Gamers have been eagerly awaiting Horizon: Zero Dawn since a brief teaser trailer was first revealed at the E3 conference in 2015.
The brief clip showed a red-haired heroine overlooking a lush mountain valley before transitioning to a herd of stampeding mechanised dinosaurs.
It's fair to say the audience was captivated.
The excitement has only grown since then. Our heroine, Aloy, lives in a tribalistic future where machines and magic co-exist in a beautifully rendered 3D world. Horizon was developed by Guerrilla Games and published exclusively for the PlayStation 4.
And I'm willing to bet there are a few fingers crossed in Sony boardrooms it spawns a franchise of Uncharted proportions.
Graphically, Horizon: Zero Dawn is a delight. From pastel-coloured skies overlooking autumnal leaves and shimmering water right down to the character details on Aloy herself. It's clear right from the opening cutscene this game is intent on pushing the PlayStation 4 hardware as far as it can.
For PlayStation Pro users, there's a small patch that adds a Performance Mode which pushes the fidelity past 1080p.
In fact, if there's a graphical drawback it can sometimes be that things are a bit too detailed. The extensive heads-up display (from the amount of noise you're making to your inventory and health bar) can make things feel cluttered, while smaller items can be tricky to spot. Thankfully, there is an option to customise the HUD or disable it as needed.
That same level of detail has been applied to the gameplay mechanics themselves. You control Aloy from a third-person viewpoint and there are the standard combat set-pieces mixed with moments of stealth.
Horizon mixes action with light RPG elements, meaning you can collect items from your surroundings and upgrade weapons, potions and abilities to make yourself more powerful. Anyone familiar with the Far Cry series will be at home here.
The crafting and upgrade system nicely counterbalances the running and combat of the main game. And I'm going to take a moment here to mention the enemies you'll come across during your quest. The stomping, cranking mechanised beasties are clearly one of the highlights of Horizon: Zero Dawn. Each has abilities and weaknesses that you need to learn in order to take them down. The game gives you different ways to dispose of them: shimmy up a tree and rely on arrows or get up close and personal with a spear and melee attack.
The open-world nature of Horizon allows for you to either plough ahead with the main story or spend your time exploring the meticulously-crafted world. Side quests pop up at various places, allowing you to venture further into character development. They're extremely varied and have you following tracks to find missing tribespeople or exploring long-forgotten ancient ruins.
I won't spoil Horizon's story for you, but the RPG elements extend to the narrative as well. Several moments in the game will require you to make a choice about how to react. These decisions reflect the way Aloy grows as a character.
Voiced by Emmy-winning actress Ashly Burch, the appeal of Aloy as a protagonist is already carrying Horizon in the same direction as Uncharted or Tomb Raider. Just take a look at the number of cosplayers adopting her outfit before the game has even been released.
The bottom line is that Horizon: Zero Dawn doesn't really do anything new, but it blends well-worn archetypes into an extremely enjoyable adventure. At times I felt I was playing a post-apocalyptic version of The Legend of Zelda with the heroine Merida from Pixar's Brave as the lead.
If you're searching for your next gaming adventure, then I wholeheartedly recommend you seek out a copy of Horizon: Zero Dawn.
Price: £45
Platform: PS4
