Exploring the Desert Biome in Horizon Zero Dawn

Horizon Zero Dawn has become one of my favourite open-world games. Its beauty is unmatched, and the gameplay is enjoyable, complemented by a solid story and world-building. This post-apocalyptic world, overrun by dangerous, advanced machines with humans grouped into primitive tribes, offers a unique and interesting appeal.

It has a lot of different landscapes and biomes. I recently discovered a huge desert area, and today, I want to show you its beauty.

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One of the machines that serves as a radio outpost and unlocks the clouded areas of the map is the Tallneck. They are the giraffes of this machine kingdom. You have to scale them, reach the top, and override them. This reveals all the points of interest in the area. So naturally, when I go to a different part of the world, I look for these Tallnecks and uncover the secrets there.

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There were a lot of machines guarding this area, so I had to clear them first.

This desert section has very low natural resources, which is compensated for by a high number of dangerous machines.

There is debris of the ancient civilization and dead machines scattered all across this region. They are easily visible too. The sands and rocks look very promising. Even though I am playing on medium to low settings, every frame of this game still looks gorgeous.

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I am no geologist, so I don't know exactly how these patterns on the rocks are formed. But my guess is years of wind and water erosion. Water erosion in a desert? Maybe not. But in any case, they look cool. Kudos to the developers for putting in the effort to make these structures that are usually found in many deserts throughout the world.

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This region is one of the advanced areas in the game, so you can expect tough enemies here. I saw a Corrupted Zone nearby that Tallneck. Clearing these zones means defeating machines that got corrupted. These are tougher than normal machines and deal corruption damage.

I went to see what kind of machines I would find in that zone. I saw three Behemoths — large, rhinoceros-like machines. Three of them in the same place, and corrupted too. That was quite a challenge, but I did it with some planning and good execution. Traps, tripwires, and bombs helped a lot.

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That is exactly how I felt once I cleared that area of corruption.

There is very little vegetation in the deserts — most of it is dried grass with a sprinkle of shrubs here and there. But one plant that is most prominent here is the cactus.

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There are some clever traps hidden in the landscape too. Once I saw the carcass of a Behemoth. As soon as I looted it, I was attacked by many machines that somehow became aware of my presence when I did that.

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You can see the vast expanse of this desert from the next shot. Aloy is standing on top of a large sand dune under the night sky. As far as the eye can see, there’s the dusty atmosphere, the sandy dunes, and the dark clouds.

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Contrast that image with the following:

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Such is the diversity of landscapes in the game. But Aloy is up for any challenge. She’s always ready with her trusty bow and strong armour.

Let me know if you liked those shots and which one is your favourite among them. Mine would be Aloy hanging on the Tallneck.