As part of Sony’s Playstation Play At Home initiative, Horizon: Zero Dawn and its DLC, The Frozen Wilds, is dropping on April 19/20 this year. The hit third-person open-world action game is renowned for its breathtaking visuals, engaging gameplay, a gripping story and charismatic protagonist amidst a plethora of extremely similar titles in its genre.
The player controls Aloy, a member of a tribe of hunters in a world overrun by mysterious machines that dominate the landscape. Upon learning of her unique destiny, Aloy sets off on a journey to uncover her past and discover the world, armed with her trusty bow and whatever she can get her hands on. In preparation for the highly-anticipated sequel, Horizon: Forbidden West, here are some tips and tricks players might want to know if they want Aloy’s continued adventures to avoid reaching an abrupt and painful end.
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Start Hoarding Resources
The world in Horizon is teeming with plants, wildlife, and scrapped machinery, all of which prove extremely useful as crafting materials for gear and medicine. But you may not want to have to take a long detour from the main story or a difficult area just because you ran out of healing items or ammunition. Crafting materials are a must-have since you’ll be needing a whole lot of them to keep a steady health and ammunition supply, so becoming an indiscriminate hoarder for everything in your path is very helpful.
Never Miss a Campfire
Campfires are the only method of fast-travel in this game, and the world of Horizon is one of the larger, more time-consuming ones to explore. Thankfully, there are many campfires the player is likely to come across throughout the world map. But if you want a much shorter walk and to avoid some nasty Sawtooths and Stormbirds, touching every single campfire in your path is an excellent idea.
Exploit Enemy Weaknesses
The machines that roam the landscape can range from extremely weak Goomba droids to Mechagodzilla-like mechanical monstrosities. Still, no matter the size or ability, every single machine in the setting has a weakness. From using shock arrows on the power cells of Tramplers to placing explosive tripwires underneath a Sawtooth, every encounter is a simple puzzle to solve with a little bit of preparation, aim, and stealth. Once Aloy gains the ability to Override machines, things become even easier.
Explore Cauldrons
Speaking of Overrides, the major optional dungeons in Horizon are Cauldrons: massive labyrinthian structures of the Old World that house ancient technology and a ton of secrets–often guarded by the toughest of machines. Players should try visiting a Cauldron as soon as they’re able, as not only is there a ton of loot to collect, completing a Cauldron earns Aloy a new Override code for a new tier of machines. This means that every Cauldron can potentially make many encounters much easier by granting you a way to turn all of your enemies into allies.
Climb Tallnecks
Like many open-world games such as Ghost of Tsushima and Assassin’s Creed, Horizon implements a tower system that reveals more of the map after climbing to the top. This game has a unique take on the mechanic, opting to make the towers into moving machines themselves: gigantic behemoths known as Tallnecks that consist of the game’s largest machines. These machines, however, are actually quite docile, so the challenge comes from reaching the top without missing a piece of the Tallneck to grip onto and falling to your death.
Horizon has proven to be one of the most iconic games of the PS4 era. With these tips and some strong resolve, you’ll be ready to guide Aloy to victory just in time for the upcoming sequel, Horizon: Forbidden West.
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