Game freeze on startup (probably not launcher issue)

[AnarchyZG]

I bought the game via Steam, installed, but when I launch the game, all I get is some garbled initial screen (as shown in the attached image) which does not respond to any inputs (no mouse, no keyboard).

My configuration is:
Intel E8400
4 GB RAM
Sapphire Ati 5850
Saitek X52 Pro

I went through the usual troubleshooting steps (rebooting, updating drivers, verifying install via Steam, deleting the profile in <MyUser>/documents/1C...), verified DirectX...no problems found. I always get the same result, the game will not run no matter what. I do not have any problems whatsoever with any other game Steam or otherwise and the system is rock solid. DXdiag in the link.

Here is what happens when i launch the game: