13 Crucial Questions For 2017's Biggest Video Games

8. Is The Open-World Interesting Enough? - Horizon Zero Dawn

The Question: Open-world games are extremely fashionable right now, yet for every Fallout 4, there's an underwhelming disappointment like Destiny, so it's understandable why many are skeptical that Guerrilla Games' gorgeous new IP will tout enough material to actually make it worth a go. Just how populated is the game's open world?

The Likely Answer: We know that the game's campaign is divided into three tiers of missions: primary (which affect the entire land), secondary (which affect your relationship with other tribes) and tertiary (affecting relationships with other players), so the game definitely has a narrative drive that should give the world a more lived-in feel.

While the barren land presents more challenges for Guerrilla compared to other open-world games in terms of lending that sparseness meaning, one suspects the developer is intentionally holding back some of the more adventurous areas to ensure gamers remain surprised when it actually releases.

It's probably best to keep your expectations cautiously optimistic: it'll likely be neither an Earth-shatteringly dense world nor one that feels lacking.

Solid, if perhaps unremarkable.