Horizon Zero Dawn – Fighting a Losing Battle
Things are not looking good from Aloys point of view
So we’re back after a pretty crazy ending from the last episode. From the get-go, we see that the other people that participated in The Proving are not very helpful. As it sure seems like Aloy has to do all the heavy lifting of taking these guys down. It’s a basic defeat all enemies to proceed kind of deal, but hearing everyone freak out is kind of chilling. Aloy attempts to hold off all the enemies as the people run to safety. After the first batch, the others get to a better position to not die. I was pretty blown away at just how useless they were after talking such a big game. It’s a good moment to realize that Aloy trained hard and earned the right to be as badass as she is.
We save a few more people as Aloy, Bast, and Vala are pinned down by the cover fire. The leader of this little group comes out with a big Gatling gun and lays down cover fire. Which to be honest was a bit unexpected as I just the machines had this kind of firepower. Sadly Vala picked an awful place for cover as the Gatling gun tears through the wood and she gets killed. Bast runs out to help her and also manages to die right next to Vala. The leader calls for them to take out Aloy as well but we can’t have that happen. It’s a fairly easy fight as I take them down one by one. Stupidly I take down the leader last and can’t use his amazing Gatling gun on anything.
Aloy Just Can’t Catch a Break
Taking out the leader triggers a cutscene where we learn that these bastards also have a Focus. This is strange as we just met someone with one not too long ago. But now there is a whole tribe or army equipped with them, that just doesn’t seem fair. Failing to notice a big guy walking up behind us we get grabbed and dragged to the edge of the cliff. Here we get out throat slit, which is just what we needed here after all the other stuff.
Oh god it’s too high, we can talk this out
While everything seems hopeless Rost shows up out of nowhere to help stave off this assailant. We get a pretty cool fight scene where Rost rights like a total badass. But the baddie pulls a fast one and breaks Rost stick allowing his knife to hit its mark. Rost goes down and claws his way toward Aloy, but the bad guys are one step ahead. They place a big explosive and light it to destroy everything in its explosion. Rost takes Aloy, says his quick goodbyes, and tosses her over the edge of the cliff to safety.
This is easily one of the toughest scenes yet in the game
Aloys Origin Is Just Insane
Some flashbacks and Aloy wakes up in an unknown room with no one else in sight. Walking through a few rooms we recover our Focus as well as our clothing. After scanning in our bow again, for some reason. We take the Focus we pulled off one of the people we took down. Seeing the attack plan laid out for what happened during The Proving. We also see that their target was to take Aloy down, also that she may have a real mother. Teersa shows up and tells us that Aloy was born here and placed on an altar inside the Mother’s Heart. Aloy steps upon the altar and a door scan attempts to allow the door to open so we can see if her mother is still alive. Of course, it malfunctions and we’re left with more questions than answers.
Teersa thinks Aloy materialized in from of the door, I’m sure the door was just opened and closed
Becoming a Seeker
So now we have our groundwork for the game, go get some things to be able to open the door. On our way to the service, we learn that these bad guys are killing everything and even corrupting the machines. Allowing them to control the machines without getting their hands dirty. We’re appointed a Seeker to go out into the lands and get what we need after a little conversation. Now the world is open and I can’t wait to see where the world takes us.