the game crashes when loading with a GeForce 8600 GT.

Exactly the same problem. The first time I launched the game, I played normally, and everything was fine. Subsequent attempts only show the starting image; when I click "Start Game," the image disappears, and it's as if I didn't click anything. No errors are displayed. I've reinstalled the game and installed all the codecs, but nothing helps. My hardware is identical, except I have a 4-core processor. I've been struggling with this for 3 days now.