jowood posts

We have a very soft spot for Painkiller. The 2004 released first person shooter from developer People Can Fly had some crazy weapons, weird creatures, truly massive bot battles and some unique level design. In short it was everything we wanted in a FPS game.

Publisher Dreamcatcher released an expansion pack for the original game from People Can Fly and in 2007 released Painkiller Overdose (created by another developer, Mindware Studios). Now they head back to the chaos once again with Painkiller Resurrection, this time developed by Homegrown Games. At E3 2009 we got a chance to play with an early version of the title.

Last week IGN broke the news that yet another game in the Painkiller first person shooter series was coming our way. Today it's publisher JoWood made it official with its press release announcing Painkiller Resurrection. The title from small Austrian based Homegrown Studios is due for release this fall.

Along with the official announcement comes the first screenshots from the game which unfortunately are mostly levels and enviromental visuals. As we reported last week the new game will use an enhanced version of the original Painkiller engine but with new features such as " . . . improved shadows, a higher texture resolution, moveable light sources, post processing, motion blur and ambient occlusion . . ." The game will also have an new co-op campaign mode, the first such mode for any Painkiller game.

Can you believe it? There's another Painkiller game in the works. Yep, IGN has the first word on Painkiller: Resurrection, the third stand alone title in the wild and woolly first person shooter series. Publisher JoWood/Dreamcatcher Games have recruited the previously unknown developer Homegrown Games to create this installment which is due out late in 2009.

This new game willl apparently have more of an actual single player storyline than the first two games in the series as you play the role of a CIA assassin who is thrown into the battle between Heaven and Hell. Expect to see lots of enemies to take on, an enhanced version of the Painkiller engine and multiplayer modes. Oh, and for the first time in a Painkiller game there will be a two player co-op campaign.

It's Tuesday and that means more classic PC games have now been added to the GoG.com web site. This week the site adds Warlords Battlecry 3, the 2004 released RTS game from developer Infinite Interactive (now better known for their Puzzle Quest series) and publisher Enlight. You can download the game now for $9.99.

Two other older games are now available for $5.99 each. One is Cannon Fodder, a 1994 tactical action game from developer Sensible Software and publisher Codemasters. The other game is Alien Nations (also known as Amazons and Aliens) a 1999 strategy-action game from developer Neo Software and publisher JoWood.

In this era of an economic crisis, wouldn't it be fun to play a game that was all about capitalism? Game download site GoG.com thinks so as it begins adding games from publisher Enlight. One of the games is the business sim Capitalism Plus, the 1997 title that can now be purchased and downloaded for $5.99.

Another new addition to GoG.com today is The Guild Gold Edition. No, not the MMO web series; its a Middle Ages sim game from publisher JoWood. The package, which includes the original game and an expansion pack, can be purchased and downloaded, DRM free, for just $9.99.

It's another week of DRM-free game goodness at GoG.com this week. The game download site has added three new games to their line-up including two from a new publisher to the site JoWood. One is the Black Edition for Painkiller, the terrific 2004 first person shooter from developer People Can Fly. The Black Edition also contains the 2005 expansion pack and some free artwork for $9.99.

Also added to the line-up is the WWII RTS game Panzer Elite from now defunct developer Wings Simulations. This game also has some free extras like a desktop them, a Panzer history and some game mods and its again just $9.99. Finally we have a new super-spy themed adventure game from Revolution Software, In Cold Blood, that can be purchased and downloaded for just $5.99.

This new patch for the JoWood published fantasy RPG expansion fixes current problems, improves the overall stability of the game and heightens the gaming experience. A reinstall of the game is recommended. Also, any previous save games will not work with this new version.

Download the Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods v1.07 Patch (97.5 MB)

Gallery: Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods

Last year's release of the fantasy RPG title Gothic 3 was pretty much a disaster. The final version shipped with a ton of bugs that made the game unplayable for many. Publisher JoWood dumped the game's developer Piranha Bytes as a result.

Now it appears that the just released expansion pack to the game, Gothic 3: Forgotten Gods, was also shipped with a number of issues that even a couple of patches have yet to solve. The game's official message board has posted up a statement from JoWood executive producer Michael Kairat who basically apologies about the game's release. The expansion was developed by India based Trine Game Studios. Yet another patch is expected to be released soon that hopefully will fix some of the problems.

The statement also says that JoWood plans not to have the same thing happen again for the next full game in the series, Arcania: A Gothic Tale, that's being developed by Spellbound. JoWood plans to have a beta release of the game before it's scheduled ship date of late 2009.


[Via Voodoo Extreme]

The Gothic RPG franchise got served a detour with Gothic 3 in 2007. The game was released with tons of bugs and issues so publisher JoWood dumped the game's developer Piranha Bytes and moved on, even deciding to rename the next full game in the series, Gothic 4, to Arcania: A Gothic Tale.

But before that game is released in 2009, JoWood will release Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods, an expansion pack to the 2007 release. Developed by Trine Studios, the expansion will add new locations, quests and monsters to Gothic 3 and is also designed as a story bridge between Gothic 3 and Arcania: A Gothic Tale. The expansion has now been declared "gold" and will ship to stores on Nov. 21. JoWood's US subsidiary Dreamcatcher Games will handle the North American release

Gallery: Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods

Trailer shows off the graphics and gameplay of Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods, the upcoming expansion to Gothic 3 role-playing game.

Download HD Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods Trailer (22 MB)