I loved feeling like I was genuinely fighting for my life, even with my skill tree maxed out. Even fully upgraded, I found fighting groups of Daemonic machines overwhelming (the only reason I didn’t repeatedly die was the absurd number of health potions and metal shards I’d collected during my 40 hours with Zero Dawn), and a handful of completely new machines that primarily serve as bosses of sorts tested my “roll at the very last second” twitch reflexes to their limits. Between levels 40 and 50 in Zero Dawn I’d found myself fighting complacently, especially equipped with the Shield Weaver armour that gives Aloy a regenerating shield, but The Frozen Wilds brought back the sense of danger. These battles are the most fun I’ve had in Horizon to date.

It’s just as large and imposing, but deadly enough to restore the fear that’d been lost. Developer Guerilla has justified this major stat boost by means of a ‘daemonic’ force that has infiltrated the robots’ systems, so fighting a ‘daemonic thunderjaw’ is going to be a much more frightening proposition than fighting its regular counterpart. Though mostly familiar from Zero Dawn, the monsters that roam The Frozen Wilds are not playing around if you’re ganged up on, expect to have an extremely tough fight on your hands. Killer InstinctThey’re worth it on a practical level, too, as you’ll want to keep levelling up (if you’re not level 50 already) to get stronger weapons and materials. These adventures are some of the best we’ve seen yet, with a particular focus on Uncharted/Tomb Raider-style platforming as you climb up ominously vertical playgrounds, breathless battles, and hilarious banter. She’s well matched by a new supporting cast, the most interesting and eccentric of whom appear in the many side quests peppered throughout the expansion. She’s also the voice of reason, and whenever The Frozen Wilds stumbles into silliness, Aloy is there to point it out with dry quips delivered with bite by voice actress Ashly Burch. At this point in the story she’s strong and skilled enough to pull rank when the situation demands it, and her personality fills that role nicely. For her part, Aloy remains an endearingly warm character. Though its story occasionally veers into jargon-heavy convolution - speak English, people! - by the end I had been asked some genuinely thought-provoking questions on the place faith has in such a brutal world. Specifically, it zooms in on the compelling idea of gods and demons as the explanation for the apocalyptic world full of dinosaur-like robots.

Horizon zero dawn: the frozen wilds