Tencent has announced a new open world, crafting-based survival game called Light of Motiram, and if comparisons to Sony's own Horizon series aren't immediately obvious, then you may need to book a Specsavers appointment. Clearly copying the overall theming, colourway, enemy design, and post-apocalyptic setting, this is a very blatant imitator of the PlayStation IP. The main character even has red hair!
Catch some footage in the announcement trailer above, but where Light of Motiram tries to differentiate itself is with a gameplay loop focused on crafting and survival ala ARK: Survival Evolved rather than story-focused quests. You'll need to start up your own base, capture and train what the game is calling "Mechanimals", and scavenge for scraps from the colourful wilderness. Facing off against the mechanical machines appears to be structured like a Monster Hunter fight, where up to 10 players can team up in co-op and all take it down together. Funnily enough, the long-rumoured Horizon Online project is aiming for a similar vibe.
Here are some comparison shots to show the resemblance between the machines and character outfit designs:
Light of Motiram has only been confirmed for PC and lacks a release date, so as of right now, we won't have the chance to see just how much of a copycat it is in action. On the face of it, though, the comparisons to Horizon are just as blatant as the ones between Pokémon and Palworld. What do you make of this? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 115
"Can we have HFW?"
"No we have HFW at home"
HFW at home:
I suppose imitation is the best form of flattery!
The money Sony make from suing them might be enough to buy them out of Kadokawa 😂.
To be fair while the robot dinosaurs DO look very "inspired" by Horizon a lot else from combat to the movement (other than deer like mount) looks different, and some of it looks cool, if they can pull if off.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and if Pokemon can inspire Palworld and Breath of the Wild inspire Genshin Impact i'm ALL for this. Games build off games, keep em coming.
Talking about blatant rip offs while neglecting Astrobot who stole every gameplay aspect from Mario and other Nintendo IP.
Well games like this and Palworld, which just blatantly steal from and piggyback on other IP, sadly seems to be the way to make a successful survival game now
Maybe we have a new category called “horizon like”
It may be a game, but the general Chinese knockoff of a known brand is nothing new....
Just remember shoes like Abidas, Daiads, Neke, Mike, or coffee shops like Sunbucks, or fast foods like Pizza Huh, KFG or consoles like X-Boy, Terminator, Game Child, Polystation etc.
Not only is it a blatant rip off of HZD but the section where they are flying on a giant insect comes right out of Warframe, Velocipods in the Cambion Drift.
@bazchillin because only Mario is allowed to be a 3D platformer 🤓
Forbidden East 😂 Nice one Liam
I love how this game does EXACTLY THE SAME THING PALWORLD DID yet the immediate reaction I see rn from the very same people who constantly defend Pocket Pair is:
"Wtf, how is this allowed, this is the most blatant plagiarism, zero originality, they should get sued"
This game is doing exactly the same thing all of you people encouraged this whole past year, why is it suddenly bad? The double standards are hilarious.
Ya know, Playstation didn't invent the concept of robot animals! There's only so many ways you can draw a robot moose!☝️🤓
Mechanimals! I love it!
@themightyant @Mostik
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”- Oscar Wilde.
It looks pretty great tbh😅😅
@Futureshark I love Wilde quotes but games have ALWAYS built upon the ideas of others... unless bad practises like patenting LOTR: Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system are allowed. I am sure this game has some more unique ideas of it's own that will push other games forward.
This is not what they mean when they say “good artists borrow, great artists steal.”
Lazy artists just rip-off.
It's a blatant rip-off, but it doesn't look half bad to be fair
@GADG3Tx87 Pretty sure they have the money already, that money would be more for counter the huge loses from Concord/Firewalk.
IP lawyers saddling up as we speak. Somebody is going to get sued into oblivion.
@bazchillin Nintendo shills are hilarious, keep up the good work chap, making me giggle.
No voice acting in the trailer, so definitely an advantage over the original.
Looks better than horizon, I saw more action in that trailer, than any passion from Aloy.
Hahahaha flying metal bug, horizon don't do that, they make robot dinosaurs and then shout at people for calling them robot dinosaurs. Hahaha
A Chinese company plagiarizing? I AM SHOCKED, SHOCKED!.......Well I'm not that shocked
@Oram77
It was a joke. 🙄
Ah now that is so blatant 😅
That looks like Horizon with balls.
I just hope there also is a Chinese developer looking to create a Killzone rip-off/copycat 🤞🏼
Yeah this game is definitely a rip off of horizon.wow.haha.word up son
I see no resemblance whatsoever
Eh this isn't a problem as long as they have something different that separate with Horizon.
Like Lies of P and Stellar Blade for example. It's clear they copied a lot from Bloodborne and Nier Automata. But they have something different that makes people love the game.
Even SF II has tons of copycat and some of them were great.
Oh it's from Tencent, guess that checks out.
It looks better than Horizon tho lol. God if that comparison pic of the tribal people for Horizon is who I think they are. Their outfits have to be some of the most awful I've seen in all of gaming
@bazchillin you one of those people that saw Astro have springy boxing gloves and thought ninty invented that with Arms?
@themightyant Are you blind? Even the tribes are a 100% rippoff.
It's no War Gods Zeus of Child though.
@PuppetMaster It's a clear rippoff but it's from China what's new.
The funny thing is that, aside from the aesthetic similarities, there's probably going to end up being fewer points of familiarity to Horizon than there was between Astro Bot and Mario, lol.
This seems like a Genshin/BotW situation where the initial aesthetic is heavily inspired by the game it's drawing from, but the gameplay itself isn't really all that similar otherwise.
@JustCameHereToSay
Yep Nintendo fanboy logic. Also Sony's jumping flash came before mario 64.
the temu version doesn‘t look that bad to be honest
@JustCameHereToSay that is not what I am saying but this a case of pot calling the kettle black.
I am a Banjo Kazooie and Jak and Daxter kinda guy myself. But seeing the comparison videos really opened my eyes as to how much homework team Asobi stole from Nintendo made the whole game fall flat in my eyes. Every little whimsical aspect was inspired or copied by a Mario game or other Nintendo IP.
Let's not pretend Sony is free of fault in this regard.
Removed - inappropriate
@bazchillin by that logic, Nintendo stole the idea of platforming from Space Panic which was released in 1980.
Every platform game that came after, including anything made by Nintendo, is a rip off from a game made by Universal.
Those thieving Nintendo buggers…
@Judal27 no I have seen comparison videos that put everything into perspective. As said earlier Astrobot looked fresh and original and that is what got it it's whimsical charm. Until you realize everything has been ripped out of Mario games or other Ninty IP.
Even the music is a rip-off. Still Sony could use this so that Tencent don't interfere in their plans to buy Kadakowa.
@bazchillin and yet it's better then every Mario game after Galaxy to be honest.
We reached a point where every game can be called a ripoff. Almost everything had been done before.
Removed - trolling/baiting
@1UP-HUSKY better is such a subjective term. I prefer odyssey over astrobot but that's just me I guess. Barking up the wrong trees here in the lion's den.
Doom clones, Quake clones, COD clones, GTA clones, and now Horizon clones. That is how this industry rolls and always has done.
If the clone is good, I don't care.
@bazchillin I think you mean the impact Space Panic has had on modern gaming being the first platformer of its kind.
I'm pretty sure Moritam and Horizon collab will do way better than Lego X Horizon did 🤭
Don't take me seriously 😆🤛
@JustCameHereToSay
Mario Bros. Is not a copycat of earlier games like Space Panic because it introduced distinct gameplay mechanics and a unique design philosophy that set it apart from its predecessors. While Space Panic was an early example of platform-based gameplay, it lacked jumping mechanics, an essential feature that Mario Bros. pioneered in the genre.
In Mario Bros., players control Mario and Luigi as they jump, run, and knock enemies off platforms by hitting them from below, incorporating fast-paced, reflex-driven action. This innovation transformed static puzzle mechanics into dynamic arcade gameplay, emphasizing timing, momentum, and cooperative or competitive multiplayer modes. The game's influence is evident in how it laid the groundwork for the more advanced Super Mario Bros., but it stands firmly on its own as an original and groundbreaking title.
In short, Mario Bros. didn't just borrow ideas—it expanded and revolutionized them, creating something entirely new in the gaming landscape.
@bazchillin odyssey is a great game, but the realistic parts put me off like the T-Rex and real humans. There were also to many moons to be collected, you could easily get to the end with not much effort. Reason why I personally prefer Galaxy over Odyssey
@bazchillin Donkey Kong was released by Nintendo before Mario Bros and heavily “borrowed” platforming ideas introduced in Space Panic.
If you’re going to try to give me a history lesson, at least get it right.
So this is a blatant rip-off but Stellar Blade isn't? What's the logic behind that exactly?
The amount of similarities to the "inspiration source" look the same to me.
Oh but wait, Stellar Blade is a heavily marketed PS exclusive...
@bazchillin Astrobot does it better though
@DonJorginho He's a shill for pointing out a blatant double-standard? Okay, cope.
I mean I wouldn't call it a "copy cat" at all, the term you're looking for is "inspired by" but has enough of its own uniqueness for it to be different.
@Flaming_Kaiser I agree there are plenty of design similarities, or even close to clones, but the little gameplay we saw looks quite different and there were enough "new" ideas (new compared to Horizon) in the trailer to give me some hope. E.g. sea battles against giant leviathans, what looked like a Death Star, surfing on a dragonfly, the world looks more fantastical in places, what looks more like Monster Hunter style combat etc.
More games and choice is always good for me. I'm willing to wait and see if this is any good. I like Horizon and I might like this too, it doesn't have to be EITHER/OR that's a false dichotomy, I might enjoy BOTH.
@bazchillin that’s great for you pal, I have a series x, switch, Wii u and my laptop along with the PS5 Pro, look through my comment history and you’ll see plenty occasions of me criticising Sony, I just won’t make hilarious accusations for the game ripping off Mario where you could make a case for EVERY platformer doing that seeing how popular Mario is.
The fact you use language like “pony” tells me everything about how you think and act when it comes to discussions.
@Burnish1619 taking inspiration with gameplay is different to copy and pasting an entire games art design and premise.
Notice how I’ve not even said anything about suing or anything legal? I’m just saying the game is a ripoff, the legalities are for people smarter than me to discuss and pry over.
Everyone copies each other, not only Chinese developers.. Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, EA, Nintendo and others are known to take ideas for their games from other games.
I’m still waiting for Unearthed 2 to come out!
And people still wonder why China has a bad reputation for copy&paste and why Tencent is so hated in the west. Well...
I just dont see it🤷♂️
Yours
S. Wonder
Well if Tencent's game ends up better than Horizon then it's a win for everyone.
@Major_Player yes, supporting companies that blatantly rip off other companies is the way the industry should go.
Sure is an odd stance to take, the constant enshittification of the industry at the hands of giant corporations.
Looks like Tencent heard about Guerilla's upcoming Horizon monster hunter style game and told AI to make it first.
@themightyant I didn't see a Horizon game at all, I saw Monster Hunter Wilds w/ Horizon robot monsters. I'm pretty sure if this article had been written as "New Monster Hunter Clone Has You Fighting Robots From Horizon" then everyone would realize we've seen several MH trailers that look just like this, only now we're hunting the robots from Horizon. Context matters. 🤷♂️
https://youtu.be/ZV1OJec0X94?si=-Xgkft5DgYEFzidW
I think it actually looks pretty good
@MrMagic Looks like Tencent heard about Guerilla's upcoming Horizon monster hunter style game and told AI to make it first.
Now that's good. Funny and spot on. 😂👍
Horizon already borrows a lot from Monster Hunter and Assassin’s Creed. Not to mention Fallout for the story setting. So Sony should not play too much with the copyright thing because they probably have more to loose.
@bazchillin I've seen comparison vids too. A lot of what they show are small trivial things that Ninty has no claims on. They didn't invent going down water slides lol. Or shooting guns. Flying on an interactive ps5 controller as a quick intro to a level is not the same as Kirby riding a warp star to a level in what seems to be purely a cutscene, etc
@rjejr I mentioned Monster Hunter like combat in another comment above. But i'm all for exploring for Monster Hunter X Horizon with some of it's own ideas thrown in as well. It's not like either of those franchises haven't HEAVILY been influenced by everything that came before, they are hardly original ideas.
Most game design is very derivative, there are very few new ideas, but it's the combination of ideas that can add a fresh take to give something that feels worthwhile and exciting. At the end of the day if the game is good I don't care how much inspiration it took from other titles. It's not an asset flip, it's clear a lot of effort has gone in here.
Horizon from Temu.
Saw these news on another site before bed and I absolutely love how even users that I know are PS haters said it was a copy of Horizon. Love it or hate it Horizon already left a mark in videogame history as your go to animal robots franchise.
I'm surprised it took this long for someone to really copy Horizon. Granted Horizon has a lot of inspiration from Monster Hunter.
@JustCameHereToSay : Well if the original game can no longer provide any substantial improvements then I rather have the "rip-off"
@Judal27 Yup I've see these comparison vids too and they are trying really hard out there. Like they claim Astro Bot in the Japanese level going big is copying Mario. I had no idea Nintendo invented going small to big in a game 😅
China really is unashamed about stealing and copying like-to-like contents. Which I don't know why because Black Myth shows that they are more than capable of creating their own original IP.
The region is also rife with their own untapped historical story and myth.The Wuxia world alone will be enough for them to make multiple different games and connected universe with.
It's really stupid that they had to resort to things like this instead of really expanding their portfolio.
Funny thing is it actually looks fun.
@Major_Player you strive for mediocrity, got it. Makes sense why you main an Xbox.
What rip-off? The main character is male and his name is Ahoy. See? A completely different game. Jokes aside, the trailer is pretty cool and I would definitely like to try it.
Will there be a Lego version of it that nobody wants as well?
I'm OK with this 👌
@Mr_B021 yes!! I’ll put a preorder in for that today!
Will it be playable on Michaelsoft Binbows?
Chinese game? Good luck sueing then.
I don't mind, the copy even sounds more exciting than the original xD
If people can accept and praise palworld for every asset it’s stolen from Pokemon, ark, zelda and so on then people can accept this game. It’s the Wild West in gaming and media now. People can make what they want regardless of how much of a “copy” or
“rip off” it is so at this point get over it.
Clearly the enemies are influenced by Horizon but the gameplay looks a little more PSO2/Monster Hunter.
What...a Chinese company rips off Western IP...that is new
Only messing....they rip off everything...I wouldn't mind if the copied items were better than the original...but usually it's not the case.
@Itachi2099 I was going to say the same thing. It’s all well and fine when one game does it, but apparently if it’s a different game, everyone is grabbing their pitchforks.
I’m still reminded of the fact Horizon has a lot of similarities to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, to where even the director of Odyssey mentioned it when asked about a sequel…
@Supern0va Unfortunately it only runs on Snapple Mic.
It's weird how people are OK with Sonys take on Tomb Raider (hi Nathan) etc but not OK with this.
But If its as good as Horizon, I'll look forward to playing it.
@bazchillin I didn’t know Mario was a robot…. 🤦♂️ Nice try. 😅
They lost me at crafting-based survival
It's like a lot of the commenters on here have forgotten Horizon was called "monster hunter with robots" when it was first unveiled.
@Itachi2099 up until your comment there wasn’t a single comment saying this was cool or OK. Where are you reading this?
To quote the great Riley Freeman: “You ain’t make it till they all either tryna copy you or hatin’ on you…” 😆
Stand up, Aloy! You have arrived!!!
Looks it, if it plays it then hmm. Palworld to me I was like oh this is Ark, good improvements to be it's own and has Pokemon looking characters and Breath of the Wild climbing.
It does what people want, comfort in a next product.
I seek broader but some people fit odd lines there it's why many are left behind gems and people don't care as they stick to their safe comfort games and the safe next game that's like the safe games they want so it gets hard for devs or audiences to just make up their minds on being broader which no one really cares about and fair enough to be similar and attract people.
Audiences are to blame as much as devs too lazy to make ripoff hardware or be 'too inspired' or a ripoff.
There is a reason I don't buy nostaglia inspired Indies they deserve to be ignored for the same reason yet people give them a pass. So it's ok there too then is it?
By that I mean lazy nostalgia Indies.
The ones that stand out and improve the formula with their mechanics, vastly different world/atmosphere I will praise. I may not play them but I see the appeal of them actually trying.
I question many boring nostaglia racing games or unofficial successors, or games like Akimbot being wow look at our vehicles/jetpacks and more.
Those with eh duos.
Games like Astro Bot being a museum title but unlike a Ford Racing where I know it's an advertising game but has to show off the cars where it makes sense, Astro Bot goes eh we have gaps between that's original but instead of cameos like Playroom or others or a Disney Infinity kind of thing lets be even lazier with our inspirations of level design or ideas. That's when I hate it.
Also Astro Bot's cosmetics for levels yet weak mechanical use, as if some ears can't be helicopter hair (I know I know but trying to fit that different line i mean, I'm not going oh it needed Rayman, that's not what I'm saying) or for digging, or a hearing enemies for stealth or something else, they are as ears. Boring.
As 'has to fit the museum nature of the game' yeah no I don't praise games like that. The industry seems to be ok with that comfort. I don't I find it bad and lazy, nostalgia tactics by un-creative people. Different levels of creativity/not.
@J_e_f_f__D Uncharted is clearly inspired by Indiana Jones which also the main inspiration for Tomb Raider. And gameplay wise, Uncharted is very different compare to Tomb Raider. Ironicly, Tomb Raider trilogy reboot played more similarly to Uncharted when comes to gunplay and cinematic story.
So how long until Sony sues?
Remember when Genshin Impact copied Breath of the Wild's artstyle, animation, and tweaked the character models a little? Nintendo fans called it a blatant copy but Sony fans says it has a different gameplay. I suspect this will be the same case with different gameplay and/or mechanics.
It's now coming to PS5, Android & IOS also
Woah. That's crazy, they didn't even try to hide it, could Sony sue? Everything from colors to locations to costumes it's hard to even seperate the two.
@Futureshark
It sure changes the meaning when you know the entire quote.
Saw this trailer last night in a YouTube trailer roundup and at first I wondered how I missed the new Horizon announcement. It's not just the robot designs but the lighting, environments, characters, and all the other ephemera that flash around the screen. It looks like what I imagine how a Horizon MMORPG may look. Not saying it shouldn't exist just amazed that the entire design language from Horizon has been used.
Stellar Blade is a blatant Nier Automata rip-off!! The question to ask, if the game going to be good and fun or not!
One shot made me think it is going to be more of a Monster Hunter like game with Horizon's robots!
China of new, should learn from China of old, and learn to create/invent again, instead of copying other peoples work.
That is all China does now.......They only copy, already existing products, from other countries.
@rjejr The style is a 1 to 1 copy, the robots are a blatant copy, the Tribes are a copy the only thing not copied from Horizon is copied from Monster Hunter its a Chinese company so whats new. Look at their own cars everything is a mishmash of stolen and copied designs.
@NB-DanTE No it's not it's not even close. Stellar Blade has his own style it's own identity and I don't believe Nier is the sole inventor of the gameplay style.
This game has no identity because it's a rippoff from Horizon on Style and gameplay from Monster Hunter. There is no real wow that is new.
@PegasusActual93 Should i mention Stellar Blade ripping off Nier Automata, Lies of P ripping off Bloodborne, or Palworld ripping off Pokemon looks but people are enjoying and loving those games?
Not to mention how Genshin Impact ripping off BotW and millions of people are loving it.
As long as the devs can offer different gameplay, story, or something that separate their games with the main inspiration then there shouldn't be a problem.
@PegasusActual93 Pretty much a lot of people said Genshin is a BotW knockoff when the game was showed for the 1st time. The same for Stellar Blade, Lies of P, and Palworld which people said Nier Automata, Bloodborne, and Pokemon knockoff.
And gaming devs has been copying / stealing each other ideas for decades.
But i'm surprised with the exaggerrated negative reaction for this game. Not just many commenters in here always mocked Horizon and act they had enough of the franchise, but now some of them suddenly care that a Chinese devs copied Horizon aesthetics lol.
@Flaming_Kaiser The robots are a blatant copy, everything else I just see Monster Hunter. Maybe b/c I've been watching similar MH trailers for 15 years since I played Tri on Wii and Horizon is only 7 years old. But it looks like a MH trailer to me. And I'm guessing the game plays that way as well. With blatantly obvious Horizon robots that Nintendo would sue them over if they owned Horizon.
@rjejr The Tribes look like a 100% copy it's sad to see.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...