This Halloween, Guerrilla Games and PS5 to PC port specialists Nixxes have bestowed upon us all a rather interesting treat in the form of Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered – an enhanced re-release of the critically acclaimed 2017 title Horizon Zero Dawn and its The Frozen Wilds expansion, neatly rolled together into one complete (and very beautiful) bundle. It’s important to note here that this is not a complete remake, as the title suggests, but the visual improvements present do stretch the classically accepted boundaries of what one might define as a “remaster” – while still maintaining everything about the original that made it a stand-out title.



I’m not going to go too in-depth here in terms of story details and background information, but if you’ve never delved into the Horizon franchise before, here’s a brief plot overview. In the far distant future, humanity has taken a tribal approach to their society – constantly at odds with the machine-beasts roaming the lands outside their settlements, growing more ferocious with every passing year.



Aloy (the main character), a motherless outcast of the Nora tribe since her birth, sets out on a mission to discover the nature of her origins – utilising a strange and highly advanced piece of technology known as a Focus, found within a ruin of the Old Ones, members of a long-lost (but technologically superior) prior civilisation. After rejoining the Nora via a ritual known as the Proving, and trading in her outcast title for the vastly more prestigious Seeker role, a massive revelation by the tribe’s Matriarchs set a series of events in motion – prompting Aloy to head out into the great unknown in search of more answers.

Nixxes have done a fantastic job here with the updated visuals - including major texture and terrain improvements.

With that incredibly foreboding and simplified introductory synopsis over and done with, we can now focus on what makes this remaster worth a second glance. Nixxes have done a fantastic job here with the updated visuals - including major texture and terrain improvements (like better looking water and snow), what could only be described as a near all-encompassing vegetation/foliage quality and density overhaul, as well as lighting changes that balance vibrancy with more natural and believable behaviour. The world of Horizon, on the whole, feels much more alive, bringing Zero Dawn closer to its 2022 sequel, Forbidden West, in terms of fidelity.



Character models have also received a noticeable boost in quality, especially in the finer details on skin, hair, and clothing materials. Aloy’s conversations with NPCs and other side characters outside of major cutscenes now feel more emotive, smooth, and organic as well – thanks to a substantial injection of motion capture data (allegedly around 10 or so more hours, to be specific).

On the performance front, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered does exceptionally well. Booting up the game and getting to the main menu takes mere seconds (actually loading a save took around 14 or 15), and you’ve got three display modes to choose from, catering to all tastes. The title’s rich and diverse natural environments (and those of the more metallic, technology-filled persuasion) all look absolutely gorgeous, even when sticking with the “Favour Performance” option (targeting 60fps at around 1800p), so opting for the “Favour Resolution” setting (aiming for 30fps at a native 4k display) at the cost of a dip in framerate is entirely up to your personal preference.



For those who want something in between, however, a “Balanced” option can be selected, apparently clocking in at 40fps. All three options perform consistently well, without any serious hitches, slowdown, or excessive frame rate issues. As far as accessibility options go, while not the most extensive that I’ve ever seen, the included offerings do a good job of covering all important bases - like subtitle size and background opacity adjustments, togglable guiding waypoints, and tweaking how much slowdown occurs when opening the weapon wheel.

Character models have also received a noticeable boost in quality, especially in the finer details on skin, hair, and clothing materials.

Throughout my playtime, I did spot a few rare minor visual bugs, though, like characters’ hair clipping through their necks, some object pop-in during the opening moments of one or two cutscenes, and subtitles not showing up for some lines of dialogue every now and then – but these don’t happen often and won’t have any seriously negative impact on player enjoyment. Mercifully, the DualSense’s haptics and adaptive triggers are also used in very subtle, yet effective ways, ensuring its presence is a welcome optional extra, and not seen as a cheap party trick that shows up far too often or becomes a massive distraction.



Reaching well beyond the minimum expected criteria of a “remaster”, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered is an excellent update to Aloy’s first adventure. Enhanced for PS5 Pro from launch, owners of the original PS4 release, regardless of whether it’s a physical or digital copy, can upgrade to the remastered version for the reasonable cost of $10 (vs. R949 without the upgrade on the PlayStation Store) – a price I’m confident is more than justified, considering the magnitude of updates and attention to detail seen here, both large and on a smaller scale.

It might not be an “essential” upgrade to many, but the amount of work Nixxes put into this release is undeniable and, if you already began a playthrough on PS4, you’re even able to import your save data over to the remaster, which is a neat touch.

*PS5 Review code provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment