Horizon: Zero Dawn is among several contenders in a stacked 2017 for Game of the Year candidates. There are some years where Horizon would probably have been the clear consensus pick, but in a year with other titans like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Persona 5, NieR Automata, Cuphead and many more, it might get lost in the shuffle a bit.

Still, there’s no doubt that Horizon has been met with critical and commercial acclaim. Gamers have loved it for its fresh take on the open-world genre, its unique band of interesting characters, and its gorgeous graphics (it’s easily the prettiest game I’ve ever played, and well worth the upgrade to the PS4 Pro). It’s refreshing to see a character like Aloy get to take center stage as the protagonist in an adventure game, and not be sexualized or dismissed along the way.

The soundtrack is solid overall, although a few tracks get a bit too atmospheric for my liking. To be clear, they work great in-game as a quiet accompaniment as you’re wandering around this frozen, dangerous continent, but it’s not generally the kind of music I’ll listen to outside of a game. Prologue sets the stage perfectly for what’s to come…a building crescendo of orchestra and vocals that sound mysterious and gentle at the same time. Check it out below.

Prologue

Music to My Ears covers soundtracks or individual songs from video games. You can view all posts in the series by clicking here.