For users:
For those having this problem, and have Comodo firewall, I have a workaround for what is a bug in the game:
1) Set both the firewall security level and defense+ security level to disabled.
2) Launch the game.
3) Alt-tab out of the game.
4) Open Comodo, go to Firewall, click "View Active Connections", find the running game, right-click, and click "Add as trusted", or something like that.
5) Similarly for Defense+, click "View Active Process List", and repeat.
6) Turn the firewall and defense+ back on.
7) Play the game, and hopefully enjoy it.
For the development team
If you haven't used Comodo firewall before, it restricts what executables can do (such as refusing writes to the registry), and also from accessing the internet. When a new executable tries to perform a restricted action, or access the internet, Comodo raises a dialog in the bottom-right corner. The dialog will appear after the game has launched, I'm guessing when it's trying to write to the registry, so it will appear behind/underneath the game. The game cannot proceed execution until the user alt-tabs out and gives permission. However, unlike the vast vast majority of other PC games, this game cannot be alt-tabbed out of, it cannot be closed, ALT+F4 does nothing, CTRL+ALT+DEL does nothing, while it's in this halted state. By not testing your game against various firewalls and configurations, you have given the user no other option than to hard reset the machine.