There’s something captivating about being dropped into a brand-new game world, where you immediately feel surrounded by deeply crafted lore, hostile creatures, and intriguing mysteries that linger in your mind long after you’ve finished. Horizon Zero Dawn is one of those games. With its flexible combat mechanics and a storyline that tackles unexpectedly profound themes, I found myself hooked even after completing the main campaign, which took me around 40 hours.

From the start, a sense of urgency takes hold as the game’s premise presents a mystery that demands answers. The questions raised by the protagonist, Aloy, and the world she inhabits—one overrun by deadly, machine-like creatures—kept me guessing all the way through. What’s at the heart of it all? While there’s occasionally some cheesy dialogue, the broader concepts the game explores are remarkably ambitious. Aloy’s dry wit and big-hearted heroism made me care deeply about her journey on a personal level.

Although players can influence her responses in dialogue to some extent, Aloy remains a character with a strong moral compass, which aligns well with the overarching story.

The most compelling aspect of Horizon Zero Dawn is its combat. The game features 26 different species of animal-like machines, each with its own unique behavior and weak points. Hitting different parts of these machines can yield different outcomes, forcing you to approach every fight strategically. For instance, hitting the toxic cargo sack on a Bellowback or taking down a Glint Hawk by targeting its chest sack makes for thrilling encounters. There are no hand-holding tutorials here, so when you succeed, it feels earned.

Aloy’s weapons—upgradable bows and elemental arrows—are satisfying to use, especially with her ability to slow down time using her concentration skill. She also has a few more complex devices, like the rope caster and trip caster, but in practice, these tools often feel slow and unwieldy, especially when facing fast, powerful machines. Once I got the hang of combat, the game constantly made me feel like an unstoppable force, while never losing the tension that a single mistake could lead to my death.

Fighting requires constant movement, dodging, and crafting ammo on the fly to counter specific threats. But Horizon never encourages mindless combat. Many machines roam in packs, and if you’re not careful, you can quickly become overwhelmed. Stealth becomes a useful tool, though luring specific machines away from their packs can be tedious. Simple hunts can escalate into massive, complex battles.

As Aloy grows stronger, she gains the ability to override the machines’ minds, turning them into allies. With skill upgrades, these overrides last longer, allowing Aloy to build a small army of mechanical companions. While these machines are useful in combat, they don’t quite match the excitement of battling their organic counterparts. There are also human enemies to deal with, and stealthing through their camps became some of my favorite moments in the game. Though the inability to hide bodies detracts from the stealth experience, it was still a fun challenge to infiltrate enemy strongholds.