you, and at times they will even detect you without line of sight (or using bot radar).    … Expand
  14. MetalRobot69
    Feb 16, 2022
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have many things to talk about this game. If you like long reviews, you are gonna like this one.

    First of all, the graphics and the performance. I had many issues, even though I played 1.08 version and my PC isn't so bad (i5-10400 and RX 580). The performance of this game really sucks, some places my FPS just dropped to 10, especially in a city called Merdiana. Also, there are many bugs in the textures and texture flickering, sometimes I couldn't even see the ground I was walking on. So it really bothers me.

    And the graphics are horrible, sometimes was like a PS2 game, I think it is because the textures are bugged but since it is 1.08 version it is simply unforgivable. So my score is 1/10.

    The combat of this game is a mixed experience. It is really original, you fight against machines using a bow with different types of arrows (elemental arrow, tear arrow, corrupted arrow, etc). Alloy uses her Focus to identify the weakness of the machine and utilizing the right combination of arrows, for instance using a fire arrow to overheat a machine and expose its radiator to destroy it and inflict massive amounts of damage on the machine or shooting an arrow on the "flame cylinder" to explode it. Killing a large machine that way is definitely cool and the design of the machines is breathtaking.

    But one thing that bothered me is how useless is Alloy at melee combat, her damage is practically zero and even the enemy humans deal massive damage but Alloy needs to use her arrows no matter what. I am not a big fan of just shooting arrows or using fire weapons over and over, for me melee combat is pretty much always more fun, no wonder I didn't like so much the combat experience in this game, so for me, it is 6.5/10.

    About the stealth mechanics, it is 5/10. The game has a mediocre stealth system, you can't carry the bodies of the enemies you kill (even the humans). Also, you don't have many options of takedown and you can't stealth kill everything, so it is pretty much impossible to clear a place 100% in stealth, the game really forces you to use the arrows.

    The story of the game is good but the narrative is horrible. I'll explain, the story is about a machine apocalypse that is ok, it was kinda obvious I theorized it at the beginning of the game. The main issue in this game story is that there is not even one charismatic character. The two only characters that I find the most charismatics died in the first hour of this game.

    And the way the story is told, it is always disgraces happening over and over, there is no pause time to appreciate the impact of the changes in the life of the characters. For instance, at the beginning of the game, Alloy was born already as an outcast of the tribe, she can't even talk with the tribe members, so she must pass the probation ritual to join the tribe. It is shown that many tribe members dislike her because she is an outcast, a boy even threw a rock on her when she was a child. When she finally joins the tribe to do the probation ritual, it is one of the most interesting situations in the game, the boy (now teenager) and many more dislikes her, but she managed to befriend a girl that seems cool and she had another friend that she saved his life many years ago. That dynamic was interesting, I thought Alloy would have to prove her worth to the tribe and make them respect her, but no, in the blink of an eye, the villain's gang kill the teenager that hates her and the girl that she befriend and even her adoptive father and consequently killed all this cool dynamic.

    So, Alloy has to set on an adventure to discover who is her mother and she discovers that she is a clone and her mother saved the world and now she needs to save. But, in this story, it is like I said, there is no charismatic character and only disgrace happens. There is no single time in this game that Alloy is drinking with friends or having fun, it is 24/7 disgraces over and over. She just thinks in discovering who is her mother and after that saves the world and even her "partner" Sylens managed to be even more unidimensional than Alloy, his only wish is to learn every knowledge of the world.

    Also, the villain is just a machine, so it is also very unidimensional and just a cheap villain overall. Even the human villains have ridiculous motivation.

    So for me, the story is just 5.5/10.    … Expand
  15. DaniloNovakovic
    Feb 1, 2022
    8
    Beautiful but very mediocre open-world game with Ubisoft formula and bland side-quests.

    It has a cool and unique setting tho, with a somewhat decent main story, but part of me just wonders if they should have made it a linear game instead because I can't help but feel like open-world aspects just drag this game down. UPDATE: After playing more with and experimenting with different    Beautiful but very mediocre open-world game with Ubisoft formula and bland side-quests.

    It has a cool and unique setting tho, with a somewhat decent main story, but part of me just wonders if they should have made it a linear game instead because I can't help but feel like open-world aspects just drag this game down.

    UPDATE: After playing more with and experimenting with different traps and seeing more machines I realized that the combat vs machine is much more deeper and fun then I originally thought, so I grew to like it. Combat with humans is still kinda lame tho. But overall this game went from 6/10 to 8/10 for me.    … Expand
  16. FoxForce
    Mar 6, 2022
    5
    A generic AAA single player experience: an open world RPG with very nice graphic and sound design.
    I can't in all honesty trash visuals and sounds in this game. The problem with games of this kind is how boring and repetitive they are. If you have played one triple A single player game you have played them all. What is supposed to make them different is theme and story but how boring the    A generic AAA single player experience: an open world RPG with very nice graphic and sound design.
    I can't in all honesty trash visuals and sounds in this game. The problem with games of this kind is how boring and repetitive they are. If you have played one triple A single player game you have played them all. What is supposed to make them different is theme and story but how boring the story is in this game; with all the moronic Californian progressive tropes.

    Ultimately if you are here for engaging gameplay and story you wont find it here, but if you want a very good looking cinematic experience you will be satisfied.    … Expand
  17. spencerplewe
    Mar 19, 2022
    9
    Enormous, breathtaking, and suitably challenging, Horizon's inspirations are mixed well with its own compelling story and thought-provoking themes.
  18. LironesAlviento
    Jul 17, 2021
    8
    Un juego que salió con una muy mala optimización para PC, que probé en PS4 y que no me gusto demasiado pero que he decidido darle una tercera oportunidad.
    La verdad es que me costo entrar en la historia, tampoco se le puede reconocer ningún merito innovador, bebe de un sitio y otro para hacerte un coctel de las sagas mas conocidas sin aportar nada nuevo al genero pero mas allá de sus    Un juego que salió con una muy mala optimización para PC, que probé en PS4 y que no me gusto demasiado pero que he decidido darle una tercera oportunidad.
    La verdad es que me costo entrar en la historia, tampoco se le puede reconocer ningún merito innovador, bebe de un sitio y otro para hacerte un coctel de las sagas mas conocidas sin aportar nada nuevo al genero pero mas allá de sus defectos que los tiene, es un juego muy divertido que lo que hace lo hace bien, sistema de combate entretenido, un mapa grande para explorar y una historia que aun no interesándome demasiado la protagonista si me ha parecido original el trasfondo y el mundo que han creado, además ahora si tiene buen rendimiento en PC y gráficamente es muy bonito, en resumen me alegro de haberle dado esa tercera oportunidad al juego.    … Expand
  19. Mazma
    Dec 25, 2020
    9
    In assoluto il miglior RPG OW a cui abbia giocato. Trama fluida e interessante, lore magnifica e curiosa. gameplay pulito e divertente con un comparto grafico ottimo. Solo qualche problema di ottimizzazione
  20. Manuel_cd17
    Dec 27, 2020
    8
    Es un juegazo, no tengo ps4 y lo pude disfrutar en pc, el port no ha sido muy bueno pero se han arreglado los bugs y mejorado el rendimiento con parches, no he tenido problema para jugarlo en mi pc aunque falta optimización, la historia es impresionante, el entorno tambien me gusta mucho, el gameplay mas de lo mismo, no le doy mas nota porque las cinematicas del juego son horribles, elEs un juegazo, no tengo ps4 y lo pude disfrutar en pc, el port no ha sido muy bueno pero se han arreglado los bugs y mejorado el rendimiento con parches, no he tenido problema para jugarlo en mi pc aunque falta optimización, la historia es impresionante, el entorno tambien me gusta mucho, el gameplay mas de lo mismo, no le doy mas nota porque las cinematicas del juego son horribles, el unico doblaje destacable es el del personaje principal y los personajes secundarios carecen de expresión y carisma. En conclusión, buen juego pero las cinematicas son increíblemente malas, y por si no fuera poco, hay muchísimas… Expand
  21. Antoniius
    Dec 29, 2020
    9
    Very nice game, smooth, interesting story and very original and deep mechanics when killing machines. One of the best FPS RPG of the last years.
  22. Ebomb3210
    Jan 27, 2021
    9
    I am so glad that they brought this gem to PC. When this released in 2017 I was intrigued, but I eventually accepted the fact that I would never play it as I am a PC-only gamer. When it came to PC, I was so excited that I'd finally get to try this game. I waited a few months as I finished other games, and I'm glad I did as all of the technical issues that plagued this game at launch seemI am so glad that they brought this gem to PC. When this released in 2017 I was intrigued, but I eventually accepted the fact that I would never play it as I am a PC-only gamer. When it came to PC, I was so excited that I'd finally get to try this game. I waited a few months as I finished other games, and I'm glad I did as all of the technical issues that plagued this game at launch seem to be fixed now.

    The main story of this game is great. I enjoyed the story as well as the characters, and like any good science fiction story I needed to know what happened next. The characters had depth, and by the end of the game, you really cared for many of the characters, especially Aloy. The main story missions had enough variety and weren't repetitive. I can't talk too much about the story without getting into spoilers, but it is great. The Frozen Wilds DLC, which is included since it's the "Complete Edition," is good as well. Not as strong as the main story, but just as with the main story you will grow to like the characters. It also includes many new weapons to make combat easier. The one negative from the DLC is that it is somewhat disconnected from the main story. Apart from Aloy, there is an entirely new cast of characters. While you do gain some info about the main cast and story, the majority of the DLC is its own story. The side missions were hit or miss. Many of the random encounters resulted in a fairly boring side mission of going to fetch an item for someone or some other repetitive gameplay. But a few of the side missions actually were beneficial to the story and were genuinely enjoyable to play. The problem is that the game does a poor job of distinguishing between these side missions.

    The gameplay and combat in this game really stand out. I have never played anything like it before. Most RPGs I've played use guns as their primary weapons, and I tend to choose machine guns and splash damage weapons because of my bad aim. There are no such options in HZD. This forced me to learn about all of the different abilities and how to utilize them. This was not a bad thing at all, as I very much enjoyed branching out from the combat style I usually play. The machines are a joy to fight, as each and every machine has its own unique strengths and weaknesses that you must figure out how to abuse each time you fight one. Fighting some of the larger machines felt like their own boss fights, which posed a good challenge for both your mental and gaming skills.

    Since it has been a while since launch, most of the technical issues have been fixed. The only time the game crashed for me was when I overclocked my GPU too high. This is not at all the game's fault. Running at 4k mostly maxed out settings, I was able to get a consistent 70+ FPS on an RTX 3090, and 75+ once overclocked. The graphics, while not the most realistic I have seen (Cyberpunk and RDR2 take this honor), are absolutely gorgeous. They definitely reflect a unique art style with the lush foliage and the buildings taken over by nature. The worst graphical issue was that there was a lot of objects clipping through other objects, especially hair and clothes. This combined with the fact that Aloy was apparently in such good shape that she could run, climb and roll infinitely broke my immersion slightly, but this was an extremely minor issue compared to the great aspects of the rest of the game.

    The worst part of the game for me is the fact that Sony is now going to make me go buy a PS5 for the sequel. I refrained from taking points off for this as it is a result of the game being so good, not bad. This game has something for all kinds of gamers: science fiction fans, fantasy fans, hunters, open-world players, feminists, and more. As a result, I can comfortably recommend this game to any gamer, which is not something I can say for most games.    … Expand
  23. AddForm
    Jan 14, 2021
    8
    Brilliant story, challenging combat, rich world - an original gem that rewards exploration and commitment. The future expansions of the world are limitless.
  24. samstrummer90
    Apr 1, 2021
    9
    Horizon es un obra maestra de principio a fin. Lo unico que necesitas para disfrutarlo de verdad es poner la dificultad al máximo. Entonces te verás sumergido en uno de los mejores universos que la industria del videojuego ha creado.
  25. Piergio
    Jun 27, 2022
    9
    Great great game! The story is so good, i kept listening every audio file i found and read everything. The world, the machines and the characters are beautiful!!
  26. oreolove
    Jun 15, 2021
    9
    A good game. A bit grindy, choices never matter - sure, but it's a beautiful game with good soundtrack. Would recommend to anyone
  27. azerius
    Jun 30, 2021
    9
    Overall loved the game. Faced no bugs. Pros:
    The game has an interesting premise. Story is decent.
    Good mix of stealth + non stealth combat. Really liked the fact that the bow is quite strong and there is good amount of strategy involved in killing robots( not just hack and slash )

    Cons:
    Non much flexibility in character build. World is highly monotonic after a point.
  28. aalrif
    Aug 1, 2021
    9
    Horizon zero dawn memiliki konsep yang sangat menarik, tribe dengan machine. Gamenya menantang dan seru, walaupun akan terasa repetitif jika sudah memainkan gamenya untuk waktu yang cukup lama. Jenis dari musuh beragam yang membuat pemain harus menggunakan cara yang berbeda untuk melawan setiap musuhnya. Hzd memiliki cerita yang menarik. it's a good game
    8.6/10
  29. JaDm
    May 31, 2022
    9
    Beautiful game, atmospheric with a great storyline. Passed in one breath, I recommend.
  30. Fazed
    Nov 23, 2021
    9
    Love that we got this game on PC it was really fun to play and had a great story, with some rememberable boss fights and character stories to follow.
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Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Best PC Game of 2020
17
#17 Most Discussed PC Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 50 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 50
  3. Negative: 0 out of 50
  1. GameGrin
    Jan 10, 2022
    100
    Horizon Zero Dawn truly expresses how videogames nowadays are an art form, if not only through its visuals and storytelling, then certainly through its expertly incorporated combat. A glee-filled experience through and through.
    Read full review
  2. CD-Action
    Oct 15, 2020
    85
    I had tons of fun with the PC version of Horizon Zero Dawn. I appreciated the story, enjoyed exploring the vast, remarkable world crafted masterfully out of extremely diverse elements, and found defeating the largest mechanical beasts to be deeply satisfying every single time. Additionally, the Complete Edition features The Frozen Wilds expansion, which is not only large, but also visually stunning. [10/2020, p.56]
  3. DualShockers
    Aug 25, 2020
    85
    Even with its technological hangups, the PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn brings an experience wholly unlike anything else I've ever played.
    Read full review
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