It seems CTD on boot is a common problem, but I found a simple trick which all but eliminates this issue, and all it requires is moving the game shortcut out of the game folder to the desktop.

Basically, by opening the game from the shortcut in the game folder itself, the game seems to bug out due to having a window open. But if you close all windows and launch from game shortcut on the desktop, (making sure no windows are open) the game seems to boot fine.