In the wake of the sequel coming out and the ever-advancing technology we are constantly surrounded by, I thought it was a good time to deep dive into Horizon Zero Dawn. At the start of Horizon there is an other worldly feel to the game that you can’t quite put your finger on. You’re plunged into a world of human hunters versus mechanical monsters. They live in tribes that lack all the technologic comforts we are used to currently. How on earth could this game relate to our everyday life? At first glance I never thought that this game would become my favorite game of all time due to the deep rhetoric put into this game. I could never have guessed the mind-blowing twists in the story. Horizon is the perfect example of rhetoric when it comes to gaming. You start the game thinking it is science fiction, it has a very alien feel to it. After that the slow, but steady realization hits that this alien world is actually a terrifying post-apocalyptic world that has roots deep in our culture today. At the beginning it is hard to understand the message this game is attempting to put forward, but by the end the creators fear of the decline of our planet and the extinction of humanity is deafening.
Within the game there are dinosaur and animal like robots that are known to the people as machines. These machines use biomatter conversion to run and is capable of self-replication. These machines were originally designed by a scientist named Elisabet Sobeck with the purpose of saying a dying earth. As can be expected though her boss, Ted Faro, followed the money. He turned his back on the environmental benefit of these machines to making militarized versions. This worked well for him for a while until they lost control of the machines. The machines gained consciousness. Partnering that with the ability to run off biofuel, Faro doomed the planet and humanity to extinction. The most pivotal moment in the game is on top of Makers End where you can access a hologram of a meeting between Sobeck and Faro where he admits that he made a huge mistake.
By the end of the game climate change and killer robots weigh heavy on your mind. The creators did an excellent job forcing you to think about the ramifications of the way we are headed. Seeing ever worsening conditions in our environment makes this game feel like the not-so-distant future. It is even scarier knowing this game is set in 2064 and that robots such as these are being presented for use. “This project aims to rehabilitate forests with the help of three different models of robots: Chunk, the mower, Dixon, the planter, and Rikko, the monitor. Each bot could operate on its own or as a unit with the others and would actually adapt depending on the part of the world it was in. Animal robots, invented with environmentalism in mind? Haven't we been here before?” (Huston, Belle. Horizon Zero Dawn Is Real Now Thanks To Forest Ranger Druids.Thegamer.com) In this quote from Belle she is discussing the Forest Ranger Druids project from Israel which is made up of 3 types of robots that’s purposes are to help to save our planet. It seems that the creators of Horizon weren’t so far off.
Sony ft Eden Project
https://ag.hyperxgaming.com/article/12577/sony-partners-with-the-eden-project-to-support-wildflower-recovery-in-the-uk
HZD in real life
Forest Ranger Druids
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