Hey, so I’m trying to launch the game and it downloads an update, but then freezes at the GoW title screen with the red gem displayed just as in the forum header.
I’ve tried disabling Steam cloud. What gives? 
How big are the updates? Right now, the game downloads a 0,90MB and 0,87MB Update every time I launch the game during the title screen and that since days, but I didn’t have any issues with it so far. It does take a lot longer to load, but only in the second loading screen for me.
If everything fails, try reinstalling?
I would have 2 suggestions - the first is to check your installation (through steam) for corruption (right click on the game in your steam library → properties → local files tab → verify integrity of game files).
The second would be as Sheba has suggested - try a complete reinstallation.