It’s kind of weird that it’s taken me this long to write my first video game review, considering it’s one of the main types of media I consume, other than music.
This is one of those games that I picked up based on last minute hype. I wasn’t interested in it when it was revealed, but after seeing performance analysis’ and early reviews, I decided to jump in - boy am I glad I did. This is the strongest video game that I’ve played since Uncharted 4 in May last year.
I played using a PS4 Pro running in the checkerboard 4K + HDR mode, paired with my Sony 65″ 4K X9300D, and I’ve spent well in excess of 25-30 hours with this game, and I have put in the extra work after the story to obtain the platinum trophy.
The female protagonist, Aloy is very likable. Her one liners are great, her sarcasm is a nice touch, and she’s not sexualised whatsoever by the game developers. Over the course of the game, you really get invested in her, and care about her quest, her feelings, and her life. Lots of video games fail at this point.
The story in general starts out slow, and a bit confusing, and I was pretty disappointed early on, but as I got to the middle point - everything started falling into place and started making lots of sense. By the end, I felt very satisfied with the story. Whilst not the strongest story I’ve ever played, it’s pretty well rounded, and it’s great to see a concept completely fresh.
It’s obvious that Guerrilla Games obviously spend lots of time in pre-production for this title, as it’s very much paid off.
Attention to detail is generally very high in the open world environment, and throughout enemy and character models. Textures are clearly mapped in 4K and have phenomenal detail. The lighting system in use is brilliant (HDR really shines here if you have it), and casts shadows almost flawlessly. One quip I have about the graphics would have to be the water quality. I don’t know how they’ve poured so much detail in the game, but made the water look like plastic. Now, I’m sure this was a design decision in order to have a stable 30fps framerate, but still - it sucks. Also, grass and weeds sway in the wind, but don’t react when you walk through them, so there’s half baked physics going on here. Both of these ‘issues’ are very minor though, and the pros smash the cons out of the ball park.
Another small issue is the fact that conversation scenes are a bit awkward as the lines and their delivery are coded in chunks, not as a whole fluid scene. The camera just cuts to a different angle randomly between lines, and the result is quite jarring. Also, another small issue in this department is that the side quest NPCs don’t have perfect lip sync, like the main story does. Once again, these issues are small in a game that’s overall quite great.
Performance is almost a rock solid 30fps in 4K HDR mode. I only suffered 3 frame dips my whole 30 hours with the game, and even then - they weren’t major and the game engine recovered instantly. An amazing achievement given the resolution and quality of the graphics.
The gameplay is refined all around, and the way they’ve implemented crafting is particularly quick and easy. I honestly can’t even suggest anything they could improve in this element. For a developer that’s never made this type of game before - it’s remarkable. Everything they’ve attempted, has been pulled off perfectly. Like I said earlier, the pre-production of this game was obviously very thorough and long.
Guerrilla Games have more than delivered for Sony, and this new IP is definitely the next ‘Uncharted’ franchise for the company. Whilst it’s not a perfect game - it is great, and it’s a great foundation for a sequel or two.
I run a review fuck around blog, for those who give a fuck. Not a serious thing, just to kill some time but I’d appreciate some follows, if that’s not too big of an ask! :)
