A Look At Horizon Zero Dawn Collector’s Edition

Horizon Zero Dawn was one of those titles that i never got sold on when it came to the trailers, i felt it had an identity problem and for some reason, it felt like if SONY had no idea what the game really was on about.

Luckily i was sent this box on launch, i had no idea what to expect really but it took me only 10 minutes to realize that this was a true gem and one of the most polished games that i had seen in a while.  It simply took my breath away in a matter of minutes, that’s how good and special the game was, more about this soon as first we need to look at the box.

You know, i often write about the unboxing before i have tried the game and so on and well, sometimes that is bad and sometimes not so bad, for instance, if i had not tried the game before writing this then i would have most likely bitched about why the box is black and boring and not blue and magnificent looking….

Well, the box is indeed black and pretty standard looking if not very boring compared to the in-game looks of the game, well, guess what, it is actually part of the story in the game and to some even a spoiler, it is all in the details. 

So yes, today i would say, brilliant looking box, but back when i unboxed it i though “UGH!. what’s this..”.

The backside of this black beast of a box is very well designed and a proper looker, but yes the same thing applies here, it might not look that cool to people who haven’t tried/completed the game.

The more i look at the box the more i like it, it’s been on my shelf since launch now and i have to admit that the part below (blue) is the one i wanted first, but now i love both of them

Inside the box was another box, i know, i know… it is becoming a trend by now but i like to comment it anyway because i like to be funny…. or try.

NOW, THIS IS HOW A BOX SHOULD LOOK LIKE, RIGHT?

Blue, landscape, sky, terrain, mountain and a huge mother of a robot mech thingy monstrosity… yup this is what i would call the perfect box design.

But, i am certain it is boring looking at the rest of the box right?

Well, that is a no. This is on the side of the box, if it is in-game graphics or not i do not know for sure but it sure looks like a straight in-game render, absolutely amazing looking box design this one.

It looks like if it was made in magic and then polished in magic again and then painted by a famous painter again.

It can’t get better than this right?

Wrong again.

Look at that!, it is almost like if it was a straight out of a Team ICO game, absolutely stunning looking, and guess what.. this is how the game looks too, yet again this is most likely an in-game engine render.

The 4th side of the box looks like this (yes even the top and bottom has art on it but just sky*/clouds and land), awesome looking yet again and a tad of a spoiler in here too.

The box alone is enough for most collectors here, it has to be the one of the best looking one i have ever come across, and yes the pictures do not justify the look of them either, it has to be seen in person to be really appreciated. 

Ok, it is time for that joke again… Inside the box in the box is another box, this time it is a styrofoam box with an embossed PlayStation logo on it.

Nothing amazing but it is always nice to see that little extra effort in these type of boxes.

Next up is the figurine, everything is in here and at first glance, it looks pretty normal and all, but that was only at first glance.

Let’s take a closer look then shall we?

Here you can see Aloy in front of the box, just for fun.

Look at the details on the hands and the grip on the bow, everything is in there.

I flipped the box around and did another picture of Aloy in front of it, the only bad thing here is the shadow the blitz cast.

Look at all those details, it is insane really, so much stuff going on there.

This is an unedited picture of Aloy, mostly because i wanted to show how the colours look when it is set in “normal lighting”, the depth of field is pretty deep here as you can see with the foreground (a watcher lens).

Aloy’s face expression is the only thing i am not 100% happy about , i mean, i have played the game for 60+ hours and i have yet to see her looking like that, i guess the game just looks too good for its own good so that a figurine ends up only being a look alike.

More of her expression, it is the whole design of it i guess, she doesn’t look like this in the game.

Here you can see Aloy from all sides, god damn there are so many details in it.  Looks sweet, oh and yes it is pretty heavy too.

Here you can see a close up of the Watcher that is wrapped around Aloy’s feet.

The attention to detail is as expected, very good!.

Here you can see more of the watcher, pretty good stuff alright!.

Oh, what’s this then? a secret piece? it might even be a spoiler hidden here.

A bit of an ugly picture this, very hard to do a proper picture sometimes, if it is me or the camera or the light i do not know, but i am sure it is a bit of everything.

That’s it for the figurine, it looks bloody amazing and while the expression ain’t the best bit i have seen it still does the job very good and it is easy to love this one, not my favourite figurine but it sure is cool and one that i will most likely like more over time.

Artbook!, whohoo indeed.  With such an awesome box art and in-game graphics means that the book will be like a million pages long and with 100s of fantastic looking pages right?….

WRONG…

The art is indeed awesome, but this is such a missed opportunity because this is just like that Uncharted trilogy and UC4 art book, yup an A5 miniature edition of a full price standalone art book.

The more i look in the art book the more i like what i see, so many details in here that i am sure that even after i completed the game i still would find new things.

Here you see some art from one of the better locations in the game, i won’t spoil it here but i must say that this is one of those side missions that you really must complete as the story is just brilliant.

Not that many pages in the book and yet they “waste” some pages on stuff like this, good looking and all but argh!.. you know what i mean i guess.

More from Banuk here, see above for why this is a mission you must play, i found this part very believable in the game and very well made too. 

Here’s actually a spoiler… 

This is the stuff i want more of, location art. For such a game i kinda expected the art book to be basically only locations shots….but then again, one could just fire up the game and enjoy it there as fast travel and screenshot mode will give you some amazing shots in just about every frame in the game.

A fantastic looking Steelbook is also included in the C.E, a seriously colourful box with some very nice touches too,  definitely one of the best looking ones in my collection.

Decided to do a shot of the inside of the Steelbook too, it just looks so good. I guess you can see where the art is from? , Yup, it’s from the box shot.

The game disc looks brilliant, very good use of colours and design makes it stand out from the rest.

Here are 2 codes for the first of my readers, yup they have not been used by the time i put this online so hurry up and cash em in.

That’s it then, the Horizon Zero Dawn Collector’s Edition box is indeed a masterpiece in its own right, the only bad part is the art book which actually ain’t bad at all, just a bit of a let down really.  The figurine, both boxes and the steelbook is beyond awesome and well worth your money if you’re into this kind of stuff, that is.

So, what about the game then?.  Well, i went and platinum’d it as well as 100% it in-game too, the game will be one of the best games that i have played on the PS4 up to now. It won’t be my GOTY this year because of the masterful Resident Evil 7 VR, that said it still will stay on top next to it as (so far) the best in VR game this year. 

Every single second in the game was fun, i really loved how it all played out with its plot twists and amazing scenery, the fighting system was limited but brilliantly made and the side missions showed that “we don’t need those shitty follow Mr X to location blah Bla blah in half speed while listening to boring chatter blah blah”.

Every time i met a new person in the game i wanted to get to know them better, i never skipped a line or a movie in the game, it took me many hours before i used the fast travel function in the game as i just loved to walk around and look around and kill stuff.

I spent 60hours in the game, i could have spent 120 easily but with my backlog and the blog and so on means that i had to move onto a new game, that said…there was nothing left to do in the game anyways so.

If there was one thing to say about the game it would have to be that its so polished that it makes other games look like half-finished ones, no bugs, no glitches, no stupid filler, the game just felt finished and complete from the very first second till the very last minute.

Sorry about giving Horizon Zero Dawn two scores, but it had to be done… this game is a must-have for everyone out there and a game that deserves to sell 10’s of millions.