Let’s Go Behind The Scenes Of Horizon Zero Dawn To See What It Took To Make

Horizon Zero Dawn — Growing Guerrilla

A new set of behind the scenes videos for Horizon Zero Dawn have been released and show off more on how Horizon Zero Dawn went from concept to the final build

Just when you thought we might end the week without more for Horizon Zero Dawn we are all treated to yet another fun surprise for the game. Most of which is expected given the gold status and that Guerrilla Games has firmly set the February 28th on the PS4, but it is always a nice little surprise when something new pops up for the game. Well, at least it is for me and more so when it is something like some more behind the scenes footage on how Horizon Zero Dawn was crafted. It’s not something for all gamers out there who just want to see the game in action but I am always fascinated by just how it goes from a piece of art to a full title that we can all purchase. Sue me…

Anyways, instead of dropping one new video a week until Horizon Zero Dawn finally launches, it looks like Guerrilla opted to just give us a solid three part attack here with a look at things from shifting away from the FPS world they know so well to crafting another character to join the icons of the PlayStation brand. That is a fairly tall order and it is one that not too many companies get to try for. That and given the developer’s focus in the past, it looks like a plethora of people had to be brought on to make the RPG element shine with their already honed in skill of high-action. You can’t look at Horizon Zero Dawn and not say that isn’t there already.

Horizon Zero Dawn — From Corridors To Mountains


How does a studio transition from specializing in first-person shooter development to creating a brand-new open world action RPG? We went behind the scenes of Horizon Zero Dawn’s development and talked to Guerrilla Managing Director Hermen Hulst, Studio Art Director Jan-Bart van Beek, Game Director Mathijs de Jonge and Technical Director Michiel van der Leeuw about the challenges involved in making the switch.


Horizon Zero Dawn — Growing Guerrilla


We’ve previously explored the shift from first person shooters to an open world action RPG, and now we take a behind the scenes look at the studios of Horizon Zero Dawn’s developer, Guerrilla Games. We also speak to some of the newer members of the team who were brought on board during the game’s development to help expand Guerrilla’s understanding of the genre.


Horizon Zero Dawn — Creating A PlayStation Icon


Creating Aloy, the protagonist of Horizon Zero Dawn, was a difficult process; there were many iterations before Guerrilla settled on the adventurous woman you see today. In the third of our series, we speak to the Guerrilla team about bringing Aloy to life and how she has been received by gamers around the world.

I will say I am a bit confused here on how they kept making it seem like Horizon Zero Dawn was their first attempt at telling a story with their games. I am pretty damn sure that Killzone had some great stories mixed in there with the gameplay. I mean, they wouldn’t have lasted as a developer if the games didn’t. This could have all been just some off wording here and they meant to say that Horizon Zero Dawn required a larger team and more focus but it just felt like they were saying that there was not narrative in their past titles. I guess I am nitpicking here and trying to make mountains out of molehills in the end. It still doesn’t lower the excitement for the game in the least bit.

Are you still jacked to finally get Horizon Zero Dawn on your PS4 or will the month gap here leave you dwindling? Do you think that Aloy will hit a level of popularity that she will join the ranks of Crash, Kratos, and Drake? Are you like me and hoping that now that the game is on the verge of launch that we won’t see a great team of writers lose their jobs given how the usual state of things dictates? Let us know down in the comments and feel free to discuss as you wish. For more on Horizon Zero Dawn be sure to keep checking back in here as we will keep the updates and news flowing out there. Not long now until we will be playing this game and I know I’m still jacked.


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