Horizon Zero Dawn: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

Ups

7. It Pulls From Every Major Video Game Of The Last 10 Years

The biggest positive for Horizon is how immediately 'playable' it is. You can really tell that Guerrilla have studied the competition when it comes to third-person action games and how to build an engaging open-world, resulting in something that plays on inbuilt conventions to get you moving, before layering on detailed enemy boss fights, RPG conversation trees, skill-unlocks, points of interest and everything in between.

Just to lay it out, you've got Assassin's Creed-style climbing, the depth of a Witcher 3 side-quest, Far Cry hunting and crafting, Uncharted narrative sections with great dialogue and acting, Mass Effect dialogue wheels, Hitman: Absolution enemy path-tracking, The Division looting - it goes on and on.

Cynically, yes, you can see EXACTLY where Guerrilla took the pieces for their own patchwork quilt, but in combining them all so effortlessly and then adding the art design, world mythology, character of Aloy and the story overall, it means you've got something millions can pick up and play, alongside a ton of depth and intricacy for those who want it.