CES 2009: Hands on Paleo Entertainment's Merchants of Brooklyn

by Kevin Kelly { Jan 11th 2009 at 12:00PM }

There was one gaming title at CES that wasn't produced by Sony, Capcom, Microsoft or Activision, that was Paleo Entertainment's Merchants of Brooklyn. Here's an excerpt from their presser: "You take the role of an elite neanderthal fighter with a taste for blood. 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." So, does this sound like Bionic Commando meets The Flintstones?

There's not much to see right now, but the level we played was pretty fragtastic and it's rendered in a cell-shaded art style that we don't see enough of. It's running on Crytek's CryEngine 2, and should be out for the PC/Xbox 360/PS3 set later this year. There wasn't enough of the game in the demo to get a feeling for what it'll become, but being able to pick up your enemies body parts and charge them up to toss grenade-style was fun. If a caveman merged with tech is your dream come true, you won't have to wait much longer. In fact, you can check out the trailer after the break!

Gallery: Merchants of Brooklyn

Tags: ces-2009, joystiqfeatures, Merchants-Of-Brooklyn, Paleo, Paleo-Entertainment

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

EgoCheck616 @ Jan 11th 2009 12:07PM

Really not liking that UI, hopefully they tweak it a bit.

It's typical for a game like this to flood the youtubes with death metal playing in the background, but part of me enjoys how completely wild this game looks.

We'll see.

j.howlett @ Jan 11th 2009 12:09PM

wow

Faar @ Jan 11th 2009 12:16PM

Poor neanderthals, always getting a bad rep because of their eyebrow ridges when in reality they were most likely just as intelligent as we (supposedly) are, considering their brain cavities had the same volume as ours...

The game looks sick and wicked. As in the original sense of the words. I feel mildly disgusted just watching that video.

EgoCheck616 @ Jan 11th 2009 12:21PM

Rated M for Motherfucking Awesome

snubnose @ Jan 11th 2009 12:49PM

This game looks like how Duke Nukem should look, but won't.

EgoCheck616 @ Jan 11th 2009 12:50PM

And I'm all out of bubblegum...

forestofdeath @ Jan 11th 2009 1:09PM

*readies endless buffet of tits and beer*

LordChimp @ Jan 11th 2009 12:23PM

......I honestly do not know what to say. Certain moments make it look sweet but at others, it looks terrible.

Haggard @ Jan 11th 2009 12:24PM

CryEngine 2 you say?

Should be interesting to see whether Crytek were telling the truth when they said it'd work fine on consoles

EgoCheck616 @ Jan 11th 2009 12:28PM

This has nothing to do with Crytek's promises. Any game can look/run terribly if the team behind it is not able to meet standards.

Haggard @ Jan 11th 2009 1:10PM

Yeah, but we'd be able to see that the devs were rubbish if the PC version was also horribly optimised.

blue ocarina @ Jan 11th 2009 12:28PM

"your new prototype biomechanical arm transforms into different twisted and brutal weaponry to aid you in the slaughter"

isn't that basically the gist of Prototype?

Haggard @ Jan 11th 2009 1:12PM

Not quite, in Prototype your entire body is mutated and can transform through absorbing the abilities or appearance of other living things.

C.A. @ Jan 11th 2009 12:28PM

I hope it live up to its potential. This game could be great!

Strategy_Panda (The Sandwich Poisoning Crew) @ Jan 11th 2009 4:14PM

potential?

C.A. @ Jan 11th 2009 6:37PM

po·ten·tial
Pronunciation: \pə-ˈten(t)-shəl\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English potencial, from Late Latin potentialis, from potentia potentiality, from Latin, power, from potent-, potens
Date: 14th century
1: existing in possibility : capable of development into actuality
2: expressing possibility ; specifically : of, relating to, or constituting a verb phrase expressing possibility, liberty, or power by the use of an auxiliary with the infinitive of the verb (as in “it may rain”)

Doreo @ Jan 11th 2009 12:38PM

It's just like that flintstones movie where they meet the Jetsons and are taken to the future. Then Fred get's experimented on, and they cut off his arm and replace it with a mechanical claw! Then he goes on a killing rampage, and kills everyone including George Jetsons boss Mr. Spacely... Remember that? I mean God could they be anymore unoriginal?

EgoCheck616 @ Jan 11th 2009 12:50PM

You lost me at "It's"

Kye says: I like turtles @ Jan 11th 2009 1:24PM

Meh

Raimo @ Jan 11th 2009 1:28PM

uhh, CryEngine 2 alone does not a beautiful game make...

mr nimblewick @ Jan 11th 2009 1:41PM

But can he rip out a guy's intestines and use them to choke the guy?

That's good gameplay!

knor @ Jan 11th 2009 1:58PM

I heard the game was so easy a caveman could do it

Geist @ Jan 12th 2009 1:12AM

Dude, that's pretty offensive.

Michael @ Jan 11th 2009 2:14PM

I like how thrown detached body parts explode, this would make an awesome D movie.

AnthonyGalindoX @ Jan 11th 2009 4:11PM

Ummm... I have no idea what to think. I'll reserve judgment until I read a hands on preview. My money is on the developer being located in Eastern Europe though. It doesn't seem like something an American team would come up with in terms of concept and gameplay.