Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered brings back to PS5 the story of huntress Aloy, who in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by robotic creatures searches for her own origins and the causes of the fall of an old technological civilization that turned the world into a wilderness full of machines. The remaster builds on the foundation of the original 2017 game and adds upgraded textures, dynamic lighting, more detailed character models, and denser vegetation, faster-loading support thanks to SSD, and DualSense haptic feedback that makes hunting mechanical beasts with bows, spears, and set traps feel more immediate and tactile.

The core gameplay remains unchanged — an open world full of distinct types of machine creatures that must be observed, whose weak points must be analyzed, and which must be tactically overcome through a combination of weapons, elemental attacks, and traps, complemented by exploration of the ruins of an ancient technological civilization and a branching story tree that gradually reveals the full mythology of this world. The remaster also adds select enhancements and technical solutions carried over from the later entry, Horizon Forbidden West.

After its 2024 release, the remaster met with a more mixed reception than the original game did on its debut — some players and reviewers pointed out that it's a fairly costly update to an already visually timeless title whose differences from the PS4 version aren't always dramatic. Still, Horizon Zero Dawn remains one of the standout open-world stories of its generation and a great entry point for players who haven't yet experienced the series in its best-available technical form. An optional photo mode, added difficulty accessibility settings, and full controller support also make the remaster a comfortable choice for rediscovering one of the previous generation's key open-world titles, thanks in part to a more straightforward entry into the game than the 2017 version offered on period hardware.

Why play it: Anyone who hasn't yet experienced the series will find a comfortable entry point in the remaster, complete with photo mode and difficulty accessibility — veterans should expect a subtle enhancement rather than a dramatic leap for an already timeless game.