Combat in this game just keeps getting better! (Gaming)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Friday, March 10, 2017, 15:19 (2819 days ago) @ CyberKN

I'm about 45 hours into Horizon Zero Dawn now... I feel like I'm approaching the end of the main quest line (I've already passed the "there's no going back after this so tie up any loose ends before you proceed" point). I've been taking my time to do all of the side missions and challenges too. I'm continuously impressed by the variety of ways they've been able to add new elements to the combat or create unique and challenging encounters.

I recently completed a series of Hunter challenges that involved several Ravagers and a Thunderjaw. One challenge required overriding both Ravagers, then helping them destroy the Thunderjaw, all under 2.5 minutes (which was not easy). Pulling this off successfully required a tricky mix of stealth and aggression; sneaking up on the first Ravager without getting spotted, then pulling the Thunderjaw's aggro so the Ravager can start whittling down its health as soon as possible, then sneaking past the Thunderjaw to reach the 2nd Ravager on the other side of the pit and overriding it quickly so it can join the fight before the Thunderjaw destroys the first Ravager, then helping the Ravagers out by dealing as much damage to the Thunderjaw as quickly as possible without getting crushed in all the chaos. Very cool sequence.

But my favorite Hunter challenge was the very next one, which involved overriding the Thunderjaw and helping it destroy both Ravagers with its Disc Cannon within the time limit. First of all, you have to sneak up on the Thunderjaw and override it which is awesome enough. But then you need to pull the aggro of both Ravagers to get them fighting the Thunderjaw as quickly as possible, because the time limit is very short. To do this, I needed to openly engage both Ravagers in combat, while standing right next to the Thunderjaw... even thought the Thunderjaw had been overridden, this is a very dangerous place to be. The Thunderjaw wouldn't actively attack me, but it didn't care one bit if it stepped on me or not. So I'm dodging and rolling between it's legs while its stomping around and charging at these two Ravagers that are leaping all over the place, trying to land as many hits as I can without getting crushed at the same time. It was like an amazing sequence out of an action movie :)