Skip to main content

Guerrilla Games details the side quests of its open-world ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’

guerrilla games details the side quests of its open world horizon zero dawn screen 09 us 15jun15
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Thanks to its unusual setting and the strong pedigree of its developer, Guerrilla Games, Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the most anticipated releases of 2017 for many PlayStation gamers. Now, the development team has given some details about what players can expect from the side quests that populate the title’s open world.

Guerrilla Games demonstrated five different activities for Game Informer — but the studio noted that there are plenty more events that haven’t yet been unveiled to the public.

The first type of activity, known as a Corruption Zone, is a type of combat challenge that will be familiar to players who have spent lots of time with open world titles. These areas are filled with ferocious robots, and are a good opportunity for protagonist Aloy to earn experience.

Hunter Challenges are a different kind of combat test that focuses on individual pieces of weaponry and techniques. Players will be confined in terms of the weapons that they use, the enemies that they’re required to take down, and the amount of time that they’re give to do so — this activity is tied into a storyline in the city of Meridian that sees Aloy work her way through the ranks of a hunter’s guild.

Tribe Quests are another way that Guerrilla Games is using side quests to flesh out the game’s lore. Aloy has only known her own Nora tribe when Horizon Zero Dawn gets underway, but the needs of the various other cultures living in close proximity will form the basis of these varied quests.

Like many games that have released in the post-Minecraft landscape, Horizon Zero Dawn will also feature a crafting system. In this case, crafting is closely tied to hunting, as the resources you’ll need to implement particular recipes can only be earned by stalking your prey.

Finally, there are random events that will take place in the world around you, seemingly in the same vein as those featured in Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto V. The example give by the development team centers around an injured man asking for Aloy’s assistance in retrieving a spear bequeathed to his daughter.

By all accounts, it seems that Guerrilla Games is doing everything it can to ensure that the open world of Horizon Zero Dawn feels more alive and interactive than that of the heavily criticized No Man’s Sky. We won’t have to wait too long to find out whether these efforts pay off, as the game is set to release on February 28, 2017.

Editors' Recommendations

Brad Jones
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
Sony shows what Horizon Forbidden West will look like on PS4
A golden character in Horizon Forbidden West.

In a blog post announcing that Horizion Forbidden West has gone gold (see video below), developer Guerrilla shared more footage of the game in action on both last and current-gen consoles.

https://twitter.com/Guerrilla/status/1486685414375280644?t=dGPMYzr40mWX7ugLDuIUZA&s=19

Read more
Nvidia will give PlayStation PC games the DLSS treatment
Kratos fighting monsters in God of War.

With more PlayStation games coming to PC, graphics card manufacturer Nvidia has been working on making the PC versions of titles better than their console counterparts. Horizon Zero Dawn is getting the DLSS treatment, while God of War will get the same, along with a suite of other graphical improvements.

God of War | PC Features Trailer

Read more
Horizon Forbidden West devs share details about its new robot monsters
Aloy swimming in horizon forbidden west

Guerilla Games developers recently opened up about what kinds of monsters to expect in Horizon Forbidden West. In a PlayStation Blog post, Blake Politeski, principal machine designer, and Maxim Fleury, asset art lead, name-drop a few returning monsters and explain their design process behind creating new ones.

Some monsters like the Watcher and Snapmaw, which appeared in Horizon Zero Dawn, return in the sequel. However, others like the Clawstrider and Tremortusk showcased in the trailers, are completely new to the franchise. Those are only a few examples.

Read more