Take a look at the reviews, and the score, before you buy, on Steam.
I don't see any hint of a backlash or organised campaign against the game - I see loads of genuinely disheartened users wanting to love it and for it just to run / run well, in the main. There are hundreds of complaints in a dozen threads from people simply not able to play at all. I'm one of them. And of those who can play, many, many are experiencing regular crashes - something the devs have acknowledged. This has been widely documented and streamed. It's not simply a problem with expecting too much, or playing the game with the bells and whistles turned up too loud, as many of the complaints on Steam make clear.
From the
first page alone on Steam's discussion page (!) as I write this, I see the following thread titles:
- My game worked until this patch now it crash
- Is this a viable way to stop the constant crashes?
- Patch 1.02 broke my game... Super choppy now
- Patch didn't help (at least for me)
- New patch only crash
- Horizon Zero Dawn RTX Cards crash fix
- Crash and PC freezes, new patch, worst performance
- Patch 1.02 and the game still stutters
- Game never launches
- Crashing on Launch
- 1.02 has made the game barely playable
Page two is no different. I know the internet can be a hotbed of moaning Minnies. The majority of these complaints read as genuine appeals for help with problems users shouldn't be having.
Sure, some of the people who couldn't play now can after the last patch; and some who could before now can't. You might be lucky and be able to play - the majority can I assume. I'd venture to suggest those able to get decent performance out of the game, stutter and crash free, may be comfortably in the minority though that's purely based on anecdotal evidence.
I have a fast machine. Up to date drivers. A fairly snazzy graphics card. The latest version of Windows. More memory than an elephant. Chunky, free SSD. I got to the language select screen and crashed.. every.. single.. time. Tried all the tricks listed to play to no avail. As I approached the two hour mark (changing drivers / re-installing puts the game into a 10 minute optimisation spin) without any acknowledgement of the particular issue I faced in the patch notes and comments released by the Deves, I reluctantly got a refund. I can always re-buy it when they polish it properly.
I understand if the game runs fine for you, you'll celebrate it. It's a
great game when it works. I have it on PS4 and love it. Bought it on PC to play the Rolls Royce version. Refunded and bought Flight Simulator 2020 on Thursday - which loaded without fault for me, recommended I set everything to 'ultra', and runs silky smooth right out of the box..
I know you want this.. I do too!
This is as far as I ever got. This is
my screen. I'm far from alone:
Putting the other side here for balance. You may be lucky. You may have the patience to wait for a fix which may, or may never come. Or you may want to buy something else, at least until they've fixed it for all / almost all.
