Horizon Zero Dawn Shows the Problem with Game Reviews

Horizon Zero Dawn met rave critical acclaim earlier this year. Reviews praised its polished (if unoriginal) gameplay, its unique and compelling story, and the jaw-dropping graphics. It also got a lot of attention for its diverse representation of America, featuring a cast full of people of color and various sexual orientations. Despite its Dutch heritage and futuristic setting, Horizon better represents the cultural landscape of modern America than many contemporary, home-grown games.

But there is one perceived flaw in Guerilla’s PlayStation masterpiece, something that few – if any – of those glowing reviews touched upon.

Dia Lacina, a Native American writer and photographer, wrote an open letter to all of games journalism about their critique of the game. In the letter, Lacina criticizes Horizon’s appropriation of Native American culture, pointing to the wardrobe and language Guerilla employs in building its world, without including any actual Native people in the game. But the main thrust of the article deals with games journalism, and criticism as a whole, and how nobody talked about that appropriation in their reviews.

If you want to learn more about Horizon Zero Dawn borrowing from history and its cultural appropriation, you can watch our collaboration with Games of History below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3mCQoKNwFE

Critiquing Reviews

I’d take Lacina’s point one step further and say this is a great example of how poor most game reviews are. That’s a tricky statement to make in this climate, when game journalists are regularly harassed for their opinions by the GamerGate hate movement. Still, it’s one that needs to be said if the medium is ever going to move forward.

The trouble comes down to the term itself: “game reviews.” Reviews shouldn’t assigned to video games because it’s an ever changing art form. You review toasters and washing machines – do they work, and do they do the job well? But video games, like any art, is far more involved than that, and too many game reviews seek to only answer the question of whether or not a game is buggy or not, whether it runs at 60 FPS, and if it’s got multiplayer.

It makes sense why so many outlets do this – including our sister site Cliqist soon – and so many writers indulge in assigning their opinion a number – myself among them. It’s easy, it allows for quick turnaround on content, and that’s what most people expect. “Does a game work, and is it fun,” is all that’s expected, and wanted by some. But game criticism should be so much more than that.

Too Much Water

Criticism needs to break free of its rigid, structural checklist of gameplay, graphics, story, and wrapping up with an arbitrary number. There needs to be more room for interpretation, and discussing factors like cultural appropriation. Imagine reading a critique that talks about a character that works really well, and explaining why that’s the case instead of quickly moving on to the next point. That’s often a sense you get when reading reviews of Horizon, for example. It’s one of incompleteness, like the reviewer wants to talk about something, but doesn’t.

Kotaku is the first to spring to mind. The review, not scored thanks to Kotaku’s more forward thinking approaching, ends with the paragraph:

“At the start of Horizon, most people underestimate Aloy, considering her to be a despicable outcast or nothing more than a pretty face. Aloy’s consequent adventure, then, is a fight against the societal rules and expectations that kept her cloistered for so long. At its heart, Horizon Zero Dawn is more than just a game about killing giant robot dinosaurs: it the story of a determined woman who works twice as hard as anybody else just to be accepted. Horizon is the story of a lot of women, really, and the ways in which they reclaim, rebuild and become worthy of an unruly world.”

That reads more like the start of a great piece story, not the end of a review. Yet the rest of it doesn’t dive into anything close to those depths, instead going down the standard checklist.

Do the Robot

Polygon’s review reads like it got spat out by a machine.

“That cast includes characters like the drunken warrior Erend, the new-to-the-throne and progressive-minded Sun King Avad and the mysterious, omniscient Sylens. It’s a cast whose progress through the story I was eager to witness, and the political maneuvering of the world of Horizon weaves myriad opportunities for intrigue both in this game and the future. Horizon Zero Dawn answers the vast majority of the questions it presents. It leaves characters with arcs that feel completed but also a bear sense of continuity, of possible direction for the future. It builds in the potential for sequels and spinoffs, but in a smart, natural way, without the need for frustrating cliffhangers or unresolved plot threads.”

You can boil that entire paragraph down to: “the cast includes some interesting characters. The story answers its own questions. The characters feel complete, but also there could be a sequel. It does a good job leaving the door open for said sequel.” In a paragraph about characters and their development, what good does that provide the reader?

The review then talks about Aloy, the protagonist of Horizon, and that she’s a deep character and that she grows over time.

“Aloy herself may not be an incredibly deep character, but she grounds Horizon’s gameplay via a wide array of combat abilities that grows as the game progresses. Through both crafting new weapons and items and learning new skills via leveling up, Aloy grows from an above-average hunter to a woman revered across the land as an unstoppable machine killer. While she’s up against technological nightmares, Aloy embraces technology in a way other members of her tribe do not.”

This is exactly where the article should be going, at least when discussing the character. It’s a great jumping off point to talking about what shaped Aloy, both from the culture in-game and with the developers in real life. But it instead immediately transitions back into robo-speak:

“Early in her life, she discovers a strange item called a “focus” that allows her to scan the environment and see trails left by people. Aloy uses the focus quite a bit in quests and story moments, but it’s also a key to combat. The focus allows you to see the weak points on your robot enemies, which means even if you’re using a bow and arrow or slingshot against them, you can target the exact points that will do the most damage.”

Rather than talking about what influenced Aloy or her world, it instead runs the typical video game review gambit and uses that to instead talk about and you can kill things. This presented a great opportunity to bring up Native American culture since it plays such a huge role both in Horizon and with Aloy, or any of the other various women warriors throughout history that influenced the game such as Viking shield-maidens or the Amazons.

What did developer Guerilla take from history? How was that incorporated into the game? In what ways did it influence characters or society in Horizon? How did it influence the gameplay? Is it a problem that Guerilla cherry-picked things they found interesting throughout history and ignored the actual people that influenced them?

None of these questions come up in any of these reviews.

YouTubers are Pushing the Boundaries

That’s the gist of what Dia Lacina was talking about in her letter. Instead, gaming outlets hijacked it, focusing on the cultural appropriation angle as opposed to the need for more dialog. They wrote their news articles and think pieces, the developers defended their work, gaming outlets wrote about that too, and that was that. Horizon became “old news” by then, a death sentence for any story in the gaming press, and reviews haven’t improved much since then.

I’ve been in the game journalism scene long enough to know the old ways of doing things doesn’t work. YouTube, despite its hive of scum and villainy feel a lot of the time, has taken game criticism in exciting new directions. With critics there like Noah Caldwell-Gervais, Raycevick, and Errant Signal to name a few, it’s hard to feel like YouTube isn’t the future. It has nothing to do with “pivoting” to video, and everything to do with content.

YouTubers have taken game criticism to new heights, and traditional outlets continue to trade in an outdated, lacking system. The good ones don’t chain themselves to a release date, or follow a rigid structure for defining what the game they’re discussing is. They examine the game, breaking down it’s component parts both in the game itself, and the outside factors that made that game and influenced those that created and played it, and determine for themselves how it all fits together, and how they view it.

Flawed Perfection

Hopefully with Horizon’s DLC The Frozen Wilds releasing tomorrow, this discussion can find new life. The most telling thing about reviews is the lack of the most important component in all of this: you can believe that Horizon Zero Dawn appropriates from Native American culture, but you can still think it’s a great game.

Guerilla did plunder Native American history, and they should have included Native Americans characters in the game as well as their culture. There’s a big story point later in the game about a group of people wanting to build a world full of diverse people, yet they didn’t include any Native Americans in a part of the world where there really is a large Native American presence. Despite that though, I also think Horizon Zero Dawn is the best game of the year, perhaps even the best of the decade.

That is the beauty of criticism. You don’t have to deduct points for something, you simply state your belief. Everyone is imbued with their own personal biases and beliefs, and the current discussion over “bias reviews” is the only place reviews were only ever going to end up. Treating criticism like a product review doesn’t create the belief that game reviews are bias, but that that’s a bad thing.

Critique will set you free.

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Josh Griffiths

Staff Writer at New Normative
Josh still doesn’t know what to write for these things. Should these be written in first or third person? I could go second person if I were a decent writer. Instead, you’ll just read about his love of indie games, and cheese.

Comments

24 responses to “Horizon Zero Dawn Shows the Problem with Game Reviews”

  1. Interesting read. What is a game review for? It’s indeed tricky terrain. Games are entertainment, time-wasters, art, high-art, social watering hole, competitive sport, spectator sport, platforms for ‘Discourse’, platforms for hate, fodder for microcelebrity and income stream (Twitch), educational experiences, de-stressers, mental health maintenance tools, and a lot of other things, to a lot of people, or even to the same person at different times of the day.

    As someone of native heritage in America, I will say that I’d like to see at least a little more attention paid to the cultural appropriation aspects. But I agree that the achievements of a game should not simply be disregarded and overshadowed by one particular aspect (like appropriation in H:ZD), but rather taken into consideration as a complex set of things that worked well, didn’t so much, and why, in the context of the greater industry and the developer (AAA, A, indie, etc).

    1. justaperson Avatar
      justaperson

      It’s not tricky at all: give prospective buyers a rundown of how well the game performs and is put together, as well as a general overview of its contents so that we consumers can determine if that title is something we wish to buy. It’s not to tell me how I feel about a game, but to tell me if it’s something I might be interested in. In that respect, the reviewer’s likes and dislikes are utterly irrelevant; unfortunately, video game journalists have forgotten that.

      I’d like an explanation of how this is cultural appropriation, and how you’d correct that for this game about civilization building back up from… nothing.

  2. sampson3121 Avatar
    sampson3121

    why can’t games just be for fun? why does one culture own a look or belief? why, if you’ve played the game you would know(SPOILERS) that humanity lost most of their cultural identity after the the event, would genetic clones have a native identity when most records of the past were https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e4b779bbb2253980be58e57d33da060c1e79da5de146331099b8423556d78ab.jpg destroyed?
    How do you know that Teersa isn’t genetically created from native americans? they sure can’t say she is because it would not make sense that we or they would know this.

    the game didn’t only use Native American traditions it used traditions from around the world.

    the semi people are just one example.

    understand what you’re talking about before you write about a topic. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fc55d05aaef787d01e6d5c14916d1cd4453fe31286d1005092404794157c3f4d.jpg

    1. Really admire your reaching. Don’t let logic stop you!

      1. justaperson Avatar
        justaperson

        What logic is stopping him?

        Logic says this complaint is silly. Native Americans don’t exist anymore. Black people don’t exist anymore. White people don’t exist anymore. Ethnicity as we know it plays no part in the world of Horizon; why, then- and how- would you go about making special mention of that group?

        And why would a reviewer need to mention it one way or the other? It’s their job to tell us whether a game has been executed well, whether all its parts function correctly and cohesively. I don’t want a reviewer’s opinion on whether or not he feels a certain culture has been appropriated; I don’t want her to tell me how I should feel about the depiction of women or minorities in a game. I can do that on my own.

      2. sampson3121 Avatar
        sampson3121

        please explain how I’m reaching

        1. This line: “How do you know that Teersa isn’t genetically created from native Americans?”

          1. justaperson Avatar
            justaperson

            That’s not reaching, though. Have you played the game?

          2. sampson3121 Avatar
            sampson3121

            my point is how do you know what ancestry she is? she could be Native or maybe not but i find it funny that people assume that there are no native american descendants in the game.

          3. justaperson Avatar
            justaperson

            You never answered the question. Or any questions, actually.

    2. Why can’t games be for more than fun? Every other art form I can think of has themes and meaning. Games have a unique ability to make the player feel consequences. To demand they be less is just a sad proposition.

      1. sampson3121 Avatar
        sampson3121

        headache. don’t want everything i play to have some special meaning. want meaning in a story? make a game.

  3. The Watcher Avatar
    The Watcher

    “Critique will set you free.”

    Indeed

    I am glad there is still journalists with a sanity still intact.
    You are noted for your honesty and sense of truth.
    I also know a well known YouTuber who rather discuss a game sensibly rather than fight about it.
    This is the only way public perception of video games will mature and educate.
    If the gaming media have 10 more journos like you then we will see a brighter future ahead.

    1. justaperson Avatar
      justaperson

      There is no sanity in seeing conflicts where they don’t exist.

      1. The Watcher Avatar
        The Watcher

        Any cure for corporate game reviewers is sanity enough for me. We need more critics not corporate game reviewers, bud.
        More critics and less corporate reviewers is better for video games.

        1. justaperson Avatar
          justaperson

          Corporate reviewers? What does that even mean? At least use commonly understood phrases instead of making things up if you expect people to converse with you. This isn’t advocating for critics, either. It’s advocating for pushing agendas, even if it’s not necessary.

          1. The Watcher Avatar
            The Watcher

            If you can’t comprehend that term then do some more research.

          2. justaperson Avatar
            justaperson

            Do research on what? Incompetence? You’re stringing words together that don’t make sense together, and then acting all super smart when somebody calls you out on your BS. You’re not super smart. You’re not normal smart. You’re making stuff up to support this article, but what you’re saying makes no sense, just like the article.

          3. The Watcher Avatar
            The Watcher

            Cool it down, my no comprendo amigo, it’s okay. You don’t have to understand everything.

          4. justaperson Avatar
            justaperson

            If you aren’t capable of making comments that makes sense, that’s your fault. It’s disingenuous of you to try and spin it like you said something mindblowing.

          5. Deleting for personal attacks.

  4. The issue has gone off the deep end lately, which is why people roll their eyes. The perception that something is wrong with Horizons, then nit picking it and (some people) saying that the game shouldn’t show some things, because of “cultural appropriation” is pure nonsense. Culture doesn’t belong to anybody. I am Greek, we go back thousands of years and I don’t get upset and demand action when I see our “culture” being used (and abused) in games like God of War, Age of Mythology and countless other games that have come up over the years. I am referring to dress, myths, our country, culturally significant people, etc, etc. Other greeks DO get upset, but so what, they don’t “own” it. North American Natives do not “own it”.

    Of course, somebody will try and argue why THEIR situation is different and why they deserve special treatment but that doesn’t make them right, it just means they are arguing. If you win, I want a royalty fee from Sony for God of War and I want the Greek Government to sign off on the appropriate use of our culture. I mean, why not?

    Anyways Josh, I don’t give a crap about what culture was used for influencing the game, be it Indians running around in greek dresses or greeks running around in native garb. I want to know if the game is good or not, how it performs and you know… what most game reviews have been doing for the last 30 years. I suspect the majority of gamers would agree with me, because they just don’t really care about how somebody felt “offended” and for good reason, “being offended” changes from person to person and shouldn’t be grounds for taking action on something, be you christian, muslim, gay, hetero, male, female, a kid, an adult or whatever.

    1. justaperson Avatar
      justaperson

      Well said.

    2. ThatOneGuy007 Avatar
      ThatOneGuy007

      Best comment!

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