Horizon Zero Dawn: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

2. Graphics, Art Direction & Scope Are SUBLIME

You know a developer is proud of their work when they include a Photo Mode, and man, does Horizon routinely take your breath away. I'm not talking about that Uncharted sense where you'll come over the crest of a hill and see the outlying level just as the developers intended, or Watch Dogs 2, where random showerings of flower petals in a breeze will try to wow you through particle effects alone.

Horizon does all of that and more, as it's the complete package that works far stronger than any specific set-piece. Both character models and the Machines themselves are ludicrously detailed creations. Aloy and the various humans that inhabit the land wear combinations of synthetic salvage and hand-made leather; a look that's almost halfway between Platinum Games' Vanquish and Skyrim.

The Machines though - the robotic creatures we've seen since day one - they're the show-stealers.

Yes, they're nearly all based on existing 'types' of animals we have today, but the fact you can see all the interlocking cogs, metal plates, tubes and bolts holding them together must've taken thousands of hours to design, render and animate.

Horizon's graphical punch is a total knockout, and you'll be reeling from it every time you climb up high, engage in combat, slowly advance through a moonlight-kissed jungle, or anything in between.