Another strange entry to the already strange saga of Paleo Entertainment's indie shooter Merchants of Brooklyn (PC).

Merchants, already released on Steam, was today entirely rebranded to "Drug Wars," the title of a free multiplayer component added to the game in mid-June. Users that already own Merchants will now see "Drug Wars" in their game list, with no explanation as to the change. Curiously, the title screen lists the game's name as "Drug Wars Beta."

Merchants of Brooklyn was initially released via Steam last March, immediately bringing forth reports of numerous bugs and poor performance. Some even went so far as to say "it's not a game," with Paleo soon claiming it had inadvertently released an alpha build.

A patch was quickly issued to alleviate some of the immediate issues. Later patches brought fixes, but not before reviews lambasted the game for its many glitches.

Paleo Entertainment has released another patch for its CryENGINE 2-powered PC shooter Merchants of Brooklyn, updating the game with bug fixes and a new mode.

Previously unveiled by the declaration of "YOU MUST HAVE DRUGS," the Drug Wars mode supports up to 32 players across four teams. "Capture the drugs, stash the drugs, defend the drugs," Paleo explains of the new vehicle-enabled Capture the Flag-esque game type. "The team that holds all of the drugs simultaneously wins."

Though available as a free update for Merchants of Brooklyn owners, Drug Wars is listed as a beta by Paleo, with the company further telling us that it is looking for additional testers. "Email beta@paleoent.com and let us know a little about yourself," the studio said, noting that those selected will receive a complimentary... Read more

For indie developer Paleo Entertainment, it seemed that the launch of Merchants of Brooklyn, the studio's debut effort, was going about as poorly as it could be.

Immediately after the title hit Steam yesterday, many users were reporting serious issues with the CryENGINE 2-powered PC shooter. Unacceptable sound quality, terrible framerates, deleted saves and a bug that entirely eliminated the HUD were among the various complaints.

"It's not a game," wrote one angry Steam user, not knowing how close he was to the truth. "It's just a joke."

Now it appears that those bugs can be attributed to one massive rookie mistake.

"We are fully aware of the problems that occurred with the... Read more

To commemorate today's release of Merchants of Brooklyn on Steam, operator Valve has briefly discounted Paleo Entertainment's shooter by 20%, making it $15.99.

Powered by Crytek's CryENGINE 2--the same technology used in Crysis and Crysis Warhead--the downloadable FPS offers eye-popping gameplay (seriously, watch the trailer) as players partake in its single- and multiplayer game modes.

Wondering what it's about? Here's a brief taste:

Having had your arm unwillingly detached from your body courtesy of a chainsaw, your new prototype biomechanical arm transforms into different twisted and brutal weaponry to aid you in the slaughter. Your goal: escape from the under city and free your brethren to take over the upper utopian empire to do with as you please.

The sale runs until March 24, at which point the game will go for $19.99.

Independent developer Paleo Entertainment today announced that its upcoming first-person shooter Merchants of Brooklyn will debut on Steam March 17.

Powered by CryENGINE 2 technology, Merchants of Brooklyn will feature both single and multiplayer modes. As for gameplay? "With the help of a prototype biomechanical arm, players will literally tear through the environment and charge fallen debris for use as hand grenades, as well as dismember and demolish anything that stands in their way."

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FiringSquad has been updated with a Q&A with Troy Latimer, co-founder of Paleo Entertainment. This former mod team recently announced that it has licensed CryENGINE 2 for the upcoming shooter Merchants of Brooklyn.

San Diego-based independent developer Paleo Entertainment announced today that it has licensed Crytek's CryENGINE 2 technology to power its upcoming PC first person shooter Merchants of Brooklyn. Today's announcement makes Paleo only the second third-party developer to publicly reveal its usage of the advanced engine, which is being used by several Crytek projects including the anticipated upcoming PC shooter Crysis.

Set in the year 3100, Merchants of Brooklyn follows the path of Brooklyn-born Dr. Matteo Savio, apparently spanning multiple planets in its depiction of far future mob life. Few gameplay details are currently available, though Paleo has released some concept artwork.

"Before licensing the CryENGINE 2 for our new project, we looked carefully at all our options, and concluded no other engine could produce the kind of AAA quality game we were aiming to develop, nor were any other... Read more