‘Horizon: Zero Dawn’ Review: A Better ‘Witcher 3’? - Geeklyng

Shaz Mohsin writes: "CD Projekt Red had perfected in crafting a world that was deep in lore, characters, politics, and atmosphere. A world that was as intricate as it was massive. It seemed that this game truly was the pinnacle of excellence in open-world games and that every game to come after it would be undoubtedly compared to it. And that’s where reviewing a game like Horizon: Zero Dawn becomes ever so tough."

[Warshade]

I'd take the witcher 3 combat over HZD any day. I prefer melee combat and between the two TW3 has it. I am really enjoying HZD but I constantly just want to slice the damn robots in half samurai jack style.

[Dark_Knightmare2]

I don't think I've ever seen someone say they would take the witchers 3 combat over hzd especially since witcher 3 combat was garbage and I say that has a huge not just a witcher 3 fan but the witcher series as a whole fan

[meka2611]

I always was curious about this. What made witcher 3 combat so bad? I thought it was enjoyable and did take some skill. Like I said just curious what was so bad about it.

[ThePope]

HZD is a very good open world game. But The Witcher 3 is the most well rounded Ive ever played. No game is perfect but TW3 is the closest.

Also "ever seen" when comparing a game that came out a year ago and one that game out 3 weeks ago is a bold statement.

[Imalwaysright]

Garbage? It may not have the best combat but it isn't that bad.

[gangsta_red]

I thought Witcher's 3 combat was good, especially for the hunts. The problem I had with Witcher 3 is how the story seemed to drag on and on to a point where it felt like filler.

I found myself skipping the cut scenes towards the end and just trying to hurry up and finish the game because the story lost a lot of my interest.

[Irishguy95]

The hype on n4g is truly great for HZD, I really hope its as good as i'm hearing. Witcher 3 is one of my favorite games for many reasons.

[S2Killinit]

For me it was the damn horse!! It was so inconsistant. Sometimes i would die in the most critical battles when i would try to use the horse to get away.

[starchild]

The Witcher 3's combat wasn't bad though. That's such nonsense. I think Witcher 3's combat is better than 90% of RPGs I've played and I thoroughly enjoy it.

[Athos]

You have obviously never played it. And no, playing it on a crap PS4 (if you did) doesn't hold a candle to playing it on a PC rig with some horsepower.

[nitus10]

Well if you play The Wither 3 on "Just The Story!" (Easiest) or "Story and Sword!" (Default) you are in for a fairly easy game which can get very boring since there is little incentive to use your "signs" or "potions and oils". If you play on "Blood and Broken Bones!" (harder) and preferably "Death March!" (Hardest for the first playthrough) you really do have to take all your attributes (ie. armor, swords, signs, potions, oils and especially your level into account.

Unless you are on the Easy mode you can always reduce the difficulty on the fly but this is a bit of a cop out (I won't tell if you won't) for the poorer or impatient players.

Playing on the hardest difficulty and not wimping out by reducing the difficulty is almost like playing a new game. Yes it is harder for the first few hours and you usually end up dying allot but when you start to understand how to manage your character and his equiment properly the game becomes much more interesting.

[andrewsquall]

@S2Killinit I HATED the damn horse in that game, I ran EVERYWHERE in The Witcher 3. People are overreacting with the combat in TW3, the horse was literally garbage to control though (notice we call it the horse, can't even remember its name it was such a tiny useless part of the game lol). I mean the main and ONLY mode of transport in the game and they messed it up.
I feel sorry for anybody that was playing the game and trying to use the horse BEFORE the 12 months of patches behind the game before I touched it.

But yeah, The Witcher 3 was more vast than Horizon (I put about 350 hours into it I think) but shares a lot of things like villages/towns without anything major going on in them or populated by actual characters like an Elders Scrolls game.
The loading times were very inconsistent though, I enjoyed Skellige more for the simple fact it was a smaller area and loading, even dying, was much faster.
The animations were also vastly better in Horizon with lots of Naughty Dog levels of blending of multiple animations going on e.g. doing a sprint, crouch to slide and then melee attack all in one smooth motion is a sight to behold (also the character not insta-dying when they fall a 1 foot drop that was practiaclly just a bump in the road helps too).
Lastly HZD is just more proof of how crazy it is a "weak" console like PS4 can produce such a stunning looking game when it is developed exclusively for GDDR5 architecture.

[WelkinCole]

Hey people. Leave Roach Alone!!.

The Witcher combat was good. Not really really good but good.

Story wise overall I think it was really really good. There were some fillers which was expected but the general story was so good.

I literally jumped for joy at that mist scene.

[UnHoly_One]

Witcher 3's combat was garbage. The fact that your character barely changed throughout the game didn't do it any favors, either.

It was just 100 hours of fighting the same enemies in the exact same way. I don't get why people like that game so much.

As for the bit about playing on harder difficulties, no... Just no.

I only play games on the hard difficulty if the combat is fun. Taking a crappy combat, and then also making me plan ahead for each fight with overly complex potions and oils is just going to make me delete the game and never play it again.

I always hated the idea of having to use all that stuff prior to combat anyway, so I never used them. Ever.

I actually hate that people are comparing Horizon to it, because Horizon is awesome, and Witcher was very much NOT awesome.

[bluefox755]

I wouldn't say the combat is garbage, it's definitely passable and even enjoyable, but it could definitely have been improved.

[DrumBeat]

I can understand preferring Witcher 3 as a whole, but saying the combat is better is pretty silly. Witcher 3's combat while decent, is nowhere near as polished, refined, or engaging as Horizon's.

[game4funz]

Did you use poison? Bombs? Knives? And crossbow all in one fight along with finishers and toxicity?

[NeckBone]

@game4funz. In the witcher it wasnt nessisarry to use all of the items and bombs and such... HZD items and weapons are way more dynamic and useful

[bloop]

I had absolutely no complaints about combat in TW3. I don't know why so many people complain about it. But HZD definitely beats it for me in that department anyway. It's much tighter, fluid and some of the battles I just happened across were absolutely epic. The first time I came across a Thunderjaw, there were 2 of them together with a whole herd of tramplers. TW3 combat doesn't come close to any situation like that.

[starchild]

I disagree. I thoroughly love the combat in both games. Fighting the machines in Horizon is awesome, but it's at its best when using my bow and other weapons at more of a distance. The melee combat in Horizon however, especially with humans, feels clunky to me and I definitely prefer the Witcher 3's melee combat.

[Psychonaut85]

Game4funz, not being a dick but I've used fire arrows, shock bombs, trip wires, rope launcher, ripper, anti frost potion, and critical hit finishers all in one encounter in HZD. Loved Witcher but in encounter tool variety isn't the best area to try to say it beats HZD.

[DashArrivals]

LOL, I bet you hate games like Dark Souls, don't you?

[starchild]

No, I don't know about him but I love the Souls-like games. But I still enjoyed The Witcher 3's combat. It might not have as deep of combat or quite the challenge, but it's still very well done, responsive and animates well.

[sampson3121]

hahahaha!!!

[Darkfist_Flames]

witcher 3 combat? LOL, why dont you just go play bloodborne or dark souls games, the only fun combat gameplay is using magic and bombs which still limited(end up playing Infamous again after that)

[S2Killinit]

Witcher 3's combat was terrible imo. Getting unto the stupid horse in the middle of battle to get away was so inconsistant that it would piss me off when i would die because the darn horse would move an inch when i tried to jump on it. And I rarely get mad in video games.

[DrumBeat]

I though the fall damage in Witcher 3 was extremely odd. What looks to be a tiny outcropping is often a deadly cliff. Your Geralt falls about two feet and dies. Laughter and loading times ensue.

[Dragonscale]

W3 combat is meh.

[Wallstreet37]

lol haha Witcher 3 ballerina unfullfilling crap combat is what made me drop it after Skellig. Boring, boring, boring. I would call it garbage because it is what made me not finish the game and your talking to a person that Has beat and played all souls games multiple times and platted Bloodborne. Beat Horizon the other day and it's just so much better.

Hey we all have opinions but Witcher 3 combat being better is just hilarious. Not to mention the dozen upon dozen of threads talking about Witchers weak combat.

[starchild]

And it's clear that those threads were mostly written by SoulsBorne fanboys that needed to find something to hate about The Witcher 3 because they were upset The Witcher 3 was getting more attention than Bloodborne at the time. Basically The Witcher 3's combat "sucks" because it isn't Dark Souls. That's what those people's attitude boils down to.

I love the SoulsBorne games, but I'm not an inflexible gamer that can't adapt to or enjoy other approaches. I still had a lot of fun with the Witcher 3's gameplay. I think most people who didn't expect it to play just like the Souls games enjoyed it as well. We're talking about a game that many people consider to be one of, if not the best games of all time and which received many awards and topped many GOTY lists for that year.

Who in the world would consider a game with terrible gameplay to be one of the best games of all time? I find the idea absurd. I don't care how good a game's story is, if the gameplay sucks nobody is going to consider it a great game, let alone one of the very best games of all time.

[UnHoly_One]

I'm not a souls fan and I thought Witcher 3 had about the worst combat I've seen since Two Worlds.

It's terrible, and ruined the whole game.

[Wallstreet37]

https://www.gamefaqs.com/bo...

This is just one of dozens of threads complaining about Witcher combat. You can find steam threads, regular PC threads, gaming forums etc for alot of ppl its bad. I can't speak for them but I hated it.

[Wallstreet37]

http://m.neogaf.com/showthr...

[DVAcme]

The Witcher 3 is an amazing game with a scope that dwarfs HZD... but come on, the combat in HZD is leagues better. The Witcher 3's combat is there just to move the story along. In HZD, it's the main focus od the game.

[ShadowKnight]

I liked the Witcher 3 story and side quest more than Horizon. I'll give the gameplay to Horizon and I'm not saying Witcher 3 gameplay was bad.

[BlakHavoc]

No way lol TW3 had everything but good combat. That's my one gripe with the game, HZD has much better combat imo.

[guyman]

Wow Horizon's combat leagues better than the witcher 3's... though the witcher does have better quests and story

[Takwin]

I think The Witcher 3 is the greatest game ever made, but I think the combat in HZD is a bit better, and in fact, the combat in HZD is my personal favorite ever. The depth of the story and the quality of the sidequests are miles better in TW3. We are splitting hairs, however, between two of the five best games ever made. We are lucky to have played both!

[GUTZnPAPERCUTZ]

After completing the main quest in HZD I have to say the Witcher 3 is still my favorite Open World RPG, HZD is my 2nd and Skyrim is 3rd for me. Def a great game!

[dirkdady]

I love both games I think they each have pros and cons. I agree with others above while witcher 3 combat has significantly improved from the almost turn based like style of the first game it still doesn't feel as action-orientated as Horizon.

Love the witchers loot/weapon/armor build aspect which I felt horizon somewhat lacking - yea it's nice to know armor strength by color - green/blue/purple, but I want more stats than the attack, mods, etc.

All in all witcher 3 felt more like a open world RPG with action elements
While HoriZon felt like an open world action game with RPG elements.
Both have great story with deep dialog trees and quest system and massive maps.

[ShadowKnight]

Spot on

[its_JEFF]

3, 2, 1...

[TeamIcoFan]

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photo...

[Bebedora]

Give HZD more time. I think It will come out in it's proper perspective then.
It's easy to sway away over something new and fly at it as the best. It will prove it's colour over time, is my bet.

HZD might just end up getting there, and maybe even beyond TW3.
At the same time I understand the immediate jump to compare the two. HZD is stunningly beautiful for a game, and the engine really kicks some serious donkey.

[meka2611]

I don't get how everyone keeps calling Horizon an RPG; it isn't. If Horizon is an RPG then far cry 3 and 4 are rpg's as well.

[uth11]

Yeah, it really isn't . It's light on RPG attributes

[NeckBone]

I think the term RPG is outdated.... i mean... you ARE roleplaying a character through a narritive, but so does EVERY game. it has HP and damage counters, but so do MOBAs. It has a skill tree... but so does farcry... idk man

[AmUnRa]

No HZD is not a RPG, its an Action RPG.
And that is a big diference.

[Der_Kommandant]

Horizon is the best rpg open world game i've ever played, just behind The Witcher 3 of course.

[EazyC]

Horizon is not an RPG, there's no choice & consequence and in depth skill sets/armour etc. The Witcher 3 on the other hand was: it's far more complex and decision-based.

Both are phenomenal games though!

[AnnaDea]

By that logic Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are action games...

[Legatus]

"A Better Witcher 3"
Uffff, this thread should be interesting 😆
Just kidding, both games are superb open world rpg's and should be celebrated, not fight over which is better or worse.

[starrman1985]

Witcher 3 has way way way more depth. I love them both but Horizon is a 40/50 hours game, Witcher is a 100/200 hours game! Different type of game!

[psplova]

I platinumed HZD (1st one!) in roughly 100 hours. I finally beat TW3 and all it's DLC in about 550 hours (longest game I've ever played) but still am not close to getting the platinum on that one..lol

[starrman1985]

Damn, that's a lot of time! I think my save on Witcher is on 200+ hours, but I still haven't touched Blood & Wine, can see that taking me a while!

[ThePope]

witcher 3 is so cool.. i just bought a new witcher poster... i love it... its my favorite

[ThePope]

i make a lot of bold statements...im an idiot

[uth11]

Aka comparing it to BotW for clicks has played out, time to move onto Witcher 3 instead

[Legatus]

Agreed, anything for clicks. The end justifies the means i guess.

[ninsigma]

To, a comparison with witcher 3 is more apt than one to breath of the wild. HZD and W3 are more a like than HZD and BOTW imo.

[Nodoze]

I have to reload The Witcher. If it is anything like HZD I need to play it. I tried twice to get into it, and it didn't stick.

[MatrixxGT]

Same. I put about 10 hours into it but it didn't hold my attention. The graphics were really good though. I think it's because I'm not a hack n slash player. I always play archers or mages in RPG type games.

[Elda]

Co-sign..I just couldn't get into it as well.

[starrman1985]

A lot of my friends have said the same, whilst I regard it as one of the greatest RPGs I have played. It's good that none of them have said it was bad though, just that they couldn't get into it.

It's a true time-sink, you literally need to devote all your gaming time to it and that can be quite an ask to be honest.

Part of the reason I love it so much (and this resonates in Zelda too) is that it all feels so handcrafted, every quest and every bit of dialogue feels so rich. I actually can appreciate why people struggle to get into it through, it's tough (don't mean this as any sort of insult!) almost Dark Souls tough initially and quite unforgiving, it's almost overly complex off the bat, with the menus and how much stuff you collect etc and again, if you aren't totally invested - it's not really a dip in dip out game, it's a plunge in with a full diving kit!

[ninsigma]

I prefer horizon but not everything it does is better than witcher. Core story is better in HZD imo with a much better combat system. It actually has one of the best combat systems ive played along with Bloodborne. However in HZD, there are only a handful of really good characters while there are a good few characters in witcher 3 that are really well realised that make an incredible cast. Witcher 3 is still king in side quest design. Even though the ones in HZD are actually really good, they don't match those of W3. When all is said and done though, both are fantastic games from talented developers and both should be played by as many gamers as possible.

[Elda]

Yeah...I tried to get into the Witcher 3 but I just couldn't but I'm loving Horizon:ZD!

[Darkfist_Flames]

The lore isnt as deep as witcher3, but seeing its a new IP with alot of lore for a first game, with a really fun combat and interesting enemy(compare to witcher3), specially when its from a studio famous for making a FPS(which mean they put alot of hard work on this game)

[GTgamer]

I feel like the sequel will blow minds

[OrbitingTheOrb]

Horizon is a fantastic game, but its no Witcher 3. In fact, ive got kind of bored with Horizon. Ill go back and finish it eventually, but I never had that problem with TW3

[Kingcorey13]

The witcher is a better rpg. Horizon has better action and a slightly more interesting world. The witcher is bigger but horizon has more of a wow factor for me. I like the story of horizon more but I like the side quests in witcher more... idk I'd say they are both equally epic

[FloydianAndroid]

The witcher 3 Is superior to horizon in every way except for maybe graphics. It's not a knock against horizon, but the witcher 3 is a masterpiece. The best rpg ever to many, many people. The questlines in horizon don't even come close.

[Pantz]

If this is a review, why are you asking me if it's better than Witcher 3?

[redaxis]

I have just platinum horizon, but it's really hard to call it a better witcher 3. While horizon's combat blew witcher 3's away, its still head and shoulder to witcher 3's masterful story telling, dialogues, music, side quests, refined character personality etc. Witcher 3 still left big impact to me after finishing the game, thanks to the story. I can't say the same to horizon.

[BlakHavoc]

Personally I prefer HZD for its combat, environment, and protagonist. TW3 has it beat in terms story, dialogue, and the quality of the side quests are waaaay better.

[irishyort]

Witcher - Farcry lovechild more like it. This is what Far Cry Primal should have been.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

It's much more accessible. I never felt overwhelmed by combat, the environment, or the lore.

[mandingo]

no

[no_ripley]

Pfft. It's not even close to The Witcher 3. The sidequests alone have more memorable characters and story than HZD.

Don't get me wrong, I like Horizon but TW3 just nails it

[philm87]

I think HZD should get massive credit for the way it performs on console, especially straight from release. The Witcher 3 has some really bad frame rate problems on PS4 on release, and it's still not perfect. As much as I loved the Witcher 3 and put 125 hours+ into it, I'd definitely take HZD as the better combat makes a big difference in the enjoyment. Witcher 3's combat wasn't terrible, but HZD has a lot more depth to it combat wise, you have to approach it more strategically, and it works so slickly.

[mgszelda1]

Both Amazing games. Witcher III is the most densely filled open world game with variety. It was the first open world game I hate that and love that there is too much to do. I love the engaging side quests but I out level them (which I still go play).
Horizon is less engaging with its side quests, but I hunt for stuff all the time. The main quest lines so far are pretty cool (not finished).
In my opinion the witcher iii is the deeper game overall. The enemy design for both are top notch though. They both stand out in character design compared to most games today

[bluefox755]

They aren't really similar enough to compare IMO. Witcher does some things better, and HZD does other things better.