“It wasn’t an easy choice to make,” wrote Guerrilla Games managing director Hermen Hulst. “We know many of you have been anxious to play the game since we first announced it. However, we also want to ensure that Horizon Zero Dawn lives up to the visuals and gameplay quality that our games are known for. The new date affords us the extra time required to deliver fully on our ambitious vision for Horizon Zero Dawn.”
The announcement brings with it a new trailer, featured above, which focuses on the game’s protagonist, Aloy, a bad-ass huntress who bears a more-than-passing resemblance to Game of Thrones’ favorite wildling spearwife, Ygritte. The trailer provides our first insight into Aloy’s background as an orphan foundling, taken in by a tribe of humans as a baby but never fully trusted as one of them (except, apparently, by her adopted father, who taught her how to hunt). No doubt the course of the game will see you uncovering secrets about both Aloy’s own origin, and the mysterious events that cut humanity down from living in great cities to huddling around fires in caves, ousted from the top of the food chain by towering, robotic beasts.
While on the one hand we’re disappointed that we will have to wait even longer to get our hands on the game, ultimately we would rather play something released with the developer’s full confidence. We’ll be spending some more time with Horizon Zero Dawn next week at E3, gathering more info that should help tide us over until next February.