Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered review: Aloy’s first adventure gets a massive tune-up

PlayStation Studios holds the keys to a staggering number of franchises, but the company really, really wants you to know about Horizon.

That’s the impression I’ve been getting ever since Horizon Zero Dawn debuted on the PlayStation 4 back in 2017, with the company catapulting protagonist Aloy to the front of as many marketing campaigns as possible since. Perhaps that’s down to Hermen Hulst moving from developer Guerilla Games up the ladder to become the boss of Sony’s first-party output, but whatever the case, the franchise is here to stay.

And, while we’re due a blocky version of Aloy’s adventures this year with LEGO Horizon Adventures, we’ve also got a drop-dead gorgeous remaster of the PS4 original coming to PlayStation 5.

If you’ve not caught up with Aloy and her robot-slaying bow skills, Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered offers the best opportunity to do so as one of the best PS5 games of recent years. If you’re a seasoned member of the tribe, however, you may find less to enjoy. 

A post-post-apocalypse, again 

It’s worth noting that attaching ‘Remastered’ to the title of the base game actually feels a little like a misnomer in this context. This is far more impressive than a new lick of paint over the first, original version of the game. That’s not to say it isn’t drastically prettier (which I’ll come to shortly), but if you’re expecting the game to feel a little less special based on that title, you may be surprised.

Within ten minutes, I played as a young Aloy wandering the subterranean halls of a lab that’s been buried for centuries. Aside from the way the light bounces off the water, reflecting intricately across the walls, when Aloy first grabs her Focus (the gadget she uses to navigate the world), the way its purple-hued UI contrasts with the cavernous corridors made me sit forward in my chair.

Exteriors also showcase a significant glow-up. I found there to be more dynamic lighting and lens flare on display, both from the sunlight over mountains and trees and from the angry eye of the Watcher machines, but it’s the foliage that feels most impressive.

Aloy walks through it as it sways and reacts to her movements, and she reaches out her hands to touch it in return. Cutscene motion capture has been redone in many spots (at least according to Sony), but some slightly iffy animations with the younger Aloy feel a little off, notably when she falls awkwardly into the aforementioned lab.

That’s alleviated after the time jump that sees her reintroduced as an adult, however, and from that moment on you’d struggle to tell the difference between this remaster and the second game in the series, 2022’s Horizon Forbidden West.

It’s not just Aloy that sees a glow-up, either. Her mentor, Rost, has more detail in his character model, with a more realistic beard than I remember in 2017, and while some unnamed non-player characters (NPCs) look much the same, all named characters have drastically improved detail in their features and clothing, right down to stitching on outfits.

That extends to the machines that roam the world, too, with everything from the Watcher to the Thunderjaw to the Stormbird having clearer, more mechanical details like robotic sinews and circuitry.

Time for another look

Sure, it’s prettier than the 2017 original, but Zero Dawn was never a slouch in the visual department. In fact, the reason fewer people were talking about it was likely its awkward release timing alongside the Nintendo Switch and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - another open-world game that enjoyed the benefit of being attached to an established franchise.

With that in mind, this remaster marks a great opportunity to look at Zero Dawn free of those contemporaneous comparisons, and it’s remarkable just how well the game’s underlying mechanics hold up.

It’s a game full of satisfying moments, most notably in combat. Whacking a robot to see its armor plating fly off and sparks fly remains just as enjoyable now as it was in 2017, and while stealth remains a formulaic process of wandering between patches of long grass, there’s something so kinetic about Zero Dawn’s bow and trap combo that makes it no wonder Sony is reportedly working on a game-as-a-service within this universe.

Using the tripcaster to fell a colossal mechanical beast, or sliding away from a Strider while triggering slow motion to fire a fire arrow at the canister on its back are made more tactile by the improved rumble and haptic triggers of the DualSense wireless controller this time around, and while the sound of the Focus through the controller speakers still feels a little annoying at times, the whole thing tickles the brain so nicely that I’d suggest Horizon is to third-person combat what Destiny is to first-person shooters. 

Everything is executed to such an impressive level of finesse that I can see myself grinding levels to earn skills for Aloy all over again, and that’s even with features from the sequel missing like vertical traps and a charged spear attack. That means coming back from Forbidden West doesn’t feel as jarring as it could have done, and if you’ve not played Zero Dawn before playing the sequel then there’s never been a better time. 

A big part of why it feels so good to play is the performance mode options, which are pretty much a straight transplant from Horizon Forbidden West. Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered runs in 4K in Favor Resolution mode but can run in Favor Performance Mode at 30, 40, and 60 frames per second (FPS) modes with tradeoffs at each level on PC, while the PS5 version offers just a 60 FPS version. 

I will say that while Resolution mode is often my preference for increased detail, the Performance mode quickly became my standard way to enjoy the remaster. That’s mostly down to the increased fluidity which can be felt throughout just about any animation, whether it’s Aloy running or aiming her bow. Whichever mode I tested, however, I didn’t see frame drops of any real consequence, nor any major drop in visual fidelity.

The only real disappointment when returning from the sequel is that Horizon Zero Dawn’s world is noticeably flatter in terms of topography. There are still hills and craggy cliffs to climb, but Forbidden West added more in the way of verticality to its terrain which makes things feel a little less varied here.

"I’ve been here before"

Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered is £45 / $50 for anyone jumping in for the first time, but if you already own it you’ll get it for just £10 / $10. For that, it’s hard not to be tempted given what’s on offer visually, and given it’s been free on various PlayStation promotions in the past, you may be surprised to know you already have access to it.

This Remaster also includes the Frozen Wilds expansion which adds a new region, quests, and skills for Aloy to unlock, making it a truly complete edition - except we’ve already had a Complete Edition… and a PS5 performance patch, too.

That might mean you’re less excited to go back than you otherwise would have been, but you can import your save if you left off at any point prior. The process is very simple, and leans on cloud saves too - I was grateful to have found some old saves from back in 2018 that I could use to get back to some of the game’s most impressive machines. You can also start a New Game+ from your prior save. The Photo Mode is also great, offering a whole host of options with which I snagged the majority of the shots in this review and it’s easy to dive in and out of it from the pause menu. 

Your level of enjoyment in Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered will likely depend on how much time you’ve spent with it before. If it turned you into a lifelong fan of Aloy’s adventures, then you’ll undoubtedly pay the modest fee for a visually stunning facelift of the first chapter. If you finished it and put it down, there may be less reason for you to return.

You’ll be disappointed if you’re looking for new content, but that’s not what this Remaster is about. It’s a stunning game, and if you want to revisit the game - or you missed Frozen Wilds and want to see that in all its glory - then this is the definitive and best-looking version of the game to play now. 

Should you play Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered?

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Accessibility

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered follows on from Forbidden West with an array of accessibility features including remappable buttons, hold/press options for commands, adjustable weapon wheel speed, and co-pilot functionality to allow a second controller to be used to mirror controls. There are also a series of difficulty settings to make the game easier or more challenging, including modifiers to damage dealt, damage taken, and an auto heal option.

You can opt to have quest destinations automatically show on screen or to be able to explore and find them by yourself, while subtitles are offered in multiple sizes and with or without backgrounds. Tinnitus sounds can also be switched off entirely, and there are audio and vibration cues when action prompts are shown on screen.

The biggest omission, however, is colorblind modes. While these were added post-launch with Forbidden West, they’re simply not here in Zero Dawn Remastered. Here’s hoping it’s patched in soon.

How I reviewed Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

I played the game from the beginning for around 10 hours, before jumping into a late game save from the PS4 version to tackle bigger, endgame-level machines for a further five hours.

I spent half of the time in Performance mode, and the other half in the quality mode to test the differences between them. All of this was done on a base (launch) PlayStation 5 console with a Sky Glass 4K TV and the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P.

First reviewed October 2024