Horizon Zero Dawn Adds NG+ and Extreme Difficulty

Horizon Zero Dawn might not have been as easy to remember as the new Legend of Zelda game, nor did it seem to make as many waves, but no one can deny that it's a fantastic game that captures all the best things about open-world sandboxes and puts us in the shoes of someone who's both relatable and fun in her own way. While the story might play second fiddle to holy crap mechanical dinosaurs, there can be little argument that holy crap mechanical dinosaurs is still a pretty compelling reason to play... and something The Legend of Zelda simply doesn't have.

I'm sorry Nintendo fans. Step the frick-frack up.

The game is completely single-player and the new DLC that was announced at this year's E3 is still on its way, but development for the base game hasn't stopped: in fact, publisher Guerrilla Games just released a new patch for the game, 1.30, which adds a whole bunch of new features and content to the game, giving players even more to chew on while they wait to explore the frozen Arctic.

Patch 1.3, in addition to your typical bug fixes, comes with a New Game Plus mode, which allows you to play the game over again while keeping your levels and items. This way, you can keep your amazing gear and plow through the early stages, although the level cap is still at 50, so, don't expect to be hitting level 100 this way. That won't stop you from getting XP, though, or finding the enhanced armor and achievements that can only be acquired in NG+.

The second big addition to the game is the Extreme Difficulty setting, which will "enhance machine senses and behavior and will limit player health regen and other additional smaller tweaks." So if you're a real glutton for punishment, you can go ahead and give that a go, but be warned: once you toggle it on, you can't reduce your difficulty again in that playthrough. So it's best to be careful!

So that's pretty cool. Not exactly The Witcher levels of generosity but hey, never look a gift horse in the mouth. Now we just have to see if The Frozen Wilds is worth the wait.