Horizon Zero Dawn – the feminist action game we've been waiting for

Guerrilla Games' have created a brave, independent, multi-dimensional heroine to lead this highly satisfying mission

Of all the ways Horizon: Zero Dawn could have begun, we certainly weren't expecting a Lion King tribute. This is, after all, a far-future, post-apocalyptic adventure set in a brutal world populated by monstrous robots - hardly Disney material. But sure enough, the game opens with Aloy, the flame-haired warrior who has become a fixture of Sony's PlayStation 4 marketing, as a baby, carried on the back of her mentor, Rost. When he reaches the edge of a cliff, he holds the child aloft to the Goddess, screaming her name into the abyss.

He doesn't then break into The Circle of Life, but it's clear Aloy isn't just any old futuristic warrior. Last month developer Guerrilla games held a preview event for the game, providing hands-on time with its opening hour. And it's clear what the team is envisaging is actually a very modern heroine; a Lara Croft designed for the 21st century, meant to inspire gamers not only with her strength, complexity and ferocity, but with her femininity. However, for what feels like the first time in years, we've got a female lead who isn't sexualised at all.