Horizon Zero Dawnis known as one of Sony’s most successful IP of the past decade, enjoying a surprising amount of popularity in an era dominated by sequels, remakes, and remasters. But whileHorizon Zero Dawnand its eventual sequelForbidden Westbuck certain aspects of modern AAA gaming, they follow many more, including one trend that could be added to its repertoire.
Recentrumors allege thatHorizon Zero Dawnwill receive a remasterat some point, which would reasonably surprise many players. Stories of such a remaster first began circulating back in 2022, when a leaker claimed that it would launch alongside a standalone multiplayer game set in theHorizonuniverse. And while it can be argued that these rumors are dubious, asHorizon Zero Dawnwas only released seven years ago and isn’t in need of a remaster, there’s plenty of precedent for this move in Sony’s recent history. Indeed, a remaster ofHorizon Zero Dawnwouldn’t even be the company’s strangest decision in this arena.
Sony Has Made More Questionable Remake Calls Than Horizon Zero Dawn
PlayStation has something of a reputation for releasing unexpected, hit-or-miss remasters. This doesn’t just apply toambitious projects like theFinal Fantasy 7remake saga, rebuilding classic games from the ground up, but also to more recently released titles, which receive less impactful changes. A great example of this phenomenon would beThe Last of Us, which was remastered on the PS4 only a year after its initial release on the PS3. Now, this is not particularly egregious for a few reasons, including the fact that the PS4 isn’t backwards compatible with the PS3, and that the PS4 sold more units than its predecessor. Being bundled with theLeft BehindDLC didn’t hurt either.
But it may have set a troubling precedent. For example,The Last of Us Part 2 Remasteredwas releasedless than four years after the original, despite the fact that the original is very much playable on PS5 and already enhanced for that console via a 60FPS mode. Performance is marginally better in the remaster, and it comes with the newNo Returngame mode, but it doesn’t seem like enough of an improvement to justify its existence. A similar argument can be made aboutThe Last of Us Part 1, 2022’s soft-remake of the first game, although that at least had immediately apparent graphical improvements over the original.
It’s not justThe Last of Usthat suffers from this strange remake tendency.Marvel’s Spider-Manwas also remastered in 2022, only four years after the original was launched. Granted, the remaster includes next-gen features like high FPS, 4K, and ray-tracing, but when a number of last-gen games have gotten these features for free on PS5, it’s hard to use the arrival of these new features as justification for an entirely new product.
A Horizon Zero Dawn Remake Would Make More Sense Than Others
The aforementioned examples are arguably more unnecessary than the potentialHorizon Zero Dawnremaster. Of course,Sony has a vested interest in growing theHorizonbrand, which would probably be the primary motivation behind any re-release of the first game, but there’s still some room for the original to improve. It’s been seven years sinceHorizon Zero Dawncame out—longer than many of Sony’s other remastered titles—and the visual difference between it andForbidden Westis apparent. Whether the game actually needs a remaster is debatable, but it at least seems more reasonable than something like theLast of Us 2remaster, as the graphical and performance upgrades would probably be more noticeable in this case.
Horizon: Zero Dawn
WHERE TO PLAY
Earth is ours no more. In an era where Machines roam the land and mankind is no longer the dominant species, a young hunter named Aloy embarks on a journey to discover her destiny. In a lush, post-apocalyptic world where nature has reclaimed the ruins of a forgotten civilization, pockets of humanity live on in primitive hunter-gatherer tribes. Their dominion over the new wilderness has been usurped by the Machines – fearsome mechanical creatures of unknown origin.Explore a vibrant landscape rich with the beauty of nature. Travel through stunningly detailed forests, imposing mountains and the atmospheric ruins of a bygone civilization, all brought together in a world that is alive with changing weather systems and a full day/night cycle.
