The initial announcement trailer for theHorizon Zero Dawn Remasterpretty much squashed any fears that it would be yet another pointless Sony remaster, as it showcased just how much it was changing the original experience. Well, apparently Sony wasn’t done showing off, as it released an enormous blog post revealing just how much the base game has changed, and how much effort both Guerrilla and the remaster developers Nixxes have put into this gigantic remaster.
While players wait patiently for thenext mainlineHorizongame, theHorizon Zero Dawn Remasteris here to give them another excuse to revisit the epic and impressive open-world experience.According toPlayStation Blog, it’s packed full of significant improvements over the original, from visual overhauls to entire sections of the game being rerecorded, and that blog post breaks it all down. It’s worth a read if only to hear all the fascinating insights the individual developers have to say, but for those who don’t have the time, there are a handful of important changes that are worth looking into.
Horizon Zero Dawn’s Remaster Significantly Improves The Visuals
From Character Models To The Natural Environment
It makes sense that a remaster would involve better graphics, but that seems almost impossible to do withHorizon Zero Dawn, considering theoriginal game’s visuals still hold uptoday. Well, the technical wizards over at Nixxes have worked closely with Guerrilla and their assets fromHorizon Forbidden Westto completely transformHZDinto a truly next-gen title. Of course, fans can expect the usual boost in overall fidelity, butso much work went into the many facets ofHorizon Zero Dawn’soverall appearance.
For example, the foliage has been made significantly denser in order to better match the original concept art for the game, with “hundreds of plants, bushes, flowers, and trees” being upgraded, according to Senior Environment Artist, Patrick Blankenzee. Additionally,the world ofHorizon Zero Dawnhas been made to feel more alive, with the team at Nixxes reviewing “all villages, outposts, and cities, [and] identifying areas that felt empty or where we could improve realism and immersion,” according to Brian van Nunen, the Senior Technical Game Designer on theHZDremaster.
So,the number of non-player characters in all areas of the game world has been drastically increased, with even more places dedicated for NPCs to perform new animations. These areas have also seen a significant facelift, with the overall terrain quality brought more in-line withHorizon Forbidden West’sgorgeous world. Nixxes replaced “all the Horizon Zero Dawn terrain materials with their new Horizon Forbidden West counterparts,” before tweaking each individual terrain asset to match the original game’s aesthetic.
It’s clearly been a huge undertaking, but all of these graphical enhancements have managed to make the already beautifulHorizon Zero Dawnlook infinitely better.
Additionally, deformable snow and sand have been added, allowing players to run through the snow and leave a trail of destruction in their wake. Snow deformation was added in theFrozen Wildsexpansion, but this will be the first time the original game features it. Finally,all the character models have been greatly enhanced, with their skin tones, hair quality, and outfits being switched to theirHorizon Forbidden Westmodels. It’s clearly been a huge undertaking, but all of these graphical enhancements have managed to make the already beautifulHorizon Zero Dawnlook infinitely better.
Over 10 Hours Of Motion Capture Has Been Added
Dialogue Has Been Made Livelier
However, while the changes to the game’s overall visuals are significant enough to warrant the remaster in the first place, perhaps thebiggest change in theHorizon Zero Dawn Remasteris all the new motion-captured scenes for dialogue. Characters are now far more lively when talking to one another, with exchanges being a lot more dynamic than the previous shot-reverse-shot nature ofHZD’sdialogue sequences.Over 10 hours of new motion-capture data was shot by Guerrilla before being painstakingly inserted into the remasterby Nixxes.
Horizon Online Already Sounds Like Another Disaster For PlayStation
Horizon Online is reportedly the next title from Guerrilla Games and, if the rumors are true, it’s already got everything going against it.
Horizon Zero Dawn’sdialogue scenes should now feel more like those found inHorizon Forbidden West, making it a far more next-gen experience overall. Considering one of the biggest gripes with the originalHorizon Zero Dawnwas its static dialogue scenes, this is a huge improvement and a worthwhile use of the remaster. It goes to show just how much effort is being poured into theHorizon Zero Dawn Remaster, and how it could easily go on to be considered the gold standard for all future Sony remasters.
