Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 299 sampled Steam reviews (246 positive / 53 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing43% mention it
- Visuals & art20% mention it
- Combat15% mention it
- World & exploration11% mention it
- Difficulty & balance5% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing26% mention it
- Grind & repetition15% mention it
- Combat11% mention it
- World & exploration11% mention it
- Progression & loot9% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
58%
26 reviews
5-15h
62%
42 reviews
15-40h
86%
78 reviews
40-100h
88%
110 reviews
100h+
95%
43 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 83 | 35 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 97 | 1 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 88% | 82 | 1108 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 73 | 232 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 84% | 78 | 58 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 166 reviews sampled · 133 total reviews in window · weighted 116.9 up / 21.7 down · computed 4h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (72)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 100
“Horizon Zero Dawn is high-quality, original and, above all, smart sci-fi that will entertain you. If you are an RPG lover in the open world and you like action and tactics - there is not much to think about. And if you own a PlayStation 4, it's practically a necessity. Horizon Zero Dawn is, as they say, an instant classic.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Post-apocalyptic games rarely stray from the formula of making the Earth some barren dust bowl. By doing something a little different, Horizon Zero Dawn affords itself the opportunity to craft a truly unique tale and with it a complex and strong female lead. If you haven't already played it on PS4 and enjoy well-crafted stories, you owe yourself the opportunity of playing your way through the game and its expansion.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“A fun adventure game, paired with an unnecessary Open world that goes through the motions. However new enemies and an excellent story is worth playing through the entire experience.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Horizon: Zero Dawn belongs in the library of every gamer. It’s a marvellous tale with a lot of heart, a great protagonist, top-quality audio-visuals, neat combat mechanics, and an open world filled with things to do. Unfortunately, it’s not very good at a lot of things - especially with realising its potential. The foundations for something truly spectacular are available, yet this adventure falls short of the mark. Still, it is recommended, and if you haven’t done so already, definitely go for the Complete Edition, as it is, err, complete.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Horizon Zero Dawn is gorgeous and innately playable, even if the open-world gameplay it presents will feel overly familiar to most. The port has some issues that will almost certainly get stamped out in short order and the gameplay has its fair share of frustrations, but anyone looking to stalk some robots will find plenty to like.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“If you can look past the occasional crashes, Horizon Zero Dawn on PC is set to give you way more enjoyment and content than you could possibly imagine.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Horizon Zero Dawn's PC port lets you hunt robot animals and explore a massive post-apocalyptic world on your own computer, with consistent and reliable performance. ”
read full review ↗ - 70
“The experience is far from being characterized as smooth, but despite its issues, it is a game that one should definitely play until the end.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition is still a strong title and undoubtedly an interesting proposition for players who do not own a PlayStation 4 in their homes. Travelling with Aloy provides a lot of fun.”
read full review ↗ - 82
“Despite some of my qualms with the production and PC port quality, I highly recommend picking up Horizon: Zero Dawn for the PC. Yes, there is some risk of encountering the issues that others have seen, but fortunately, Steam's generous refund system serves as a comforting protection against wasted money. Overall, it's an easy recommendation for all cohorts of gamers. Players who didn't have a PS4 can experience a well-crafted world with a captivating story to flesh it out, and those who already played it back in 2017 might still enjoy the PC version's improved visuals and frame rate. This is a great way to refresh your memory on Aloy's adventures before the sequel releases in 2021 for PS5.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Horizon Zero Dawn, with the Complete Edition on Steam, arrives on PC with a convincing conversion, which allows you to retrieve one of the most fascinating open world games of the current generation with a significant performance boost and greater detail. Too bad for the lack of support for Ray Tracing and DLSS.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Horizon Zero Dawn remains a visually enticing game with rich natural environments and snow-capped mountains to trek through, all of which can look better than they did on PS4 and PS4 Pro if you have the right PC specs. Given the density of certain towns or villages, or chaos of some combat scenarios, frame rate can take a considerable dip, making it a fairly demanding game, but it may also noticeably stutter occasionally, making for some inconsistent performance. (I've used a Core i7-7700K, RTX 2080, and 16GB of RAM at ultrawide 2560x1080 resolution using maximum settings and TAA, and had dips to around 35-40 FPS in those intense moments.)”
read full review ↗
INDIANTVCZ
Jump Dash Roll
Kinglink Reviews
Cubed3
PC Invasion
Capsule Computers
PCMag
Enternity.gr
PPE.pl
Worth Playing
Eurogamer
GameSpot…and 60 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Horizon Zero Dawn for PC - Version 1.11.2Jan 26, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- Horizon Zero Dawn for PC – Version 1.11.1Dec 16, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition for PC - Patch 1.11 is now availableDec 8, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition for PC - Patch 1.10 is now availableJan 19, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition for PC - Patch 1.09 is now availableDec 8, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition for PC - Patch 1.08 is now availableNov 24, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition for PC - Patch 1.06 is now availableOct 13, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition for PC - Patch 1.05 is now availableSep 16, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition for PC - Patch 1.04 is now availableSep 7, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition for PC - Patch 1.03 is now availableAug 31, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition for PC - Patch 1.02 is now availableAug 19, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Quick Update on Player Profile IssueAug 16, 2020
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition for PC - Patch 1.01 is now availableAug 14, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Quick Update regarding Player ReportsAug 8, 2020
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition is OUT NOW on PC!Aug 7, 2020significant · resets scoring window