‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ Pushed To February 2017; Might Have Story Problems

“Guerrilla Games” is the studio responsible for the popular “Killzone” series and its next foray into the “PlayStation 4”-exclusive territory has fans incredibly excited. Unfortunately, the release of “Horizon Zero Dawn” has been scheduled for Feb. 28, 2017, according to the developer’s post on PlayStation Blog. Gamers who were hoping that the title would be released in Q4 of 2016 at the latest are expected to express dismay over this news. However, there could be the bigger concern of the game not living up to the hype in terms of its story.

Releasing a new trailer for the game, “Guerrilla Games” succeeds in showing off more of the post-apocalyptic world that they created. With stunning visuals, fluid animation, and realistic facial expressions, it’s looking like the upcoming title will succeed in acing the graphical requirements of many players.

On that note, the trailer has a few elements that have Erik Kain over at Forbes worried about the story of the game.

“The guy’s voice we hear throughout, as sort of both a narrator for the trailer and someone speaking with Aloy, is really off-putting to me,” he writes. “It really grates. The dialogue seems stiff.”

Kain also asks if the dialogue in the trailer is the actual setup within the game or if it’s exclusively meant for the trailer. He says that listening to the voice-over nearly ruined the trailer for him as well, which is why he is a bit worried.

On that note, perhaps it’s best that the game has been delayed. According to Guerrilla Games Managing Director Hermen Hulst, they want a few more months to polish the game to perfection. They might even address some of the concerns that Kain brought up. Hulst is confident that the delay is worth it in the end.

"We're confident that the advantages of the additional development time afforded by the new date will become clear in the coming months,” he says.