The final installment in our little advent calendar of my favorite things of the year concludes with my favorite game this year.
There were many great games this year, but there was one that managed to appeal to me on just about every level. Gameplay and story perfectly blended to create a compelling experience.
It also had robot dinosaurs ... robot dinosaurs ... they were going to have a hard time not being my game of the year. Thankfully Horizon: Zero Dawn was so much more than the robot dinosaurs.
Horizon was so much more than what
you might expect from yet another open world game. The sub genre has
started to tire for many gamers, myself included, with few surprises and
more map pointers to chase than you have time to, or care to.
So I was
worried that they might ruin their new shiny original IP. Thankfully the
folks at Guerrilla have navigated the challenges superbly.
Firstly, the story is brilliant.
It's well written. It has a wonderful protagonist, and the supporting
characters are interesting. Likewise the pacing is exceptional.
Honestly, it's more like three separate stories that weave together
brilliantly. The first sees you get to know the central character, Aloy,
as she goes through a pretty well executed 'rite of passage' story. You
learn she has been an outcast from her tribe, and while the seeds to
key parts of the games mystery are sown in this section, the story
deftly chooses to not get bogged down in 'save the world' stuff
immediately. Instead it gives Aloy, and her tribe, and their traditions
time to breath. So by the times you hit the end of that first arc, you
feel a sense of what is going to be at stake in the rest of the game,
and suddenly all of the players have motivations you have some context
for. It is subtle, but very well executed.
Then the game opens up and you discover the world, while trying to piece
together the wider political landscape of this world. You discover
this world as the character does, which is again, a subtle design
choice, but a very powerful one.
Then the final arc pushes you through with some wonderful revelations.
It layers its major story points so that it genuinely feels like it is
opening up a chapter at a time, and Aloy's progress from strong willed
explorer, to champion and leader, feels natural.
Then there is the game-play.
The core loop of doing battle with the robotic dinosaurs of this weird
post apocalyptic world is also very well executed. It's fun, it
encourages experimentation, and by and large handles the escalation of
threat well.
There is a slight drop off towards the end of the last arc as Aloy does
become a very powerful warrior. It didn't really detract from the
overall feel though. For the first twenty to twenty five hours of the
game it genuinely retains a level of challenge appropriate for the
difficulty you are playing on.
By the time Aloy becomes a little overpowered, and she does, it comes as
the final arc is hurtling towards it's conclusion and almost feels
appropriate. For me, it left the final few encounters feeling a little
anti-climatic game-play wise, but the spectacle, and story pay-off
compensated ably.
So great story, great characters, and compelling gameplay. Sounds good right?
It is also a gorgeous game.
The art, character design, and in particular the level design manage to
reach levels of polish that are impressive throughout. It might even be
my favorite part of the game, and that is high praise.
The level design is exceptional. It is a huge part of why this works as
an open world game. You simply want to explore this world. The level
design encourages that desire at every turn.
All these things combine to successfully build a new world, and immerses
you in it. If you are reading here you probably know what I feel about
developing original new stories. I hope the success of this game prompts
others to push to create their own new gaming worlds.
So even if you have already dedicated hundreds of hours to whatever else
you played this month, don't miss this one. It is worth the visit.
My game of the year in a year that had quite a few great games.
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