The runaway success of co-op horror sensation Repo seems to have been a little too much for the good folks at semiwork, as a frankly bizarre new video starts with an unhinged rant from the game's semibots but thankfully settles into a more traditional update previewing some neat new features coming in Update 1.
Actually, Update 1 is already available in Repo's open beta, so everything we're about to talk about is playable right now ahead of the update's full launch.
Semiwork posted the below video to its official YouTube channel on Friday, beginning with an apology "for all the waiting" players have had to do for Update 1, which is "still in the home stretch" to its full release. Nothing wrong with that, right?
Well, then the camera zooms out to a shot of some semibots angrily watching the update video, commenting on how semiwork's Pontus Sundstrom can't possibly be a game dev because "that beard is too beautiful."
It gets weirder. At one point, one of the semibots remarks: "I want him to be my dad but I also want him to go away." From there, things really just unravel to a point of incoherence that I'm still struggling to fully decipher.
Just, uh, just watch it:
Anywho, we're gonna go ahead and talk about what's been newly revealed for Update 1, because there are a few things that sound genuinely exciting.
The first that really piqued my interest is an update to the game's physics, which primarily fixes what I've been calling the "death wobble" that sometimes happens when you have a lot of strength upgrades and the items shake around violently. That has apparently been resolved for items as well as melee and ranged weapons.
Speaking of which, there's a new weapon, the "handheld portable cart laser," otherwise known as a photon blaster, otherwise known as a particle thrower for my real ones. "The name tells you what it does," Sundstrom says, and he's right. It blasts photon beams in your chosen direction.
The Phase Bridge is another cool new addition coming to Update 1, and it looks a little like the Hard Light Bridges from Portal 2. The holographic bridge can be used as a bridge or a ladder, and Sundstrom says "however you want to use it, we are very excited to see how you might break the game using it."
There's also a brand new upgrade, Tumblewings, which, again, pretty much does what it says on the tin. It gives you little fairy wings that aren't quite strong enough for full flight capabilities, but are enough to let you glide/tumble your way down from high ledges. And yes, I'll admit, it's pretty stinkin' cute seeing semibots flutter around with them.
Honest to goodness, the thing I'm most excited about that was revealed today is the new stamina regen feature, letting you crouch to regenerate stamina much quicker than usual. It seems like such a small thing, but running out of stamina is pretty much the worst thing that can happen in a frantic co-op horror game like Repo, so this should be a huge quality of life upgrade. There's even an upgrade to boost the regen further.
As mentioned before, you can try all of this stuff out on Repo's beta branch right now before the final release date, which has yet to be disclosed. The devs say the delay on this update was extended by all the red tape stirred up by the game's whirlwind success, and they expect future updates to be completed more quickly.
In case you're just getting started, here's a handy beginner's guide on how to play Repo.
