[Myloch]

yep, I got the game update because I have many different pcs (desktop and laptops) so I use the updated 3dfx + glide wrapper or direct3d/normal versions depending on the system.

@Cowsheep: I have a win xp sp3 too. Without the cd if I click on the exe nothing happens. But with cd inserted, the game starts normally.
Maybe have you got a pentium 4? I have an old pc with p4 and there is no way to make the game start on it (click on exes and nothing happens), even using the p4/amd patcher found on the web.

you can try to google for the single updates with installer (updatePOD21_norm-ati-s3, updatePOD21_d3d-dx5, updatePOD21_d3d and updatePOD21_3dfx). For my experience (and not only mine) they are a bitch to install correctly on modern systems. I far prefer using the simple unrar method version but maybe those can fix your problem. And the updates will not work if you have got the "pod gold" version.

edit: I have an italian system. You can change game language from c:\windows\ubisoft\ubi.ini