Editing Machines (Horizon) (section)

== Reception and analysis ==

=== Gameplay and encounters ===
Reviewers have consistently praised the machines as the standout feature of the franchise. ''[[Game Informer]]''{{'s}} Jeff Marchiafava stated that the machines "absolutely steal the show" by injecting the world with danger and making combat feel unique, keeping the player constantly engaged alongside the "[[Pavlovian response]]" of open-world scavenging tasks.<ref name="GIHZDReview" /> ''[[IGN]]''{{'s}} Lucy O'Brien praised the tactical depth of the combat, noting that the ability to scan the distinct species for weak points and physically shoot off their components fundamentally changes how each fight plays out. She highlighted the ferocity of the machines, which act authentically animalistic and ensure that every major battle maintains a vital sense of danger.<ref name="IGNHZDReview" />

Several machine types have been highlighted as standout encounters due to their complex designs and challenging hunting mechanics. The Thunderjaw is widely considered one of the most iconic and dangerous machines in the game; these fights can turn into lengthy "battles of attrition" where a key strategy involves using precision to detach its powerful disc launcher and turn its own firepower against it.<ref name="GIHZDReview" /><ref name="InverseHZD" /> Other notable combat machines include the Stormbird, a highly mobile aerial threat; the Stalker, which uses [[optical camouflage]] to ambush the player; and the Snapmaw, a mechanical [[crocodile]] that harvests solar energy and spits super-cooled liquid.<ref name="InverseHZD" /><ref name="FTAP" /> Conversely, the Tallneck was singled out by ''GamingBolt'' as a creative, majestic take on the traditional [[open world|open-world]] map tower, being the only machine in the game that is entirely peaceful and cannot be harmed.<ref name="GBHZDMachines" />

For ''Forbidden West'', critics noted the increased deadliness and smarter AI of the machines, appreciating the introduction of dynamic combat elements, such as machines kicking up dust that the player could use for stealth.<ref name="IGNHFWMachines" /> ''IGN''{{'s}} Simon Cardy praised the sequel's combat, concluding that battles with the larger machines reach a scale and quality that many other games aspire to for their grand finales.<ref name="IGNHFWReview" /> However, the machine encounters have faced some criticism regarding mechanical bloat and pacing. Critics noted that ''Forbidden West'' occasionally overwhelmed the player with an excess of convoluted weapon variants, overwhelming skill trees, and tedious upgrade grinds.<ref name="EurogamerHFWReview" /><ref name="KotakuHFWReview" /> Furthermore, while the AI upgrades were praised for increasing difficulty, Wesley LeBlanc from ''Game Informer'' noted that the machines were highly aggressive, warning that the combat was very challenging and the player could be defeated quickly.<ref name="GIAgressive" /> Combined with punishingly fast damage when Aloy is knocked down, and melee mechanics that remained largely risky or unviable against larger machines-a criticism carried over from ''Zero Dawn'',<ref name="GSpotHZDReview" /><ref name="RPGFanHFWCompleteReview" /> ''[[GamesRadar+]]'' found that encounters could occasionally devolve from careful, tactical hunts into chaotic battles.<ref name="GRHFWReview" />

The adaptation of the machines in spin-off titles received mixed reactions. Cardy praised the VR title ''Call of the Mountain'' for providing a renewed sense of scale and spectacle, turning encounters with previously familiar enemies into "blockbuster scale" experiences.<ref name="IGNHCMReview" /> However, ''[[Eurogamer]]'''{{'s}} Ian Higton noted that the combat felt somewhat restrictive, as major encounters lock the player onto a circular path around the machines rather than allowing for open-world freedom.<ref name="EurogamerHCMPreview" /> Reception to the combat in ''Lego Horizon Adventures'' was similarly mixed. ''IGN''{{'s}} Jada Griffin called the combat a "simple but satisfying exercise", noting that detaching specific machine parts successfully altered enemy behaviours during fights.<ref name="IGNLegoReview" /> Katharine Castle of ''Eurogamer'' similarly highlighted the machine encounters as the game's strongest element, praising the blocky redesigns of the recognisable machines and noting that manoeuvring to target weak points gave the fights a "real sense of pep and challenge".<ref name="EurogamerLegoReview" /> Conversely, ''Nintendo World Report'' felt the translation lacked the precision of the mainline series. They added that the removal of slow-motion aiming made accurately shooting off parts much harder, and that combat could frequently devolve into a chaotic and imprecise experience, particularly when playing in local co-op mode.<ref name="NWRLegoRev" />

=== Visuals and audio ===
The machines have been praised by critics for their highly detailed visual design and complex animation.<ref name="GIMachines" /><ref name="IGNHZDReview" /><ref name="IGNHFWReview" /> Reviewers highlighted the creative blend of natural, animalistic anatomy with functional industrial components, noting that the mechanized fauna felt like a believable part of the [[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|post-apocalyptic]] ecosystem.<ref name="GRAnimals" /><ref name="GSpotHZDReview" /> For ''Forbidden West'', critics praised the massive upgrades to the animation systems, noting how dynamically the machines moved, reacted to their environment, and displayed realistic battle-wear on their armour plating.<ref name="IGNHFWReview" /><ref name="EurogamerHFWReview" /><ref name="IGNHFWDetails" /><ref name="GIHFWMachines" />

The mechanical ecosystem's sound design was lauded for heightening the franchise's immersion.<ref name="GIHZDReview" /><ref name="DenOfGeekHZDPCRev" /> Critics praised the dynamic mix of synthetic, electronic creaks with real-world animal vocalisations, noting that the heavy metallic footsteps, screeching metal, and animal-like roars gave the machines a tangible sense of weight.<ref name="GIMachines" /><ref name="GIHZDReview" /><ref name="IGNFWReview" /> This auditory immersion was further expanded in ''Forbidden West'', with critics highlighting how the soundtrack brilliantly wove heavy electronic synthesisers into traditional acoustic instruments.<ref name="GRHFWReview" /><ref name="RPGFanHFWSoundtrack" /><ref name="GIHFWReview" /> With the release of newer hardware, reviewers also praised the integration of 3D audio and [[DualSense]] controller haptics, noting how the controllers physically mirror the movements of the machines, allowing the player to feel the heavy, rumbling footsteps vibrating through their hands.<ref name="IGNHFWDetails" /><ref name="TRHZDRemasterReview" />

=== Thematic and critical analysis ===
Jesús Fernández-Caro noted that ''Zero Dawn'' blurs the traditional boundaries dividing humans, animals, and machines, placing them all on a shared "continuum of life forms". He identifies Aloy as a "feminine posthuman" whose birth from a machine within a matriarchal society allows her to serve as a bridge between the biological and the technological. Fernández-Caro describes the machines as "postmodern animals" that resist traditional representations of nonhumans as mere tools, instead functioning as a speculative lens to rethink human-animal relations. Furthermore, he emphasises that the narrative uses empathy as the primary key for the player to understand and navigate this ecosystem, ultimately advocating for a mode of coexistence that recognises the value of nonhuman life over human dominance.<ref name="Posthumanism" />

However, while scholars like Fernández-Caro highlight the narrative's themes of [[posthumanism]] and [[ecofeminism]], others have argued that the franchise's gameplay mechanics actively contradict these messages. Andrei Nae and Eirini Bourontzi analyse the mechanical ecosystem as a site of "colonial realism", arguing that the gameplay reinforces colonial and capitalist forms of domination. They point to the "Focus"{{efn|The Focus is a device that can do things such as scan enemies, provide environmental information, and mark targets.<ref name="Focus" />}} and the in-game map as primary colonial tools; the Focus superimposes a "capitalist colonial gaze" that reduces the machines to their "exchange value", while the map facilitates territorial expansion. Because the [[Role-playing video game|RPG]] economy requires the player to systematically hunt and dismantle machines for loot to fund necessary upgrades, Nae and Bourontzi assert that the player is conditioned to act as a "colonial entrepreneur". Further analysing the machines' origins, they note that the Old World military robots use ancient Egyptian nomenclature, such as the "Scarab", "Khopesh", and "Horus", to define them as antagonists through a [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] moral binary. They also evaluate the franchise against Victor Navarro-Remesal's criteria for a "green video game", concluding that it fails because the machines infinitely respawn and their destroyed [[chassis]] eventually vanish without lasting environmental consequence. This design, they argue, promotes a [[neoliberalism|neoliberal]] ideal of "infinite growth in an infinitely regenerating world", where the mechanical ecosystem is treated merely as a commodity for exploitation rather than a community requiring moral consideration.<ref name="ColonialRealism" />

Conversely, other critics have interpreted the human-machine relationship in a much more positive, symbiotic light. In an analysis published by ''First Person Scholar'', Ian Faith argued that the machines successfully create a "hybrid ecology" where the distinctions between organic and synthetic life, as well as [[natural selection]] and [[artificial selection]], become arbitrary. Rather than viewing the hunting of machines as pure [[Exploitation of labour|capitalist exploitation]], Faith wrote that the human tribes practice a healthy [[symbiosis]] with the mechanical ecosystem. By using every part of the machine's "carcass" for clothing, weaponry, and cultural items, the games depict a landscape where production and consumption are moderated with very little waste.<ref name="FirstPersonScholar" /> Lauren Woolbright analysed the mechanical ecosystem through the lens of [[Gaia hypothesis|Gaia theory]], noting that while the game superficially pits nature against technology, the machines ultimately demonstrate how deeply intertwined the two concepts can be when guided by an [[environmental ethics]] of care.<ref name="GaiaTheory" />

Beyond the debate over the franchise's in-game systems, critics have also observed contradictions regarding the franchise's ecological messaging within its real-world production. Scholars such as Alenda Y. Chang have highlighted the "materiality" of the machines, noting a dissonance between the game's environmentalist themes and the massive infrastructure of [[server farm]]s and hardware required to sustain the mechanical ecosystem's high-resolution textures.<ref name="PlayingNature" /> Furthermore, critics have analysed the creation of the machines as an example of the modern video game industry's reliance on globalised labour. While the overarching designs were conceptualised by Guerrilla in the Netherlands, the intricate [[3D modeling|3D modelling]] of the machines' hydraulic joints, armour plates, and internal components was extensively [[Outsourcing|outsourced]] to studios in other countries, such as [[Virtuos]] in China. ''[[The Outline (website)|The Outline]]''{{'s}} Michael Thomsen noted that the immense visual fidelity of the machines is a product of this distributed, outsourced labour pipeline that often obscures individual artistic contributions. Other critics have framed this process as the creation of "asset farms", noting that the machines' animalistic designs were actually the result of highly industrialised and standardised labour practices.<ref name="Outsourcing" />

=== Cultural impact and merchandise ===
The machines' intricate designs have inspired elaborate real-world creations and marketing installations. For [[E3 2016]] to promote ''Zero Dawn'', [[Sony Interactive Entertainment|Sony]] collaborated with special effects company Spectral Motion to construct a 13-foot-long, cable-driven [[animatronic]] Watcher suit that was actively piloted by an operator.<ref name="E32016Watcher" /><ref name="E3WatcherCreation" /> To promote the global launch of ''Forbidden West'' in 2022, PlayStation commissioned massive, life-sized Clawstrider statues and placed them as temporary public installations in cities across five continents, including [[Dubai]], [[London]], [[New York City]], [[Seoul]], and [[Sydney]].<ref name="Clawstriders" />

The machines' narrative was expanded in an official ''Zero Dawn'' comic book series published by [[Titan Comics]], which featured a new breed of killer machines.<ref name="ComicAnnounced" /> In 2020, Steamforged Games released ''Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game'', a semi-cooperative miniatures [[tabletop game]].<ref name="TabletopGame" /> It was subsequently supported by multiple expansion sets adding miniatures of various machines including the Thunderjaw, Stormbird, and Fireclaw.<ref name="TabletopAnnounced" /><ref name="TabletopExpansions" /> The machines have also made multiple cameo appearances in other major video games. Machine-themed armour was featured in a crossover event for ''[[Monster Hunter: World]]'' (2018), and holographic versions of the Watcher and Tallneck appeared in ''[[Death Stranding]]'' (2019).<ref name="WatcherPalico" /><ref name="DeathStrandingHolos" /> The Thunderjaw appears in ''[[Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart]]'' (2021) via a weapon that can summon it from another dimension, while other machines make an appearance in the ''Horizon''-themed level of ''[[Astro Bot]]'' (2024).<ref name="ThunderjawRiftApart" /><ref name="AstroBotMachines" />

Following the release of ''Zero Dawn'' in 2017, the franchise's machines expanded into various merchandise items and collectibles. To coincide with the game's launch, a special "''Horizon Zero Dawn'' Thunderjaw Collection " was produced, featuring a highly detailed statue of the Thunderjaw.<ref name="ThunderjawEdition" /> That same year, two Watcher [[Funko Pop]] variants were released and in 2020, a Thunderjaw Pop was released.<ref name="WatcherPops" /><ref name="ThunderjawPop" /> Also in 2020, a 26-inch premium statue of the Stalker was announced by Prime 1 Studio.<ref name="StalkerStatue" /> Merchandising expanded further alongside the launch of ''Forbidden West'' in 2022. The game's premium Collector's and Regalla editions included statues of the Tremortusk.<ref name="TremortuskStatues" /> That same year, The Lego Group released a 1,222-piece set of the Tallneck.<ref name="LegoTallneck" /> This was followed by high-end collectibles, including a 15-inch Moderoid model kit of the Thunderjaw by [[Good Smile Company]] in 2023.<ref name="ThunderjawModeroid" /> In 2025, a Lego set based on ''Lego Horizon Adventures'' was released, featuring buildable versions of the Shell-Walker and Sawtooth.<ref name="LHALego" /> Later that year, [[Wizards of the Coast]] announced a ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' Secret Lair Drop featuring alternate-art reskins of cards depicting the Thunderjaw, Horus, Tallneck, and Plowhorn.<ref name="MTGCards" /><ref name="MTGBonusCard" />