Update: Just as these Horizon Zero Dawn comparisons emerged on Reddit, tech experts Digital Foundry have published an exhaustive 20-minute deep dive into the remaster. A lot of the content is as you’d expect: this is an absolutely tremendous upgrade from Nixxes, which significantly transforms the original – itself already a handsome game.

The foliage improvements paired with the new lighting and skin shaders really do significantly upgrade the presentation, and it looks like a generational leap for the release. Digital Foundry also points to some often overlooked details, like the integration of a new audio mix which takes advantage of PS5’s underappreciated 3D audio. There are some great examples in the video.

YouTube Video
Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube150k
Watch on YouTube

Give it a watch if you’re interested in the upgrades here, or just appreciate the original comparison pictures we posted earlier today. Clearly, though, this is a fantastic remaster – bordering on remake.

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

Original Article: Many didn’t think Horizon Zero Dawn needed a remaster, but the work Nixxes has put into this native PS5 version of the open world game is extraordinary. An eye-opening comparison shows an impressive difference between the original PS4 release and its new-gen edition.

In addition to better textures and busier scenes, the lighting has been completely redone, and now it pops off the screen to an astonishing degree. Take this shot of the Meridian marketplace – it’s heaving with activity now, and its lit properly to illuminate the entire scene:

These Horizon Zero Dawn PS5 Comparisons Are Absolutely Insane 2
Image: Reddit
These Horizon Zero Dawn PS5 Comparisons Are Absolutely Insane 3

The comparisons caught the attention of Guerrilla bigwig Jan-Bart Van Beek, who explained the original game was his team’s “first open world game” and thus it was “really hard to check every nook and cranny of the world to see if the lighting functioned correctly”. Nixxes has fixed all that.

While the original is still a handsome game, it’s alarming just how much the remaster improves. Take a look at this scene for a glimpse of the dramatic increase in texture quality:

And now compare this sprawling landscape. With the introduction of Horizon Forbidden West’s dynamic cloud technology, the whole scene just looks much more lush and atmospheric:

These Horizon Zero Dawn PS5 Comparisons Are Absolutely Insane 6
Image: Reddit
These Horizon Zero Dawn PS5 Comparisons Are Absolutely Insane 7

Considering this is just a $10 upgrade for existing owners, we think Guerrilla and Nixxes have done an outstanding job here. The improvements are obvious, and while you may have very little desire to replay Horizon Zero Dawn right now, it’s nice to know a higher quality version will exist on PS5, ready for when you want to revisit it.

[source reddit.com]