Monday 30 January 2017

Heavy Metal

Horizon: Zero Dawn

GUERRILLA GAMES IS ABOUT TO EMBARK ON ITS RISKIEST PROJECT EVER. THIS IS HORIZON: ZERO DAWN, THE MOST AMBITIOUS PS4 GAME YET

There’s a small herd of deer grazing in a field. It is a quiet field, enclosed by towering trees and bronze autumn leaves that gingerly fall from their branches, floating carelessly in the wind. This enclosure ensures the docile creatures have just enough cover to let them stand idly by as a breeze rustles softly through the undergrowth, they are blind to the hostility of the world around them. Like clockwork they come here, the herd, simply content to brush through the lush green foliage undeterred, occasionally peeking their antlers towards the Dreamcast-blue sky that stirs above them; mountain ranges and wooden huts can be seen sat atop a distant horizon. But somewhere closer is a predator; the fleeting glimpse of a fiery red mane cutting through the grass is the only hint that this serenity is about to be shattered. It’s a natural, idyllic scene that you’d likely find broadcast in 4K on a new season of Planet Earth, narrated by the docile tones of David Attenborough. But reality this is not, for something far stranger than nature lurks in plain sight.