

Where Horizon Zero Dawn had already treated us to a massive open world, The Frozen Wilds makes that map just a little bit bigger. Where most games would have this content accessible through a menu or some other form of loading screen access, you can merely climb and traverse your way right into it, as if it had been there all along. When Aloy hears about a strange new robotic menace, curiosity gets the better of her and she then departs for the Cut, a new expansive area that is covered in snow and ice. You'll need those extra levels and skill points to enhance the capabilities of Aloy as some of the new enemies that you'll encounter are much harder to take down than anything you've seen before. The new content is recommended for at least level 30, but for those who have sunk dozens of hours into the large open world of the main campaign, it was easy enough to hit level 50 at the time. The Frozen Wilds is meant to be played after you have completed the main story of Horizon Zero Dawn, where you are then dropped back into the large open world at a point in time before the events of the final mission. It took me all of six seconds for everything to just flood right back to me, as if I had just played it yesterday. I'll be honest, when I installed the Frozen Wilds, an expansion to the main game, I was a bit intimidated to jump back in and get back into the groove of all the weapons, systems, and mechanics that took me days to initially master back when the title first released this past spring. Its combat was fast, ferocious, and made even more impressive due to its robotic cast of creatures that you could literally dismember with a well-placed arrow or set up traps to bring that lumbering beast down to the ground. Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the best games I've ever played, and frankly, one of the best looking video games ever crafted.
