Horizon Complete Edition PC Review – An Excellent Port of a Flawed Game

My first few minutes of Horizon Zero Dawn on PC was not promising. After I launched the game, it informed me it was scanning my hardware to figure out optimal settings. I was not given an option to opt out of this, or stop it from happening. The process took 30 minutes, and then launched me straight into the opening cutscene (which is unskippable), without telling me what it had determined were optimal settings or allowing me to change them. After that, however, I managed to retool my settings and launch into the main game, and I was quickly reminded of what had drawn me to Horizon in the first place. This exchange – something I didn't like and I couldn't avoid, followed by moments of great enjoyment – would go on to define my time with the game.

"Horizon is a post-apocalyptic game where robotic animals, including horses (Striders), sabertooth tigers (Sawtooths), and T-rexes (Thunderjas), roam the world. The story follows Aloy, a young girl who is outcast from the Nora tribe at birth."

If you're not familiar, Horizon is a post-apocalyptic game where robotic animals, including horses (Striders), sabertooth tigers (Sawtooths), and T-rexes (Thunderjas), roam the world. The story follows Aloy, a young girl who is outcast from the Nora tribe at birth because she is "motherless." As she grows up, she learns to hunt with spear and bow from Rost, another outcast entrusted with raising her. One day, she stumbles into the ruins of the Old Ones, the technologically advanced humans that came before, which are forbidden by the Nora religion. There, she finds a Focus, a piece of wearable tech that allows her to interact with old technology, scan areas, and outline the tracks of the machines.

Determined to get answers about who she is and why she was cast out, she convinces Rost to train her for the Proving, a Nora ceremony where young members of the tribe are officially recognized as braves. She would become a member of the tribe simply by finishing, but the winner is granted a boon – largely anything they want – from the Matriarchs. Aloy's plan is simple: win the Proving and force them to tell her who she is. Things escalate from there, of course, and soon Aloy finds herself traveling far beyond the Nora's Sacred Land in search of answers to much bigger questions that I won't spoil.

This is where Horizon begins to falter. If you've played any open world RPGs in the last decade plus, you'll have a good idea of how Horizon works. You'll harvest plants and pluck wood from saplings for healing supplies and crafting materials, kill rabbits, foxes, and boars for their more crafting materials, and hunt the giant robotic beasties prowling the land for even more parts, which can be used to upgrade and modify your bow, tripcaster (a device that allows you to place tripwires on the ground), and other weapons. As you travel, you'll run into strangers who you've never seen before and will never interact with again once you're done with them. They have troubles, you see, troubles that they are incapable of solving themselves and are happy to dump onto you, a strong passing adventurer. After you mine them for information using Horizon's rendition of Mass Effect's dialogue wheel, Aloy, who is remarkably social and open for a woman who spent her entire life until this point being shunned by all but two people, has the option to help them out, though she won't commit, you know. Player agency and all that.

"Like many of the elements Horizon borrows from other titles, the skill tree feels like it's here because the expectation is that it will be, not because it makes the game better."

The side missions that follow are predictably rote. They usually take one of three forms: using Aloy's Focus (which gives her Horizon's version of Detective Vision) to track somebody down, slaughtering bandits or machines (or both), or getting something for somebody. In one, I track down a mentally ill man and reunite him with his sister before the voices in his head make him hurt someone. In another, I track down a man's priceless family sword before helping the thieves who stole it recover a missing man in exchange for its safe return. One merchant wants me to find vessels used by the old ones. He's convinced they were used for elaborate beard-shaving ceremonies, but they were really just coffee mugs. It's funny sure, but the quest is still a collecathon. Another sees me retrieving a family spear and a missing daughter for a grieving widower, or joining my buddy Nil, an unusually honest ex-soldier who kills bandits because he loves violence, for a raid on several bandit camps. I enjoyed some of these quests greatly, mostly because of the characters involved – Nil's refreshingly honest hunger for violence made me stop every time I saw him – but it doesn't change how banal they were.

Story missions are better and better presented, but they're equally predictable, requiring many of the same things as the side quests – track this person, search this area, kill some bandits or small machines – before throwing you into a combat arena filled with a big machine, several human enemies, several big machines, or both. Killing machines in these environments generally involves setting a trap or two, then flinging arrows at them as Aloy rolls around like a madwoman to avoid being hit. Against humans, you'll generally want to crouch in the tall grass, Assassin's Creed style, before whistling at enemies, Assassin's Creed style, so they'll come over and you can kill them, Assassin's Creed style, before moving on to their friends. Their friends, of course, are idiots who do absolutely nothing about the pile of bodies gathering around your bush save remark on it as they march into your waiting spear. Again, this is not to say that there's no fun to be had here, because there is, but it's disappointing how much of it is so repetitive.

The game has a leveling system and a skill tree, of course, which is fine, but it locks a number of basic skills – like the ability to whistle from a bush, or kill silently – behind it. You unlock these early on, but that, combined with Horizon's leveling system, which assigns a recommended level to each quest, can sometimes mean grinding out sidequests you don't want to do to get the abilities and stats you need to continue the plot. Horizon isn't too bad about level-gating; I managed to clear the opening areas of side quests, which gave me a lot of experience and made the others optional, but holding me back from playing the story and hiding basic abilities behind a skill tree doesn't make sense, and is particularly irritating. Like many of the elements Horizon borrows from other titles, the skill tree feels like it's here because the expectation is that it will be, not because it makes the game better.

horizon zero dawn

"Horizon is at its best in the in-between moments when you're traveling the world. When you're stalking a  Sawtooth, setting traps along its path with your tripcaster, using your ropecaster to tie down a machine so you can override it with your spear, climbing some tall peak just because, riding your overridden horse machine through the vast emptiness."

If it isn't obvious yet, Horizon's core issue is that it has an identity crisis. It has all of these mechanics it has borrowed from other games but doesn't do anything interesting with them. It's a game that tells you to determine how Aloy responds in Mass Effect-esque dialogue – your options are conflict, compassionate, and clever – while rarely offering you the ability to do so and using its dialogue wheel to throw exposition at you. It offers you side missions galore, but builds them around uninteresting mechanics – Detective Vision, bush stealth, fetch quests, etc – and repeats them ad nauseum.

Horizon is at its best in the in-between moments when you're traveling the world. When you're stalking a  Sawtooth, setting traps along its path with your tripcaster, using your ropecaster to tie down a machine so you can override it with your spear, climbing some tall peak just because, riding your overridden horse machine through the vast emptiness, looking for the next thing. In areas where you can prepare, set traps, and engage on your own terms, Horizon is great. Weapons fell wonderful, enemy feedback is fantastic, machines have unique tactics and are fun to fight, and you can do crazy things, like shoot guns off of machines and use them against them. In these moments, Horizon soars. The game also impresses when it takes an old idea and does something new with it. Tallnecks, for instance, are Horizon's answer to the Ubisoft tower. By climbing it, Aloy can override it and fill in her map. The distinction is that Tallnecks move, forcing you to reach high places to jump onto their backs, and climb up from there. The additional challenge here, combined with the creatures roaming around near them and the limited number of times they appear in the game, make Tallnecks something the Ubisoft towers never managed to be: fun.

One of Horizon's best features are Cauldrons, hidden labyrinths of wires and old tech. Conquering them means sneaking past the machines inside, and learning how these robots were created. They end in a boss fight against a particularly nasty machine and reward you with the ability to override new machines so you can either ride them or have them fight for you. They're great areas that combine the game's intriguing backstory with interesting environments and good combat encounters, and I found myself exploring more of Horizon's world just to run into them.

horizon zero dawn the frozen wilds 4k

"Horizon was a gorgeous game in 2017 and it's gorgeous today. It comes with all of the graphics options you'd expect on PC, including a much-appreciated FOV adjustment. The initial optimization informed me that I should be running the game on medium settings, but I managed to run it on Ultra in all but the most intense encounters at mostly stable framerates."

The world itself is gorgeous, of course. Sweeping plains rise into high mountains and ruins of the old world jut from between the trees that have reclaimed them. Massive cities tower atop mountains while the most dangerous creatures stalk the savannah. Horizon was a gorgeous game in 2017 and it's gorgeous today. It comes with all of the graphics options you'd expect on PC, including a much-appreciated FOV adjustment. The initial optimization informed me that I should be running the game on medium settings, but I managed to run it on Ultra in all but the most intense encounters at mostly stable framerates. There were dips, even when I turned the settings down to High, but nothing ever swung below the high 40s.

Even here, however, Horizon isn't perfect. There's a distinct difference in the quality of the models, animations, and voice acting between the major characters and the minor ones – seriously, seeing a minor character smile is the stuff of nightmares – and the lip-synching alternates between quite good and awful.

The game also has storytelling issues: Aloy only really ever acquires a personality beyond cracking wise or being kind except during a few key points and he character motivation consists of "find the truth." Beyond that, I could never tell you what she wanted or cared about. Even major, traumatic instances in her like just fade into the background as the plot carries her forward.

"When it's allowed to be itself, Horizon is something special. But for each moment Horizon is excellent, so much of it is derivative and unengaging."

She also has the incredibly annoying habit of narrating absolutely everything she does. It makes sense, most of the time. She was an outcast; she talked to herself because she was lonely. When she's planning, tracking someone, examining a area, or trying just making the odd comment, I don't mind. But when she says something like "the fire – it's burning it!" when I shot a fire arrow at a machine, or commented on how the plants I've been eating to heal since the first couple hours could "come in handy," – and let me tell you, this kind of stuff happens a lot – it made me yearn from the days of silent protagonists. She's engaging enough, sure, and I liked her, but I wish she was more fleshed out.

The same issue applies to the other major characters. Horizon has the open-world game problem: these characters only exist in the plot so far as their story overlaps with Aloy's. They rarely have character arcs or get to do anything beyond deliver exposition and give Aloy things to do. There are exceptions, yes – I particularly liked Erend and Avad, for instance – but once their part in the story is done, you never see them again. In that same vein, villains are brought up and expended as needed. You're told they're powerful and causing all this trouble, and then you foil their plots, meet them once, and beat them. Then they're gone. The result is that few characters outside of Aloy seem to matter, storylines end anticlimactically, and it's often hard to be emotionally invested in much of the main plot or characters because you know you'll never see them again once their purpose has been served and the narrative moves onto the next thing.

If I come off as overly harsh here, I don't mean to. I like Horizon and I'm going to play more of it. When it's allowed to be itself and the focus is on combating giant machines with fun weapons, Horizon is something special. Sliding under a Watcher as it jumps at you before shooting out its eye, hitting the perfect dodge against a leaping Sawtooth, turning a Thunderjaw's heavy weapons against it – those moments feel great. But for each moment Horizon is excellent, so much of it is derivative and unengaging. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game. But it isn't a great one. At its best, accompanying Aloy on her journey is wonderful. Like a Cauldron, it pumps out the same thing you've seen over and over again. But when Horizon is confident, when, like Aloy, it casts off the burden of expectation and is nothing other than itself, it's something wonderful.

This game was reviewed on the PC.


The Big Question: Do Timed Exclusives Matter For PS5 And Xbox Series X?

Do timed exclusives matter? It's an interesting question as we see more and more games with this style of launch. Coming out on one platform for a while, or everything but one platform, only to eventually release on everything later on after the dust has settled. One could debate on whether or not this is a smart thing to do endlessly, as there are compelling reasons to release as a timed exclusive just as there are good reasons not to.

Depending on the climate of certain audiences and the nature of deals made behind the scenes, either strategy could work out well or be completely disastrous and lead to worse problems for the developer than they would've had if they'd gone in a different direction. Today, we'll take a closer look at this emerging dynamic in game releases as it seems to grow in popularity, but through the lens of the imminent next round of consoles from Microsoft and Sony. Will they have the impact they're intended to have? Will they matter at all?

deathloop

"Deathloop is reportedly a PS5 timed-exclusive."

In short, a timed exclusive is when a game is exclusive but only for a predetermined amount of time. In that way, and in light of the fact that everything, whether through proper means or not, will eventually be playable on something, you could say that every exclusive is technically a timed one. For the sake of conversation though, we'll just focus on what is intended to be exclusive. Games like Uncharted on PlayStation, or Mario on Nintendo certainly pull their weight with moving hardware and getting gamers invested in their ecosystems. If not for them, there wouldn't be nearly as much of a compelling reason to get one system over the other, or to buy another once one is already owned.

This seemingly makes Microsoft's decision to release basically their entire library on PC going forward, appear as a potentially disastrous one. Seeing that Sony's PS4 rode the waves of it's steady stream of exclusive first-party games all the way to 100 million+ units sold- a number that dwarfs the Xbox One by 2:1 if not more. With that being the case, wouldn't it make sense for Microsoft to hoard as many IPs as possible to their Xbox Series X console, thus giving them rebuttals for Sony's inevitable onslaught of future masterclass games from their army of studios?

Yes it would. Every time Sony brings up Uncharted, Microsoft could answer with Halo. When Sony advertises the next Horizon game, Microsoft could push out a trailer for Fable. While Sony's grip on the market does seem quite firm at the moment, things have, can, and will change over time. There would be nothing wrong with Microsoft attempting to fight Sony on their own turf and chip away at their lead in regard to exclusives. After all, the PlayStation 3 ultimately did that exact thing while competing with the Xbox 360.

ghostwire tokyo

"There are apparenty no plans to launch GhostWire: Tokyo on Xbox Series X, for now."

As many of us remember, the launch of the PS3 was stymied by many things. Price point, a not-so-great controller, and arriving about a year after the 360 were all things that didn't help, but perhaps the biggest roadblock to Sony moving it's PS3s early on was its lack of exclusive titles. This problem was compounded by the fact that many third-party games ran better on Microsoft's less powerful and less expensive console, but that wouldn't have been as big of an issue if Sony came out of the gate with more exclusives ready to go on day one.

PS3 games like Killzone 2 and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune didn't come out until well after the launch of the system and this culminated into a real problem for the PS3 that would linger well into the next few years until developers would get the assistance they needed to get their games up and running on the hardware and releasing within reasonable amounts of time. Some games wouldn't even get that, and would have to give up on the PS3 entirely and move over to the PS4 like The Last Guardian or to the Vita like Gravity Rush.

This void in meaningful exclusives didn't feel satisfactorily dealt with until the later years of the generation where the console would eventually catch up with the 360. Timed-exclusives could have temporarily filled that gap for Sony early on, but that was an approach they largely passed up for whatever reason.

The Medium

"Medium will hit the Xbox Series X first with possible release on other console platforms later."

However, now that Sony's first party studios have been firing on all cylinders for the past several years and delivered a treasure trove of outstanding games only playable on their respective console, the tables have turned, and now Microsoft finds themselves in a position where the case for their system has spent years being a tougher one to make due to their lack of exclusives compared to Sony's PS4.

However, 2020 is a very different time than 2013 was. Streaming games, while still imperfect, is far more standardized. Cross-play on multiplayer games that allow players on completely different platforms to play together is quite popular. With this, the idea of exclusivity is becoming more and more of a fluid one. Even Sony is experimenting with putting once-exclusive games on PC.

The beauty of timed exclusives can mean that you don't actually have to be responsible for a game to make it one of your crown jewels for a while. Microsoft keeping a game for itself for its first year was an interesting move, as it gave them a short-term solution to the lack of exclusives problem without the headache of actually financing and publishing a game themselves. While this likely made sense on paper for Microsoft, it also understandably irritated fans of the series who gamed on PlayStation, and would now have to wait a year to play the new one on their console or buy an Xbox One for one game.

This was not good for the publisher, who likely made the deal for timed-exclusivity with Microsoft well before that generation started, and well before they would find out that the Xbox One would be a far less viable platform for their game than the PS4 would have been. All-in-all, while Microsoft likely enjoyed the benefits of that exclusivity deal while it lasted, the publisher probably would have been better off had they launched the game across as many platforms as possible like normal.This may also be the case with Shenmue 3, which, despite being slated for a release on steam at launch, was not. Deep Silver made what seemed like a last-minute timed-exclusivity deal with EPIC Games, which angered tons of fans who had pre-ordered it on other platforms, like Steam, where, as of the writing of this piece, Shenmue 3 is still not yet available despite having launched on PS4.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake (23)

"Final Fantasy 7 Remake's deal satisfied all parties involved and continues to do well on Sony's platform, where it will stay until 2021."

While Steam is so wildly successful that they probably couldn't care less about what Deep Silver does with Shenmue 3, Deep Silver themselves definitely took a reputation hit while Epic rode the wave of their game all the way to the bank and acquired some more users for their platform on the way.

Does this mean that the benefits and drawbacks of timed-exclusivity generally add up to a wash, and ultimately, render the tactic as one that doesn't really matter? Not so fast. As we now know, The Final Fantasy VII Remake is also doing this exact same thing, but this time, it's a timed-exclusive for the PlayStation 4.

While there was a little bit of griping about it here and there, for the most part, the game was praised for what it got right and had a fairly successful launch. It made all parties involved satisfied and continues to do well on Sony's platform, where it will stay until 2021. But what's different? Why did this deal work out so well for everyone while the other high-profile timed-exclusives felt more like one-sided arrangements?

Well, for starters, Final Fantasy is a franchise that fans associate with PlayStation and have done so for 20 years. It's true that many games have launched on different things, but if you are a fan of the series today, odds are, you own a PlayStation. Not getting a Final Fantasy game on Xbox or Steam feels, to most, like not getting LittleBigPlanet on Switch; Not a huge surprise. It would be cool but nobody is really expecting that. Also, Square Enix and Sony were very upfront about it's timed exclusivity early on and didn't spring it on people after millions were spent on pre-orders for other platforms. This is why Final Fantasy VII's timed-exclusivity felt natural, and not weird like, say, if Sony had made a deal with 343 Studios and made the next Halo game a timed-exclusive for PS5.

So the truth is, that while timed-exclusives might not pan out in some instances, in others, they will. It just depends. Certain franchises and platforms might not mix, and even if they do, the way it's exclusivity is revealed also matters, perhaps more than the exclusivity itself. If a series that has been associated with a certain platform suddenly moves away from it, and fails to divulge it's exclusivity until after millions of dollars have been made on it's newest entry, that's a recipe for regret.

If it's handled with care and openness, it can work out quite well for the developers, publishers, the platform itself, and gamers alike. Timed-exclusivity can also be a nice stop-gap for a platform that might need more time to get it's own exclusives out the door. How well those deals work out, and how much they matter, like most things, comes down to execution. So, will timed exclusives matter and be relevant going forward? I'd say so. The question is, how will these gambles turn out for their respective platforms.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.


DiRT 5 – New Ice Breaker Event Unveiled in Gameplay Video

dirt 5

Codemasters continues to unveil new gameplay for DiRT 5. The latest video offers a look at the Ice Breaker event, which is all about racing on smaller tracks and navigating the treacherous ice. Cornering, drifting and throttling need to be handled differently to succeed. Check it out below.

The Ice Breaker events will feature up to 12 cars at once, all jockeying for position. The event will be set in locations like Nepal and New York (namely on Roosevelt Island's East River which has frozen over). Thus far, it looks to be a nice change of pace from Stampede and Path Finder events.

DiRT 5 is out on October 9th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The Career Mode has seen some major changes over the previous game with a stronger narrative focus, branching paths and over 130 events to play through. Expect even more to be showcased before launch.

DiRT 5 will also be releasing for PS5 and Xbox Series X with a Google Stadia release planned for early 2021. Along with 4K resolution support, both next-gen versions will have support for 120 frames per second gameplay.


DOOM Eternal, The Elder Scrolls Online Confirmed for PS5, Xbox Series X

DOOM Eternal_The Elder Scrolls Online_PS5_Xbox Series X

The list of current-gen titles coming to next-gen consoles continues with Bethesda announcing DOOM Eternal and The Elder Scrolls Online for PS5 and Xbox Series X. PS4 and Xbox One owners can also avail of free next-gen upgrades whenever they become available. More details, including release windows and expected visual improvements, can be expected in the next few weeks.

This strategy makes sense for both games. DOOM Eternal will be receiving two story expansions in the future while The Elder Scrolls Online continues to receive extensive updates and paid expansions. It only makes sense to ensure that fans of both can continue enjoying them.

Interestingly, while Bethesda didn't comment on its other games, it supports current-gen owners receiving free upgrades for PS5 and Xbox Series X. One has to wonder what other existing Bethesda titles could make the jump. Either way, there's no new details on Starfield or The Elder Scrolls 6, for those who are wondering. Stay tuned in the meantime.


Serious Sam 4 Delayed to September 24th

Serious Sam 4

Just when you thought the delays had passed, Croteam's Serious Sam 4 has been pushed back. Originally meant to release this month, the action-packed shooter is now coming to PC and Google Stadia on September 24th. At least the developer promised this was the release date "for real this time."

Serious Sam 4 serves as a prequel to the previous games and sees Earth crumbling under the might of Mental. Thankfully, Sam "Serious" Stone and his friends are back to wreak some mayhem of their own. The gameplay maintains the series' style of circle-strafing and kiting as players take on hundreds of foes at once.

Along with the return of classic weapons like the chainsaw launcher and cannon, co-op is also back with support for up to four players. Along with campaign missions, one can tackle side quests and tougher difficulties with friends. Serious Sam 4 will also be coming to PS4 and Xbox One in 2021 – stay tuned for more details on its PC and Stadia release in the coming weeks.


Cyberpunk 2077 – Night City Wire Episode 2 Set for August 10th

Cyberpunk 2077_01

With Cyberpunk 2077 just a few months away, CD Projekt RED has announced the broadcast date for Night City Wire episode 2. It will stream live on August 10th at 9 AM PT on Twitch. Fans can look forward to more information about the various Life Paths along with a showcase of different weapon types.

The band Refused will also be featured as the developer outlines their transformation into the in-game chrome rock band SAMURAI. You can listen to Refused's track for Cyberpunk 2077 here. It should be interesting to see how long the episode will run, especially since it may not be accompanied by several gameplay previews from other publications like the last episode.

Cyberpunk 2077 is currently set to release on November 19th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC with Stadia receiving the title in Q4 2020. It will support Xbox Series X and PS5 from day one but full-fledged next-gen versions are expected to release in 2021. Stay tuned for more details in the coming days.


Animal Crossing: New Horizons Was Most Talked About Game On Twitter In First Half Of 2020

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Due to COVID-19, 2020 has been far from a normal year. Even now, depending on your region, you're still possibly stuck at home in quarantine, and even if not, most likely you're doing your best to stay indoors when possible. Because of that, many have taken refugee in their various hobbies, with video games being a big one. One game that hit in some of the worst parts of the pandemic was Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and it seems the game was designed to spread like wildfire.

According to Twitter, discussion on that platform for gaming increased drastically, with 2020 already seeing a billion posts about games. For comparison, for the total of 2019 there were 1.2 billion posts, which they estimate to be a 71% year-over-year increase in volume, and 46% YoY increase in unique authors. At the top of that list for the first six months was Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It's quite impressive when you consider that the game didn't come out until the end of March, meaning that half of that time was pre-release.

It's probably not too big of a shock since Nintendo recently announced that the game had crossed the 22 million sold unit mark, making it one of the biggest games of the year by a far margin. The only game I could imagine surpassing it in sheer Twitter volume would be The Last of Us Part 2, but it didn't release until June.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now for the Nintendo Switch with updates for cooking and farming possibly coming soon.


Horizon Zero Dawn Developer Posts Statement About Known Issues To Upcoming PC Release

horizon zero dawn

Tomorrow will see the much anticipated PC release of Horizon Zero Dawn. It's quite the occasion, because the game itself is highly acclaimed, and is also a formerly Sony first party exclusive, making it quite the rarity. It's available for preload on Steam now, but the developer seems to want to get ahead of some issues that will be probably be popping up.

Via the game's official Steam page, Guerrilla Games issues a statement on the port. In it they say you should be updated to the latest NVIDIA and AMD drivers, and also detail some of the known issues that you will encounter. First off, Anisotropic Filtering settings are not working during this launch period. Some animations are designed to only refresh at 30 FPS even if you have it set to higher FPS. And finally, they warn of some stutter with things like world traversal, UI and quest updates, and other various systems. You can read the full post through here. The developer says they are investigating how to address all of these issues. There will also be an one-time initial shader compilation that will take 10-15 minutes before the game begins.

Horizon Zero Dawn launches August 7th on the PC, and you can check out the PC requirements through here. The game is, of course, also available on PlayStation 4.


Horizon Zero Dawn Preload Is Live Now On Steam

horizon zero dawn

At the end of this week, PC players will get a treat that PS4 users have had for quite some time in Horizon Zero Dawn. The open world action RPG saw a unique blend of robot dinosaur-like creatures against a seemingly pre-historic setting (though, those who have played it know there's more there than meets the eye). Now those PC players can get a jump on downloading the game, at least on Steam.

The pre-load for the game is now live for the Steam version of the game for select regions. We got the PC requirements not long ago, which you can see through here, and while it suggested having a 100GB of storage, it seems the preload is live now and the required space is listed as 67.1GB. That put it almost a full 20GB above the PS4 version which clocked in right over 48GB.

Horizon Zero Dawn will release on PC August 7th and is the Complete Edition that packages the full original release and the DLC expansion. A sequel to the game, Horizon Forbidden West, has been announced for the PS5, though no date has been revealed yet.


Final Fantasy 7 Remake Butterfingers Promotional DLC Items Now Available For Free

final fantasy 7 remake

Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a dream game for many, and the first part of what is to be a multipart retelling released earlier this year. The game seems to have been a major success for Square Enix, to no one's surprise. And you could tell it was big since the game had a promotion with candy bars to get items in-game by buying Butterfingers and other related candy. But maybe you skipped that because you're not a Butterfingers fan, or maybe you just didn't want to rot your teeth for some items. Well, now is your chance, as they are all now free.

The items showed up on the game's PSN page, which you can see here. They include Corneo's Bracelet, Mako Crystal, Midgar Bangle, Shinra Bangle and the Superstar Belt. If you've played through the game you'll notice that these have some familiar looks to other items, but none of these were available without buying candy before, so try them out. A Tifa dynamic theme could also be gained, but that was made free quite some time ago.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now on PlayStation 4.