Game Review · Purchased February 20, 2022 · $335.99 CAD via Amazon.ca
The Setup
Six months after the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy pushes further west into a post-apocalyptic America to track down a mysterious blight threatening what’s left of the ecosystem, navigating a whole new set of tribal politics along the way. The sequel arrived as one of the bigger PS5 showcase titles of early 2022, and it’s a significant step up in scope from the original.
The Review
The core loop of stealth takedowns and precision ranged combat against the game’s robotic creatures is still the star of the show, and it’s meaningfully expanded here — the Pullcaster grappling tool and Shield-Wing glider both open up traversal in ways the original never had, and the sheer variety of weapons and elemental weaknesses to exploit keeps big machine fights feeling fresh well into the back half of the story. The writing is a real step up too; Aloy and the surrounding cast get far more room to breathe than in Zero Dawn, and the story has some genuine, well-earned turns.
The frustrating holdover is climbing: despite all the new traversal tools, you’re still restricted to pre-marked handholds rather than anything resembling freeform movement, which stands out more now that the rest of the traversal kit feels so much more open. Melee combat is also still the weak link — functional, but clearly the least-polished part of the moment-to-moment gameplay. Visually and technically, though, this is one of the best-looking, most content-dense PS5 games of its era, and the machine fights alone make the $60+ price tag an easy justify.
What I Liked
- Machine combat is as good as ever and meaningfully expanded with new tools
- Pullcaster and Shield-Wing genuinely improve traversal variety
- Much stronger characterization and story writing than Zero Dawn
- Massive amount of content — side quests, collectibles, exploration
What I Didn’t
- Climbing is still limited to pre-set handholds, not freeform
- Melee combat remains the weakest part of the combat kit
- Some new systems (base building, arena) feel unnecessary
The Verdict
Rating: 4.5/5
A genuinely huge step up from Zero Dawn in almost every category that matters, and easily one of the best PS5 exclusives of the year.
