Summary
Semiwork’sR.E.P.O.is the latest co-op horror game where, following in the steps of other multiplayer titles likeLethal Company, players can laugh at their friends as they’re picked off in absurd and terrifying ways.
Players assume the role of colorful robots who, under the employment of a mysterious AI, are tasked with recovering relics from the remains of human civilization. Naturally, these derelicts are infested with all manner of monsters. To aid them in their forays into horror, players can purchase several helpful upgrades. Ranging from increased stamina to map extensions, these abilities quickly become essential for survival.
8Range
Overcoming Shortness
R.E.P.O.‘sphysics-based gameplayinvolves players finding and carrying valuable objects to an extraction point.The range upgrademakes that task a little easier byincreasing a player’s reach. The robots’ short stature proves to be an issue more often than one would expect, preventing players from reaching items - without difficulty at least - on higher shelves.
This upgrade removes the curse of little legs! It also helps when players are trying to sneakily grab an item while a monster is nearby. The added reach allows them to grab the item from hiding spots or far enough away as to not aggro a creature.
7Tumble Launch
Dodge Roll
Tumbling inR.E.P.O.is a feature that allows players to compress their bodies, essentially becoming a head with arms and legs. On the surface, this ability seems only to exist to allow players' friends to throw them about easier. However, the ability acts as a sortof dodge maneuver. When face to face with a monster, players can shrink down just as they’re about to be hit - avoiding the damage.
The tumble launch upgradeturns this ability into afully-fledged dodge roll. Instead of shrinking down on the spot, with this upgrade players will instead be able to roll out of the way of an attack.
6Stamina
Run Longer
Like any good co-op horror game,R.E.P.O.’s gameplay experience involves a lot of running away. To ensure that players stay ahead of the game’s many monsters,stamina upgradesare needed. While they seem measly, with each upgrade onlyimproving stamina by 10 points, they add up and are pretty cheap compared to the rest of the items in the game.
Because of this, players should be investing in stamina upgrades early on in their run when they can’t afford to splurge on many of the pricier upgrades.
5Strength
Pump Those Robotic Muscles
Each of the items players can collect for their quota interacts withR.E.P.O.’s physics-based mechanics. Some items will be too heavy, requiring players to drag them along the floor or get a friend to help them lift them.
The strength upgrade makes this ordeal easier by allowing players to lift larger and heavier objects on their own. This makes lugging huge items like statues or paintings much less tedious, especially on maps with lots of tight winding corridors. It’s also an essentialupgrade for soloor duo players, allowing them to compensate for their smaller part with greater individual strength.
4Health
Sturdier Punching Bag
R.E.P.O.features a gallery of monsters that will attack players on sight. To survive the constant onslaught, players should invest inhealth upgrades. Some of the game’s enemies, like the Headman or the Huntsman, have the ability to two or one-shot players. Other than fightingback with weapons, players simply need a greater health pool to draw from to survive.
The monsters aren’t the only threat either.Other players can be equally dangerous, what with the unruliness of the weapons they’re given access to or the fact that simply throwing an item can lead to fellow players ending up with something a little worse than a bonk on the head.
3Map Player Count
Find Your Friends' Bodies
While exploringR.E.P.O.’s derelict maps, it’s easy for players to get separated.The maps are dark, confusing, and sometimes occupied by creatures that can possess players and force them to run away from their friends.
For that reason, themap player count upgradeis incredibly useful. The extensiondisplays other players' locations on the map and even shows whether they’re alive.It’s not just useful for finding friends, it can also aid in recovering their corpses should they die. Players waiting at the truck, unsure if their team is alive, can also check the map and know whether it’s time to cut their losses and leave.
2Extra Jump
Hop Over The Monsters
An extra jump is useful in any video game and that is no different inR.E.P.O.With the upgrade, players can access more difficult-to-reach places, where extra loot is often hidden. The upgrade can also be used defensively, allowing players to avoid attacks or in some instances hop over an enemy entirely.
Players looking for higher maneuverability while exploring or more wiggle room to keep out of monsters' way should definitely be saving up for this upgrade as soon as they can.
1Sprint Speed
Run Away Faster
Players will spend most of their time inR.E.P.O.either recovering items or running away from monsters.The sprint speed upgrade, as the name implies, allows players to do the latter much better.
With a higher sprint speed, players can, of course,run away from enemies faster. But that also means they can run faster than their friends. Leaving other players in the dust means monsters get to them first, providing opportunist players even more time to escape. Getting these upgrades early on before other players might be a viable strategy for individual long-term survival.
