The problem
Project Reality crashes when starting up in Windows 8. The splash screen appears for a little bit then disappears. No sign of life from the game meaning that Task Manager shows that the game hasn't/isn't launched/launching.
My situation
I installed BF2 from the disc and skipped the patches and expansions. I then downloaded BF2 patch 1.5 and patched it without launching BF2 first. Then I tried launching Project Reality but it didn't work. I also tried launching BF2 and that didn't work.
My solution
Download and patch your BF2 install to patch 1.41 and then boot up BF2. It should work fine now. Login and load up a game if you want. Then patch the game to 1.5 and then try launching PR. It should work.
Get in touch with me if have other solutions to this problem.