For PlayStation 4 owners, Game Informer’s extensive coverage of Horizon Zero Dawn is the gift that keeps on giving. Not only have we clocked eyes on some truly beautiful artwork for the post-post-apocalyptic RPG, but such a platform has allowed developer Guerrilla Games to peel back the layers of this most intriguing new IP.
Coming out of the PS4 Pro reveal, which lifted the lid on Zero Dawn in shimmering 4K, Game Informer now has word regarding some of the story details underpinning Guerrilla’s preternatural world. In fact, according to the game’s Lead Writer John Gonzalez, players are in for a surprise when it comes to the depth and richness of the studio’s RPG.
“For people who are story junkies, for people who like to collect every audio log or text log out there, people who want to have a grand narrative to their game, I think they’re going to be really surprised and delighted by what we have prepared for them.”
Told through the lens of Aloy, a flame-haired tribeswoman with a deep understanding of the strange, sky-scraping machines that roam the lands, Horizon Zero Dawn looks set to pack in all of the ancillary exposition to really flesh out the game world itself. Gonzalez refers to audio/text logs in the interview, but it’s surely more likely that such world-building will be funnelled through cave paintings and the like.
Whatever the outcome, this aligns with a previous comment made by Game Director Mathijs de Jonge, who drew attention to the curious nature of Aloy herself.
“She’s very curious and determined; she wants to explore the world; she wants to figure out these mysteries. And hopefully, we can give the player that same feeling. You want to know what’s out there, you want to discover these new machines; you want to meet new tribes.”
Initially penciled in for launch at the tail-end of 2016, Horizon Zero Dawn roars to life on February 28, 2017.