At its State of Play 2024 event, Sony officially announced a remaster for Horizon: Zero Dawn. Horizon: Zero Dawn came out on 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. Moreover, it will have new conversations mocap and improved cameras. And, well, that’s it. No Ray Tracing. Just some tweaks here and there.
Now I’m certain that in a side-by-side comparison, we will be able to see some slight improvements. However, you can already get those “better” shaders by using a Reshade. Not only that but you can also add screen-space RTGI and RTAO. These alone can make, in some places, the original game look better than the remaster.
At this point, PC gamers can start using Reshade to “remaster” all the latest games. I mean, that’s almost what Sony is doing right now. So, we can get one step ahead and create HD Remasters that even current-gen consoles may not be able to match. How ironic is this?
And I really don’t get why Sony decided to remaster the first Horizon. Is this a result of their failed GaaS strategy? Are they “remastering” PS4 games – as it’s easier to do it – so that they can quickly increase their profits? It simply does not make sense.
Anyway, the good news here is that the remaster will be offered at $9.99 for those who already own it. And again. I don’t really see the point of upgrading to it. It’s not like you’ll get a generational leap. You’ll simply get some minor graphical improvements. So, why should any PC gamer purchase the upgrade?
At least Sony did not reveal a remaster of Days Gone at its event. There were rumors these past few days that we’d be getting a Days Gone Remaster. And while it may be in development, Sony has not officially revealed it. Days Gone is another game that does not need a remaster, at least on PC.
Go ahead and take a look at the trailer and see for yourselves what this “remaster” is all about!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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