Assuming players go to The Cut first, a reasonable assumption given how the studio recommends it be played, they will be ridiculously overpowered by the time they reach the ending. You are given new, more powerful weapons to deal with them, of course, but these weapons will completely overshadow those that you find at HorizonвЂ™s end-game. вЂњAloy didnвЂ™t know it yet but she was way in over her head,вЂќ whispered Aloy, descending further into madness. Even the first of the new enemy types in Frozen Wilds are easily on par with those of HorizonвЂ™s end-game in terms of difficulty. That recommendation is justified as well, since I went in at level 45 with top-tier weapons and the Shield Weaver armour, and still found it pretty tough. There is the caveat that the recommended level for the area starts at 30 but, by that point, youвЂ™ll either have beaten the game already or will be powerful enough to steamroll through to the end. If the DLC were expressly intended to be end-game content, then that might make sense, but Guerilla StudiosвЂ™ insistence is that this is meant to be played as part of Horizon as a whole, not as a separate thing. Similarly, new players drawn in by the rekindling of interest in Horizon because of this DLC will be playing for a good long while before getting to play the bulk of Frozen WildвЂ™s content. However, for anyone who didnвЂ™t finish the game but is coming back expressly for the DLC, this means having to play through what you missed before being able to access it. That is, of course, assuming you still have your saved data on the console speaking as someone who owns a first gen PS4, I can say that space is a luxury for some. For those whoвЂ™ve finished the game already, this wonвЂ™t be an issue, and anyone playing on New Game+ will just encounter the quest giver normally. You canвЂ™t just enter the area, you first need to accept a quest from someone near Carja. ThereвЂ™s also an improved photo mode, if youвЂ™re into that kind of thingвЂ¦ IвЂ™m into that kind of thing.ДЇirstly, accessing The Cut is a pain. Not all of it is great, though, and the way Frozen Wilds has been added in makes it feel very much at odds with the content of the base game. ThereвЂ™s a lot of feature вЂњspilloverвЂќ from the expansion into the base game, which is stuff that is introduced as part of the DLC that can then be carried forward into the rest of the game. New enemy types and weapons have been added, a new skill tree is available, and enemy AI has been improved. ThereвЂ™s more to the expansion than just the new area, however.

The size of The Cut itself is fairly average for an expansion of this kind, with the playable area being roughly equivalent to a fifth of the base game. It certainly fleshes the world and overarching narrative a little more, setting things up nicely for a sequel.ДЇrozen Wilds also introduces The Cut, the new area that the main DLC questline takes place in, which is integrated with the rest of the world. ThereвЂ™s a lot of background information and plot details that youвЂ™ll pick up regarding certain characters that should make this interesting for returning players whoвЂ™ve finished the game. Aloy, of course, saunters in to sort things out and thatвЂ™s basically the gist of the story. ThereвЂ™s a new kind of corruption thatвЂ™s making machines both intensely aggressive and immensely powerful, which is generally ruining the day of everyone around them. I donвЂ™t hate it, and I still enjoyed what I played, but dang it, IвЂ™m gonna have good olвЂ™ whinge anyhow!Д«ecause if there are nits, IвЂ™m gonna pick вЂ™em вЂ“ and this suckerвЂ™s a big вЂun!ДЇrozen Wilds is centred around the Banuk tribe, a nomadic, weird, and surly bunch that didnвЂ™t get as much of a look in during the base game as the other cultures and tribes did. However, in saying that, there are also a few questionable design choices that hold Frozen Wilds back from being a much better expansion than it couldвЂ™ve been.

The content of the expansion is good, even great, building and improving upon a lot of existing mechanics and adding new features that really round out the gameplay. As such, when The Frozen Wilds was announced, I was more than excited to jump back into the game for a second round. Horizon Zero Dawn is easily one of my favourite games of 2017, and I played it until 100% completion.

Horizon zero dawn: the frozen wilds