Can't play the game; freezes on startup

[plutomaniac]

1) Have you tried Problem J of the troubleshooting guide concerning steam local content deletion and file integrity check?

2) For testing purposes only, stop these services from Task Manager and try the game(if you run into problems, just restart and they should automatically load again after boot):

Spoiler below!

aaHMSvc.exe
AI Suite II
AiChargerPlus Application
AlertHelper
AsSysCtr Application
ASUS Motherboard Fan Control Service
ASUS Routine Controller
atkexComSvc.exe
CLHNServiceForPowerDVD12 Module
CyberLink Media Server Monitor Service
CyberLink Media Server Service
HydraDM
HydraDMH64
EPUHelp
NetiCtrlTray
PowerDVD 12
TurboVHelp

Judging from the services above, the problem occurs most probably due to an Asus program/service or PowerDVD. Hydra is an AMD thing, maybe that causes issues as well. All the services I chose have to do with Asus programs, PowerDVD and AMD Hydra.