Horizon Zero Dawn Main Quest

Lore & Background

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic Western United States in the 31st century. Humans live in scattered, primitive tribes. Their technologically-advanced predecessors are remembered as the 'Old Ones'. Large robotic machines dominate the Earth. A phenomenon known as the 'Derangement' caused machines to become more aggressive toward humans. The surviving humans are divided into distinct cultures, ranging from the mountain-dwelling, matriarchal Nora hunter-gatherers to the Carja, an empire of desert-dwelling city builders. Aloy is cast out from the Nora tribe at birth and raised by a fellow outcast, Rost. She obtains a 'Focus', an augmented reality device. After winning the 'Proving' tournament, masked cultists attack; Rost sacrifices himself to save Aloy. Aloy learns the cultists are a splinter faction called the Eclipse and that she was targeted for her resemblance to an ancient scientist named Elisabet Sobeck. Exploring the ruins of Faro Automated Solutions, Aloy discovers that the past civilisation was destroyed when Faro lost control of its self-replicating, biomass-consuming military machines. Sobeck spearheaded 'Zero Dawn', a project to create an automated terraforming system to deactivate the machines and restore life to Earth. Aloy is contacted by Sylens, who guides her to a decommissioned military base. Aloy learns that Zero Dawn was an underground network of cloning facilities and databases controlled by a single artificial intelligence, GAIA. After the extinction of life, GAIA successfully deactivated the Faro machines and built her own animalistic machines to restore the biosphere.

In Their Own Story

The lightsabers hummed to the beat of an electronic track, slicing through blocks that appeared from the void. There were no machines here, no ancient ruins, and no search for a lost civilization. Only rhythm, color, and the pure satisfaction of a perfect combo echoed in the digital arena.

Reader's Guide

The player controls Aloy, a huntress who ventures through a post-apocalyptic land ruled by machine creatures. Aloy can dodge, sprint, slide, or roll to evade enemies. Armed with a spear for melee combat, Aloy can also shoot enemies with bows and arrows, set traps such as tripwires, harpoon them, or slingshot explosives. Different ammunition types offer specialized utility. Weapons can be modified. The player can hide in foliage to ambush enemies, and distract enemies by throwing rocks or whistling. Aloy wears a Focus that scans machines to identify their location, susceptibilities, level, and loot. Machines are categorized into classes including Acquisition, Combat, Recon, and Transport. The player uses campfires to save progress and travel quickly. Aloy can hack a selection of machines with her spear; some can be turned into makeshift mounts. Scaling Tallnecks reveals locations of interest. Exploring underground ruins unlocks additional machines to hack. The main questline handles mysteries regarding Aloy's origins; side quests flesh out the world's culture. Players can choose from several responses when communicating with NPCs. The player can complete optional activities such as raiding bandit camps, completing hunting challenges, and clearing combat trials. The player can find collectables such as vantages, metal flowers, and old relics. Players collect natural resources and machine parts to craft ammo, traps, and potions. Hunting animals provides materials to craft upgrades. The player can visit merchants to sell scraps and purchase weapons and outfits. Aloy earns experience points (XP) by completing quests and activities; skilful play grants bonus XP. Once enough XP is accumulated, the player earns Skill Points for upgrading Aloy's abilities. Skills are divided into three categories: stealth, combat, and healing/gathering. Through upgrades, Aloy can perform additional feats such as aiming a bow in slow motion or shooting multiple arrows at once. The player receives rarer variants of weapons as they progress.

Did You Know?

• Horizon Zero Dawn was Guerrilla Games' first new intellectual property since Killzone in 2004 and its first open-world and role-playing game.
• The game engine, Decima, was developed for Killzone: Shadow Fall and modified for Zero Dawn.
• Anthropologists and robotics experts were consulted during development.
• Non-fiction books by Jared Diamond, and films Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and Princess Mononoke (1997), influenced the game's setting and narrative.
• The game's cast included Ashly Burch and Lance Reddick; the soundtrack was composed by Joris de Man with contributions from The Flight.