Horizon Zero Dawn's Broken Whistle Mechanic Was A Thing Of Beauty

thegamer.com:

I started Horizon Zero Dawn over this week. I’ve written in the past how I’ve failed time and time again to get into Guerilla’s open world epic, but something about Forbidden West finally changed my tune as I found myself pouring hours into the sequel as I became eager to uncover each and every little secret it had waiting for me. But now I’ve gone back to the beginning, and one silly, yet brilliant feature from the original has me reeling.

Stealth in Forbidden West is more refined. Aloy now has a selection of specific stealth attacks and added abilities that make the act of luring wild machines and hostile humans over to your hiding place that much easier. However, enemies are also smarter and more reactive, making it harder to wipe out a field of watchers or take over a rebel camp without being spotted. I prefer this approach, but there’s one absent mechanic I miss dearly.

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In the early hours of Horizon Zero Dawn you can unlock the ability to whistle. An innocent gesture, but one with deadly capabilities when used correctly. As the studio’s first game outside the Killzone franchise, Aloy’s debut was filled with teething issues and small annoyances that would all be addressed in the sequel. It’s charming in a way, and the whistle fits neatly within that definition. Use it while crouched in long grass and the nearest living thing will come running, eager to investigate the sound for themselves.

You can either murder them immediately or override machines in an instant, a process that can be repeated over and over again so long as you remain far enough away from huge groups of machines and/or people. It’s busted, and turns what the game clearly hopes to be a robust