Horizon Zero Dawn is a work of considerable finesse and technical bravado, but it falls into the trap of past Guerrilla games in being all too forgettable. For all its skin-deep dynamism it lacks spark; somewhat like the robotic dinosaurs that stalk its arrestingly beautiful open world, this is a...

"Video game critics are jaded and bitter and hate everything" – A sentiment I've heard more times than I can count that I'm here to put to rest. Sure, critiquing games can be a grind but remember that the vast majority of us were gamers first, me included.

Living; breathing; fully realized world; Visually impeccable; 4K will blow minds; Characters you will fully invest in; Gripping narrative; Extra content adds hours of gameplay

This is only here so the box is not empty

When considering Horizon Zero Dawn is developed by Guerrilla Games, it'd be easy to make the assumption that it's a linear game set in an incredibly dark universe, with the gameplay focused on delivering as many bullets into enemies as humanly possible.

For the first 20% of Horizon: Zero Dawn the game felt to me like a Far Cry game. Not Far Cry Primal, because Horizon didn't omit dinosaurs in some ludicrous effort to pander to the concept of realism.

Across a vast and beautiful open world, Zero Dawn juggles many moving parts with polish and finesse. Its main activity - combat - is extremely satisfying thanks to the varied design and behaviors of machine-creatures that roam its lands, each of which needs to be taken down with careful...

'Horizon Zero Dawn' nails every aspect of the open-world action RPG, including robot dinosaur hunting.

Rich; compelling world-building; Visceral; tactical action; Gorgeous visuals and music; Refreshing diversity

Rote open-world RPG mechanics; Terrible title

Leading up to reviews, Sony and Guerrilla were so confident in Horizon Zero Dawn's protagonist, Aloy, that they said she may be the next PlayStation icon - Colm thinks they may be onto something. Check out his thoughts in this feature

Slick package in terms of visuals and sound; Tactics involved in taking down large robots is exciting; Aloy's story is compelling

Side-quests suffer due to similarity

State-of-the-art visuals help create one of gaming's most entertaining open worlds, even if the gameplay doesn't quite reach the same standards.

Superb graphics and art design, and a huge, impressively interactive, open world environment; Highly enjoyable combat and stealth, with an interesting array of weapons

Repetition is an issue, and resource farming can be abused; The backstory is interesting but the storytelling is workmanlike

I have a confession: when I first saw Horizon Zero Dawn back in 2015 I let out a big ostentatious yawn to signal that I was unimpressed.

Compelling; Sprawling environment; Stunning in 4K; So much to do

Watch out for 'side-quest fatigue

I remember when I saw the first Horizon: Zero Dawn trailer during E3 2015 and immediately became fascinated once the harmonious music kicked in. It was breathtaking to see the mammoth-sized machines roaming a post-post-apocalyptic world that was once home to millions of people.

Living; breathing world with day/night and weather cycle; Interesting cast of characters with deep backgrounds; Best graphics in a PS4 game; Fast paced combat with on-the-fly crafting system; Large amount of story and side missions with plenty of replay value; Each sidequest is unique and enjoyable,...

Mediocre animation quality with a few bugs; Tags