So I searched the forum but couldn't find an answer to this problem.

I start up the game, everything looks fine in the main menu, but as soon as I start the campaign and it has loaded the first level everything is super bright and it's impossible to play like that. I tried messing around with the video settings of course but it only affects the menu, not the in game graphics.

I have a spanking new computer with Vista and a Geforce 8800 video card so I doubt it's my hardware. I also downloaded and installed the patch package which should have all the patches I need.

Has anyone got a fix for this?

If you have at least the 1.3 patch installed, then try turning down the brightness and gamma sliders in the main menu.

Still not working

Are you using HDR? That can cause things to look overly bright.

Try using the console (~)
type "\r_hdrrendering 0" without the quotes.

Î'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about. Console? Where do you want me to type that command?

If you hit the tilde key (~) a green screen fills to top of the monitor. Type the command there then hit enter.