Games Like Horizon Zero Dawn

What Made Horizon Zero Dawn Work

Horizon is a hunting game. The robot dinosaurs have visible components you can strip with the right arrow, and every fight is a plan made before it starts. The open world is the frame; the machine combat and the slow reveal of what happened to the world are the substance.

Horizon Zero Dawn is Guerrilla Games' 2017 PlayStation 4 open-world action RPG, later released on PC in 2020 and remastered for PS5 in 2024. Aloy hunts animal-shaped machines with a bow, a tripcaster and a focus device that highlights weak points, and the story slowly uncovers why the old world ended. Fans usually want either the hunting — reading a large creature and taking it apart — or another open world with a genuinely intriguing mystery underneath it.

Also written as Horizon, Horizon Dawn — same game, same list.

9 Games Like Horizon Zero Dawn

1. Mo

   1.Monster Hunter: World(2018)

   The genre Horizon is really in — study the creature, prepare, then hunt it.

   Why it fits: Capcom's 2018 action RPG for PS4, Xbox One and PC is built on the same loop: track a large creature, learn its attacks, break specific parts and craft gear from what drops. Hunts are self-contained missions rather than one continuous open world.

   What is different: No story to speak of and no open world to wander; each hunt is a mission, and the combat is much harder to learn.

   Where to play it: PS4, Xbox One and PC.

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2. Ho

   2.Horizon Forbidden West(2022)

   The sequel, with better traversal and a bigger machine roster.

   Why it fits: Guerrilla's 2022 sequel for PS4 and PS5 (PC in 2024) continues Aloy's story in the western United States, adds gliding, diving and climbing anywhere marked, and expands the roster of machines and weapons.

   What is different: Much the same, with a busier map and a more crowded quest log.

   Where to play it: PS4, PS5 and PC.

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3. Th

   3.The Witcher 3(2015)

   Preparation-led combat and the best open-world writing.

   Why it fits: CD Projekt Red's 2015 RPG has you prepare for monster contracts with oils, bombs and potions matched to the creature, which mirrors how Horizon rewards studying a machine before fighting it.

   What is different: Sword-and-sign melee instead of bows and traps, and a much greyer, adult story.

   Where to play it: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch and PC.

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4. Gh

   4.Ghost of Tsushima(2020)

   The most enjoyable open world of that generation to simply move through.

   Why it fits: Sucker Punch Productions released this open-world samurai game on PS4 in 2020 (PS5 and PC later). It shares Horizon's third-person exploration, bow combat and PlayStation-exclusive scale, with the wind replacing waypoints for navigation.

   What is different: Sword duels rather than ranged hunting, and there are no giant machines.

   Where to play it: PS4, PS5 and PC.

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5. El

   5.Elden Ring(2022)

   If you want the exploration with far more demanding combat.

   Why it fits: FromSoftware's 2022 open-world action RPG, released on PS4, PS5, Xbox and PC, has the same large-creature fights and freedom to explore, but asks far more of you in combat.

   What is different: Far harder, with a story you have to dig for.

   Where to play it: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

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6. As

   6.Assassin's Creed Origins(2017)

   The same era of open-world design, and the closest structural sibling.

   Why it fits: Ubisoft Montreal's 2017 game set in Ptolemaic Egypt was the first Assassin's Creed built as a full action RPG, with loot, levels and bow classes, released the same year as Horizon.

   What is different: Historical Egypt and melee-first combat; no creatures to study.

   Where to play it: PS4, Xbox One and PC.

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7. Go

   7.God of War(2018)

   Sony's other big adventure, with a much tighter story.

   Why it fits: Santa Monica Studio's 2018 PS4 reboot moves Kratos to Norse mythology. It is less open than Horizon but shares the over-the-shoulder camera, crafting upgrades and a companion-driven story.

   What is different: Linear, melee-driven and much more focused on one relationship.

   Where to play it: PS4 (plays on PS5) and PC.

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8. De

   8.Death Stranding(2019)

   For the post-collapse world and the sense of a mystery underneath it.

   Why it fits: Kojima Productions' 2019 game (PS4, then PC) is set in a post-collapse America you cross on foot, delivering cargo. Like Horizon, it is a game about the aftermath of an ending, revealed slowly.

   What is different: Combat is a minor part — it is about travel, carrying cargo and a very strange story.

   Where to play it: PS4, PS5 and PC.

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9. Me

   9.Metal Gear Solid V(2015)

   Approach-planning as the core pleasure, in an open world.

   Why it fits: Kojima Productions released The Phantom Pain in 2015. Its open-world outposts reward scouting and marking enemies before acting, the same reconnaissance-first thinking Horizon's focus encourages.

   What is different: Stealth-first and military; no hunting and not much world to look at.

   Where to play it: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

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Where to Start

Play Horizon Forbidden West if you have not — it is the same game improved in every direction. After that, Monster Hunter: World is the pick if the machine-hunting was what you loved, and Ghost of Tsushima if it was the open world itself.

How We Picked These Games

Picks had to offer at least one of Horizon's two pillars: planned, weak-point combat against large enemies, or a third-person open world with a story worth finishing. We weighted the hunting more heavily, because it is what nothing else quite replaces, and we included the sequel because many people asking have not yet played it.

Which One to Play, by What You Liked

If you liked Horizon Zero Dawn for tearing components off machines, try Monster Hunter: World. Study the creature, break its parts, craft from what drops.

If you liked Horizon Zero Dawn for Aloy and the mystery of the old world, try Horizon Forbidden West and Death Stranding. The sequel, and the other PlayStation game about reconstructing what came before.

If you liked Horizon Zero Dawn for the bow and the stealth, try Ghost of Tsushima and Metal Gear Solid V. Scout, mark, then strike — both reward planning a fight.

If you liked Horizon Zero Dawn for a big open RPG, try The Witcher 3 and Assassin's Creed Origins. Large worlds of contracts and side quests, released within two years of Horizon.