Try the following:

In Steam go to STEAM > Settings > In Game tab> Enable Steam Community In-Game, uncheck the box there. Then Launch the game.

otherwise for more detailed errors look at your events,


To find these:
1. Right-click on computer/my computer and select manage.
2. Double-click on the event viewer.
3. (Double-click on Windows logs.)
4. Right-click on application

It appears I've fixed the problem (knock on wood).

I did a few things all at once, so I'm not sure if one of the things, or a combination of them did the trick.
Here is what I did in case someone else runs in to this issue:

Went to Control Panel, opened "Sound", went to the "Sound Blaster" tab, and ticked the box for "Disable Sound Blaster enhancements".
On that same tab, I clicked the "Settings" button to open the "Audio Control Panel". Then I changed from "Game Mode" to "Entertainment Mode", and disabled "EAX Effects", "X-Fi CMSS-3D", and "X-Fi Crystalizer".

Thanks for all the help guys.

Good luck, the extra effects and enhancements was the the most common fix.