At its State of Play 2024 event, Sony officially announced a remaster for Horizon: Zero Dawn. Horizon: Zero Dawn came to PC in 2020. And at least in my opinion, this is one of the most unnecessary and pointless remasters I can think of.
According to Sony, the remaster will have better 3D models, shaders and textures. There will also be new conversation mocaps and improved cameras. And, well, that's it. No ray tracing. Just a few tweaks here and there.
I'm sure we'll see some slight improvements in a direct comparison. However, you can get these “better” shaders just by using a reshade. In addition, you can also add screen-space RTGI and RTAO. These alone can make the original game look better than the remaster in some places.
Starting now, PC gamers can start using Reshade to “remaster” all of their current games. I mean, that's pretty much what Sony is doing right now, so we can stay one step ahead and create HD remasters that even current-gen consoles might not be able to keep up with. How ironic is that?
And I really don't understand why Sony decided to remaster the first Horizon. Is this a result of their failed GaaS strategy? Are they “Remastering“PS4 games – because it's easier to do – so they can increase their profits quickly? That just doesn't make sense.”
Anyway, the good news is that the remaster will be available for $9.99 to anyone who already owns it. And again, I don't see the point in upgrading to it. It's not like you're making a generational leap. You're just getting some minor graphical improvements. So why would a PC gamer buy the upgrade?
At least Sony didn't reveal a Days Gone remaster at their event. There have been rumors over the past few days that we're getting a Days Gone remaster. And while it may be in development, Sony hasn't officially revealed it. Days Gone is another game that doesn't need a remaster, at least on PC.
Watch the trailer and see for yourself what this “New edition“ is everything!
John is the founder and editor-in-chief of DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fanatic and is a huge supporter of the modding and indie communities. Before founding DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. Although he is a diehard PC gamer, his gaming roots lie on consoles. John loved – and still loves – the 16-bit consoles and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. However, the PC platform won him over consoles. This was mainly due to 3DFX and its legendary dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on “The Evolution of PC Graphics Cards”.
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