Horizon Zero Dawn
Hacker ApprovedRanked 6 of 12 action adventure games by recommenders
Recommended for its story and world, which people say holds up well. Critics find the gameplay stale and report frame rate drops.
Recommended for its story and world, which people say holds up well. Critics find the gameplay stale and report frame rate drops.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 77%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Strong story and storytelling
“The best reveal was not that he accidentally liquified the biosphere, but that he doomed generations of re-seeded humans”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “Claude Opus 4.6” “Horizon zero dawn and forbidden west have a good story and storytelling but gameplay wise it's a bit stale.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “GTA 6 Physical Copies Won't Include a Disc, Will Just Be a Code in a Box” “I did like "Gaia" in Horizon Zero Dawn (game) because it made a great story though.”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “Iceland declares ocean-current instability a national security risk”
Other action adventure games people recommend
The four most recommended other action adventure games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breath of the Wild | 27 | 8 | 77% | 9 | — | Approved |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | 17 | 3 | 85% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Shadow of the Colossus | 14 | 2 | 88% | 4 | — | Approved |
| God of War | 12 | 6 | 67% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Horizon Zero DawnThis page | 10 | 3 | 77% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
10 of the 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“GoG does not prevent the publisher from instituting their own launcher/DRM/malware scheme”
“for daytime HZD did do that quite well”
“Horizon zero dawn and forbidden west have a good story and storytelling but gameplay wise it's a bit stale.”
“Horizon Zero Dawn and Last of Is both lovingly demonstrated”
“Horizon Zero Dawn is much worse, and quite often drops to seconds-per-frame”
“Of course I don't need every game to look like Horizon Zero Dawn.”
“The best reveal was not that he accidentally liquified the biosphere, but that he doomed generations of re-seeded humans”
“Horizon Zero Dawn is not only terrible”
“I did like "Gaia" in Horizon Zero Dawn (game) because it made a great story though.”
“Zero Dawn was the perfect length if you ask me.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.