Horizon Zero Dawn's fresh remaster is the best way to enjoy the game, even on handheld gaming PCs

HardwareHandheld Gaming PCsHorizon Zero Dawn’s fresh remaster is the best way to enjoy the game, even on handheld gaming PCsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Sony)

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, using the game�s Photo Mode

Guerrilla Games, the developers behind Horizon Zero Dawn, has pulled out all the stops with its remaster, with the help of Nixxes Software for the PC port. Sure, it’s still exactly the same game (it’s not aremake) but the original’s graphics look a little bit second-tier compared to whatHorizon Forbidden Westhas to offer.

Well, not any more, and it’s a smorgasbord of visual effects, high-resolution textures, and luscious lighting. And to make sure it can run on as many gaming PCs as possible, you’ve got the full gamut of upscalers and frame generation systems, too.

Weighing in at 105 GB, the remaster is 33 GB larger than the first PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn. It’s not just a whole stack of better textures—the characters and environments have been rejigged to be much richer in appearance, while still true to the original.

The larger cities are especially nice in the remaster and they look far more like what you’d expect in a world that nature has reclaimed much of. If, like me, you’ve played the original game an awful lot, much will look familiar but certain aspects will feel noticeably altered—the same furniture, so to speak, but somewhat rearranged.

I’ve not delved into all the regions yet, but initial impressions are very encouraging and the machines look fantastic with maximum quality settings.

Image1of4(Image credit: Sony)(Image credit: Sony)(Image credit: Sony)(Image credit: Sony)

Image1of4

(Image credit: Sony)(Image credit: Sony)(Image credit: Sony)(Image credit: Sony)

(Image credit: Sony)

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, taken using the game’s Photo Mode

(Image credit: Sony)

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, taken using the game’s Photo Mode

(Image credit: Sony)

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

(Image credit: Sony)

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, using the game’s Photo Mode

Of course, all of the added visual goodies come at a cost and if you go all out the quality settings, you’ll be faced with quite a dint in performance. Fortunately, you’ve got upscaling and frame generation to claw some of the frames back. Where the first Horizon Zero Dawn just had FSR 2 and DLSS, you’ve now got the latest version of AMD, Intel, and Nvidia’s systems.

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In the case of FSR, that means you get AMD’s shader-based frame interpolater and best of all, it’s the version that’s decoupled from the upscaler. So if you have an Nvidia graphics card that can run the game, you’ll be able to use upscalingandframe generation, even if it’s not an RTX card or an RTX 40-series model.

Image1of2Horizon Zero Dawn—Max quality, DLSS Quality(Image credit: Sony)Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered - Max quality, DLSS Quality(Image credit: Sony)

Image1of2

Horizon Zero Dawn—Max quality, DLSS Quality(Image credit: Sony)Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered - Max quality, DLSS Quality(Image credit: Sony)

Horizon Zero Dawn—Max quality, DLSS Quality(Image credit: Sony)

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn, using the game’s Photo Mode

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered - Max quality, DLSS Quality(Image credit: Sony)

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, using the game’s Photo Mode

With theROG Ally X, I’d get around 42 fps on average in gameplay using the ‘Original’ quality preset (aka Low quality) and no upscaling. In the remaster, the handheld only achieves around 25 fps with the Low preset and 30 fps with Very Low.

But slap on a bit of FSR Balanced upscaling and frame generation, and you almost get 60 fps with the Low quality preset. Even the 1% low frame rates are over 30 fps.

It’s not all perfect, though. Some of the character models seem to have a bit too much of a light glow around them and while surface reflections are better, they’re still screen space ones, which can lead to some funky visuals at times. And not every texture appears to be better, too.

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On my main PC, with a Core i7 14700KF and an RTX 4080 Super, the game runs extremely well with DLSS Quality enabled, though it’s only right that I should point out I’ve not tested many areas yet.

While I don’t have aSteam Deckon hand to test whether the game runs fine, there are enough options within Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered to ensure that most PC platforms are covered.

You’ll probably need to use the Low or Very Low preset, along with a fair bit of FSR upscaling and frame generation, but as the game isn’t fast-paced and frantic, the added input lag from using interpolation shouldn’t be an issue.

Sony, Guerrilla Games,et alhave done sterling work to make this remaster the best version of Horizon Zero Dawn it could possibly be, short of a full remake.

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