Released in 2017, the first part of Horizon turned out to be original and successful enough that 5 years later its direct sequel with the subtitle Forbidden West saw the light of day. The ending of the game clearly hints at a full-fledged trilogy, but so far neither the publisher nor the developers have officially confirmed the sequel. That is why we have collected for you the top projects that are similar to Horizon Zero Dawn - partially or completely, so you definitely won’t be bored waiting for the news.
PS We did not include titles from Sony in the top, since they are made according to the same patterns - peppy third-person adventure games in an open or just a large well-developed world: somewhere with an emphasis on the plot ( God of War ), somewhere on aesthetics ( Ghost of Tsushima ), and somewhere on the atmosphere ( Days Gone ).
New Tomb Raider trilogy (2013-2018)
The relaunched Tomb Raider Trilogy brings dozens of hours of action-packed adventures, from escaping an enchanted island in Tomb Raider to an enchanting jungle adventure in Shadow of the Tomb Raider that's sure to stir more than one fan's heart. Lara Croft will once again find forgotten cities, fight villainous organizations and even prevent the end of the world, but only now in a more cinematic manner. True, real tombs should not be expected before Rise of the Tomb Raider, yet the 2013 game is more of a category B linear shooter.
Unfortunately, Crystal Dynamics (which, by the way, is no longer owned by Square Enix) didn’t bother to find normal screenwriters, so you don’t have to wait for interesting characters, cool plot twists, or at least decent development of the main character, but this does not interfere with exploring the most beautiful locations.
Assassin's Creed Mythic Trilogy (Origins (2017), Odyssey (2018), Valhalla (2020))
The Assassin's Creed series has long since ditched the Templar-Assassin squabbles, normal hidden blades, and charismatic characters in favor of huge maps and donation shops. The mythic trilogy as a whole is an invention for casual players who prefer to ride a unicorn through the realm of Hades, and as part of a once-great series, it looks controversial. Here the trouble is in the rather dull quests, and the endless grind, and in the sickening captures of outposts, which have grown to the scale of a natural disaster.
However, one cannot fail to pay tribute to the developers - the worlds of Ancient Greece ( Odyssey ), Ancient Egypt ( Origins ), England of the 9th century ( Valhalla ) look simply incredible, no matter how empty they are. In addition, the mythological elements added across all common sense give the usual adventures some kind of heroic flavor that a gamer not familiar with the series may like.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (2021)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is the debut work from the once-common animation studio Ember Lab, and it's getting a decent reception in 2021. The game tells about the adventures of the brave girl Kena, who, by inheritance, instead of the treasure behind the house, got the job of a spirit guide to the underworld.
The project turned out to be compact, incredibly beautiful and a little naive, and the cute helpers of the slimes became its main decoration. The gameplay is based on solving puzzles, clearing locations from damage, battles with ordinary enemies and bosses that can cause an unprepared gamer to shoot the gamepad into the wall. Kena is an indie game, and therefore you can forget about the endless grind and a huge open world, but at the present time it can hardly be called a minus.
ReCore: Definitive Edition (2017)
ReCore: Definitive Edition is a not-too-popular but pretty good third-person action-adventure game. According to the story, the mechanic girl Jule, after a long cryostasis, arrives on the planet Far Eden, but instead of actively working on colonization, she finds only a wasteland filled with unfriendly robots. Of course, the heroine decides to figure out what happened here, and at the same time save the mission of creating a new home for humanity. With this, she will be helped by charismatic animal-like robot partners.
You will have to entertain yourself in the open world with difficult platform stages, various puzzles, dungeons and, of course, grind. The player, in the absence of other NPCs, as in Horizon, learns lore information from various diaries and notes. The project came out ambiguous, and there is a great chance to abandon it due to some monotony and excessive complexity towards the end, but fans of the setting should try it, especially since the game is now available on Steam.
Far Cry: Primal (2016)
Far Cry: Primal is a kind of caveman simulator, not burdened by either a complex plot or a charismatic villain, the main advantage of which is a thick atmosphere. Primal puts the player in a loincloth setting and simulates a delightful world around them, from saber-toothed tigers and mammoths to the likeness of a primitive language.
Of course, you don’t have to count on effective opposition to the local fauna - the main character Takkar lives 10 thousand years BC, and this is somewhat early for a firearm, so the only weapons that a person is able to find or craft. At the same time, Primal is still Ubisoft's Far Cry with all its towers, resource grind, and trip moments.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (2010)
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is an action-adventure game from the long-suffering creators of Hellblade, Ninja Theory. The story takes place 150 years after a devastating war in which very few survived. Two heroes - self-contained Munky and pretty Trip - travel through a post-apocalyptic world filled with hostile robots and slave owners.
Odyssey to the West is a truly solid road movie that catches the development of the relationship between the main characters. There is also parkour and easy puzzles, but the story is quite linear, so no open world.
Mad Max (2015)
Listing projects with an authentic post-apocalyptic atmosphere, one cannot but recall Mad Max from Warner Bros. The open-world is a wasteland dominated by bandits, and a man with a broken fate in the lead role, traveling across the vast expanses in his car. The plot starts with the gang of Chlema taking the transport from Max and leaving him to die on the road, but the final credits do not follow after this: you have to get up and return your goods back.
The gameplay of Mad Max respects the canons of Ubisoft - here you have towers, outposts, and the search for resources. And also driving races by car and fighting in the style of Batman. Although there are weapons in the game, you should not count on decent ammunition in the wasteland.
NieR: Automata (2017)
NieR: Automata is a post-apocalyptic slasher game centered on android 2B fighting against robots that long ago banished the remnants of humanity to the moon. In contrast to the chaste-looking Aloy, the heroine controlled by the gamer is dressed and drawn so sexy that she still generates cosplay sets of varying degrees of frankness.
However, it’s still worth taking your eyes off the android: the plot in the project is intricate and deep with a couple of dozen different endings, and the open world, despite its modest content, is atmospheric. The only obstacle: NieR: Automata is a Japanese title with all the features inherent in such projects. If this is not very close to you, you should look for another game.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
The third part of the adventures of the Witcher to some extent can be called the older and more talented sister of Horizon Zero Dawn. The game was released two years earlier, and now it’s hard to imagine a gamer who wouldn’t run around the locations in search of cards for Gwent. However, despite similar elements, such as a beautiful and coherent open world and the spirit of exploration, The Witcher 3 feels much more mature and bold project - it is not so sterile for the mainstream player and, touching on deep topics, does not hesitate to cover them from all sides.
Dialogues from the CD Projekt RED creation have long been snapped up for quotes and memes, and the immortal dispute between fans of Triss and Ian clearly demonstrates the sophistication of both local characters and the power of the narrative.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) (and some Immortals Fenyx Rising (2020)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of the best Nintendo exclusives. The plot, in which you need to save the princess and destroy the evil, is not outstanding, but a bunch of interesting and slightly crazy characters somewhat compensate for this. In general, Breath of the Wild is a real gift for lovers of open worlds: different climatic zones with monsters and weather conditions inherent only to them, riddles, interaction with the environment, sanctuaries of trials, and even determining a place on the map from a photo. The game also features a very sticky cooking mechanic. The project has only one drawback - it is locked on Nintendo consoles.
However, Ubisoft tried to correct this oversight with a “zeldoclone” - Immortals Fenyx Rising. Of course, it is not nearly as good as Link's journey, but the pleasant setting of Ancient Greece, charismatic gods, and various mysteries can give a couple of dozen hours of entertaining adventure.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014)
Another title from Warner Bros. in our top, this time in the universe of the Lord of the Rings - Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. The game handles John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's canon very loosely and is a purely inspired work. The world in "Middle-earth" is open and hostile - the evil orcs strive to tear off the head of the protagonist Talion. But he himself is not so simple: having lost his family and life, he returned back thanks to his new friend to administer revenge and justice.
Combat in the project says hello to Batman, and outposts and camps - to Ubisoft. Innovative at the time of the release of the project was the Nemesis system (by the way, here we wrote about no matter what games such a system interferes with), which to this day attracts the attention of players.
Comments
Post a Comment