Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition

Oh give me a home, where the robo-buffalo roam…

- IAN EVENDEN

MANY OF THE GAMES that come to Maximum PC have issues, and we’re usually fairly kind about them, as we are often told there will be a day-one patch to fix the problems. So what’s Horizon Zero Dawn’s excuse? It’s a three-year-old game originally made for the AMDpowered PS4, and didn’t have a holiday or multi-system release window to hit. How was it released in this state when Death Stranding, which runs on the same engine, was such a strong port?

You see, it’s a bit crashy. The PC port of HZD has many things to recommend it, but stability isn’t one of them, returning us to the desktop about 50 percent of the time with no noticeable trigger event. And despite the wealth of graphics options, obtaining a smooth frame rate can be difficult too. Hopefully, this will all be fixed by the time you read this, but it represents the game around its launch. It’s a shame, as when HZD is good, it’s very good.