Horizon: Zero Dawn Off-Screen Gameplay Footage, First Impressions from GAF

[Kerotan]

I didn't finish it. One level was rock solid, probably the poorest level design I've see from them. There's an enslaught of enemy in a giant warehouse and your ammo stock is on an exposed platform. Since you need to go to this platform every 30 seconds to restock,  you just get picked off very easy and going into cover behind the barrier for some reason doesn't protect you. Got frustrated and gave up. Loved the multiplayer thought.

You missed the best part of the game by giving up there.  The level where you wing suit into the planet from space.

[Riderz1337]

Looks great. Love the lush vegetation/foliage.

[SWORDF1SH]

Here's are some first impressions from over at GAF;

FelipeMGM

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The demo starts with Aloy at a higher ground with a vista to some robotic creatures. There are watchers, the one used as a mount and also a shielded creature that kinda looks like a turret (?) on the fields, and also some natural wildlife like some rabbits and boars. The demo was basically an open area where you could fudge around for some time.
First of all, wow at the visuals and also the animations, both from Aloy and the creatures. They are not only good to look at, but also very fluid while playing. My biggest concern with Horizon was always the fear of having a janky gameplay as other open world RPG have, but I'm so relieved now. The bow and the spear are great and work as a nice combo for the combat. The focus ability is also a big part of it since the creatures have weak spots as we already seen. In a couple of minutes of combat I had already felt really comfortable with the mechanics.
Shooting an enemy from distance, then watching it rush at my position and then dashing away from its rush and then hitting with the melee spear felt so good.
Stealth gameplay was also good, but sometimes AI felt a bit dumb by not seeing me, but that happens in most games. A big thumbs up for the AI was when I took control of the mount and then watchers came and attacked it, the AI vs AI encounters were awesome to see, again thanks to the great animations.
The mounting felt great, but when going too fast I did notice some texture popping. Also, the game has a climbing system that reminded me a lot of Uncharted climbing.
One thing I think is a safe bet though is that crafting has a big part in this game since there are resources all around the scenario and creatures.
The area is not so big, it had a river, some bridges an old house. It felt alive because of the creatures and wildlife but was short of many interesting exploring focused places, but again, it's clearly a demo focused on combat and movement, not exploration.
Bow and arrow were L2 and R2 with L1 for the weapom weel, melee was R1, circle was the dash jump, square was crouch/stealth and d pad you had items like for example health stuff was D-pad up.
The game just felt and looked really good and more than ever I feel like Sony and Guerrilla have a big hitter on their hands with Horizon.

Cubas

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Also played it today at BGS.
I agree with Felipe. The visuals are great and the gameplay is pretty good. The only reason I'm not fully convinced yet is that the demo was simply a sandbox. No quests, no story.
Don't get me wrong, the mechanics are good, but not good enough to make the game worth playing if the quests are shame.

mishakoz

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Played it at Pax. The theatre presentation was the exact same as the e3 demo, although the interaction with the demon guy felt a little less stilted for some reason
Hands on was a section where we were hunting a bunch of animals. Felt great, shooting a boar in the leg would cause it to stumble. At one point the boarstraight jumped over a giant rock while I had to go around. So pathing is great.
Definitely stoked on this game right now.

From GAF via http://wccftech.com/horizon-zero-dawn-gets-raving-first-impressions-lucky-brasil-game-show-pax-west-attendees/

[Riderz1337]

Only thing I'm worried about is weapon variety...Is it just bow and arrow with different ammo and a spear? That would get boring quick.

I saw Aloy use one of the weapons from the dinasours when she shot it off but I'm talking about actual weapons you have at your disposal all the time.