REVIEW – Guerrilla nailed it this year with Horizon Zero Dawn, and now they launch The Frozen Wilds. The review of that DLC brings us back to an Aloy in full form and to an icy land that reminds us that the original game was not only beautiful landscapes but also challenging zones and enemies of legend. How’s the expansion? Not surprising as the first part is a legitimate reason to return to your world.

 

Horizon was one of the big surprises of this year. Not so much because it was a product of unknown development that it ended up becoming something big, but rather because few expected that a company as focused on linear experiences as Guerrilla could go beyond the limits of what it had achieved with Killzone so successfully. If the one that faced us to the Helghan Empire was a saga of action in the first person of monochromatic aspect, masculine and rough heroes, and a strong emphasis in the firings of average rank; Horizon Zero Dawn, on the contrary, was an open world of adventures, colorful and starring a strong young woman but, at the same time, with a point of restlessness and vulnerability.

I’m not going to hide that I liked the original so much that any excuse is good to go back to the world of Horizon Zero Dawn, so having an added one like Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds that takes about 12 or 14 hours of distractions in An unpublished region is something that is hard to say no to. Moreover, while it is true that throughout the analysis I am going to tell you some things that have not completely convinced me, we must also make clear that the general sensations with this way of extending the life of the title are frankly positive. Of course, it is not an independent expansion and needs the original to work, but the good thing about this is that it integrates well with what that game offered a few months ago and allowed us to enter and leave your world without problems.

Moreover, now … What do you ask for an expansion? There will be those who respond “more of the same,” and I do not think it is a bad response if we are undemanding, but I would add to that phrase a sonorous “but better” to conclude it. This is what Guerrilla Games has tried to offer with this DLC, incorporating such interesting things as a new interesting tree of abilities, unpublished creatures, well-written missions and, above all, a few hours of phenomenal entertainment in such a beautiful and rich world, as striking and, still, tremendously original.

Towards Wild Routes

The Frozen Wilds recommends a level 30 to start your journey, and your trip gives the departure signal with the classic conversation we could find at any time of the adventure and, thus, is perfectly linked to it. We walk through a city, the Tower of the Day, we hear someone say something that does not fit us, and we approach him to see what happens. It speaks of another threat, of a new region and of people who need our help. That opens an interesting way to learn more about the universe of the game, and also raises the curtain for a new area north of the map that is as icy as what we had deduced from the promotional phase of the title. It is always difficult to quantify the size of the surface, but I would say that the content of downloadable content would be halfway between being a third and a quarter of the entire game map.

One of the points that seemed strong to me from the original at the narrative level was, apart from the incontestable strength of his script and the charisma of his universe and of Aloy, the fact that it was a conclusive story. Obviously it left room for a sequel since in the Dutch studio they were already fully aware of the caliber that the brand could have a long-term franchise, but the arcs that opened in the first adventure were conveniently closed, and the name of the game with a more than interesting explanation of why we were where we were and why the world that was presented was as it was.

Why do I start telling you that? Because it is one of those points that play against this expansion. Everything felt well tied, and there was no need to review Horizon Zero Dawn with the first part, but here comes the DLC The Frozen Wilds with an extension of its universe that is interesting, very valid and terribly attractive but that, at the same time, at what he tells us seems quite expendable and of little impact. It strikes me that with how much Sony has taken care of the reason for the existence of additions like the recent Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, we find here something that looks more like a standard quest arc extracted from the campaign than a downloadable content from an exclusive of PS4. There is nothing too novel or groundbreaking, nor something of the history that resonates strongly … Everything is fine but its contribution is scarce, and when it seems that we are approaching the best part of history this, suddenly, is over.

However, that the justification for being here is small does not mean that what is offered to us is not valid. Quite the opposite. This expansion offers us a new series of fantastic missions and as well written as those that already surprised us in the first part, all supported by the presence of a tribe, the Banuk, whose traditions moreover, folklore create a new slope of mysticism that contributes to fatten the already fantastic universe of the saga, and that abound in a town that already had a testimonial presence in the first part and that here receives its deserved level of prominence. There are some topics and moments with predictable turns, but in general terms the treatment of this new human group is interesting as a counterpoint to Aloy and, as if that were not enough, there are some “cast actors” for the secondary missions that add up more than It was habitual in the original video game and they have exciting diatribes between the traditional and the mystical that, at times, collide with their desires.

The Tagus

The great protagonist of the game is that new area called The Tagus. The cold reigns and the place becomes a formidable exercise of style by Guerrilla to compose a scenario that has nothing to envy to what we saw in the original video game. Of course, it is less varied because it is focused on snow and ice, but it almost makes us feel that cold that gets to the bones of the protagonist and gives us some beautiful moments thanks to the great work of lighting that often show the productions of Guerrilla. Also, he has a greater sense of verticality than much of the rest of the areas of the complete game, which triggers the presence of the acrobatics slope and I was pleasantly surprised to see a reformulation of the veteran style of his puzzles.

However, as you would imagine, what is most abundant are the combats. The expansion continues to show off the frantic pace and fierceness of Zero Dawn’s confrontations and introduces two new creatures to the bestiary. The most striking are the incinerator, which is the one that has been taken for obvious reasons the most attention in the promotional phase of the program, and has a very descriptive name of its demolishing capabilities, but also has an exquisite design and a fierce possibility which are more similar to a polar bear. However, what I liked the most is that there is a new typology for all the enemies that go beyond the already known one of Corruption. It is a mechanics introduced to make sense of the fact that we find hard adversaries despite having a very high level in our Aloy, and the truth is that it works. Between this and the presence of a series of Control Towers that repair the health of our opposing mechanics possessing them, we have before us a generous challenge that I liked to recover.

Moreover, it is about challenging confrontations, but you also have to be clear that it is an adventure designed for people with an advanced level. I have already made it clear that the recommended is the 30, but if you approach here something fair of potions or materials to make the ammunition I recommend you do a generous collection of everything necessary to manufacture what you need … it will be a lot. Fortunately, we have weapons with which to defend ourselves and, of course, I will let you discover them, I will just tell you that they are using the three elements that already forged the entire Horizon arsenal: fire, ice, and electricity.

A videogame like the original Horizon Zero Dawn to which we dedicated so much time meant that we knew his skill tree at his fingertips. That is why we welcome a new branch for this one with skills to unlock under the name of Traveling offers us eight new skills to release. Some of them are quite obvious but very useful, such as being able to pick up objects or materials from the saddle or to increase the inventory to carry more things, while others do not go much further but have something more of visual projection such as to carry out a powerful attack with jump from the animal that we are riding or some that enable us to repair the mounts. As you can see, there are actions to unlock that are interesting to boost some things, although they are not the imagination expense that would have been needed to offer something more novel or attractive.

-Parzifal-

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Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Developer: Guerrilla Games

Genre: Action-adventure (DLC)

Release date: November 7, 2017