REPO’s monster update has arrived, and it is so much scarier than I thought it would be all because of one beast

When REPO announced it would be receiving a bunch of new monsters in September, I naively thought they wouldn’t be too scary. Most of REPO’s existing critters are unsettling, especially the Upscream and the Animal, but there’s nothing that really petrifies you. The same can’t be said for the game now though, and having spent the weekend running for my life and screaming over proximity chat, REPO really lives up to its horror tag.

The 10 new monsters launched as part of this update span all three “levels”. So, you’ve got the less-intimidating level one beasts like the new Tick, which resembles a chunky beige bug with big black eyes, or Elsa the dog who is fairly harmless until she takes damage. But then REPO massively ramps up the fear factor by throwing in something horrifying like the Birthday Boy, a character which roams the level placing balloons—which again, seems harmless. But if you’re found around popped balloons, or you’re responsible for popping them, he will unleash hell.

It’s a real mixed bag, and with the existing roster of monsters it’s quite refreshing to see some new characters pop up rather than cycling through the same bunch. However, one of REPO’s newest additions is far scarier than I could’ve possibly imagined—the Loom. It doesn’t sound like much when you just read its name, but there is genuinely nothing worse than encountering this creature in the shadowed halls of a level.

Similar to the Robe, the Loom is quite a tall monster, but she has a horrifying, twisted grey face. While you run around collecting valuables, she’ll skulk behind you (quite slowly, at least) but if she gets too close, she’ll deal a huge amount of damage and potentially one-shot you if you haven’t dedicated any cash to health upgrades yet. Fortunately her slow speed means she’s easy to outrun for the time being. But just know she’ll catch up to you eventually.

That’s arguably the worst part of her design. Unlike the other monsters, she won’t lose interest if you run and hide. The Loom will literally just stalk you until you are dead. If another player gets in the way, she’ll take you out first, before quickly locking back in on her target. I live in constant fear of loading into a level and being the marked player, but at least I get a free ticket to spend all our funds on stamina upgrades.