Lethal Companywas the indie horror co-op darling of Fall 2023, piquing the interest (and screams) of hundreds of thousands of players worldwide. Its recipe for success is no mystery: a mix of eerie environments, unpredictable enemies, and the sheer joy of yelling through a walkie-talkie as a teammate gets dragged into the shadows makes for a perfectly chaotic and brilliant multiplayer experience.Lethal Companyoffers a great sweet spot between horror and humor, giving players something a bit more light-hearted in a genre that can often bog down moods. Recently, however, updates on the game have slowed down. In response to a slower update cycle, players have instead turned their attention to newcomerREPO.REPOis another co-op horror game that has enjoyed virality on social media, spanning countless hours of viral videos that showcase players and their friends succumbing to laughter as they fail to complete yet another playthrough.
REPOis shaping up to be the next chaotic darling in the horror space. With its eerie aesthetics, clumsy teamwork gameplay, and nerve-wracking moments,REPOtaps into everything that madeLethal Companya worthy title to keep an eye on. However,REPObrings its own unique flavor to the co-op horror genre.As players scramble to retrieve haunted valuablesand flee from unknown horrors, it becomes clear thatREPOisn’t just a spiritual successor toLethal Company.REPOis a terrifyingly good time in its own right, andLethal Companyfans should definitely give the game a shot.
The Developer of Lethal Company Sings High Praises For REPO
One of the top reasons whyLethal Companyfans shouldn’t sleep onREPOactually lies behind the scenes. Zeekerss, the creator ofLethal Company, recently shared aglowing post on PatreonaboutREPO. The post reads like an enthusiastic love letter to the game, where Zeekerss shares some initial skepticism that eventually melted into infatuation. Even as a fellow developer, Zeekerss seems genuinely impressed by howREPOdares to be different. That kind of endorsement from someone who’s reshaping the indie horror co-op genre isn’t just rare, it’s validating.
Zeekerss describedREPOas “the game for me and my friends to play non-stop” and praised its stealth mechanics, tense pacing, and horror-infused item-hauling chaos. In their playthroughs, multiple things stood out to theLethal Companydeveloper as they learned how tonavigate around early game mistakes. The major thing was the silence ofREPO’s enemies keeping players in a constant state of low-level dread, and the stealth system making hiding feel tactile and risky. “I love that a giant brute can just casually open a door, causing us all to duck and roll,” they wrote. And in a nod toREPO’s playful approach to voice-chat mechanics, Zeekerss noted how his group chose to go quiet anytime an enemy was near, a level of immersion that few games manage to pull off.
The Case for Lethal Company Fans to Give REPO a Shot
Players who loved the chaos, camaraderie, and creeping dread ofLethal Companywill be delighted to learn thatREPOis poised to deliver similar vibes.REPOwill also offer a fresh, uncanny twist to the formula, too. It captures the spirit ofgroup-based horror survivalwhere every run becomes a story, every mistake turns into laughter (or screaming), and every success feels like a hard-won miracle.REPOunderstands what makes co-op horror compelling: unpredictable moments, a sense of shared urgency, and just enough absurdity to make the fear fun. It doesn’t copyLethal Company, it evolves it, creating a hauntingly funny experience that fans of the genre won’t want to miss.
The Horrors of Late-Stage Capitalism (Again)
BothLethal CompanyandREPOthrive on a shared premise: work or die trying. InLethal Company, players were contracted by a faceless mega-corp referred to as the “Company” to scavenge abandoned moons for scrap, all while dodging monstrous threats. REPO leans into a similar flavor of late-stage capitalist absurdity, casting players as hapless agents of the “Retreive, Extract, and Profit Operation” tasked with retrieving property fromcursed locations full of mysteries, without regard to what still lurks inside.
The horror isn’t just in the ghosts or creatures that hunt the party but rather in the goals set by the in-game bureaucracy.The team’s paycheck hinges on what is hauledout of the scavenged location. The moment players realize they’ve dragged a haunted item after narrowly escaping a monster, only to be short some dollars from their quota, is when the real fear sets in.
Aesthetics That Stick
REPObuilds its identity with a unique visual direction that blends cartoons and retro tech with unsettling environments. The grainy, analog style evokes early 2000s horror mod culture, but with a playful, surrealist twist with its boxy, blob-like avatars andcartoonish yet horrifying monsters. It’s stylish without trying too hard, and most importantly, it makes the game feel distinct, even in a growing field of indie co-op horror titles. Much likeLethal Company’s boxy jumpsuits and utilitarian charm,REPO’s look helps set the tone from the first moment it boots up. The world feels old, used, and just a little bit off. And that’s exactly what players want.
A Recipe for Chaos
At its core,REPOnails the dynamic that madeLethal Companyso memorable: chaotic and clumsy teamwork. Communication is key, but that doesn’t mean it’s always effective. One player might be struggling to wrestle a possessed refrigerator down the hallway, calling for the help of another, while someone else is screaming about something that is chasing them. Players who favor evil can actuallygo out of their way to troll friends. The tension between completing the task and surviving the environment creates an emergent comedy-horror experience that’s endlessly replayable. And just like its predecessor,REPOunderstands the magic of physics. When an object flies across the room, it might be a monster or just a teammate losing control. Either way, someone’s probably about to die, and it will probably be very funny.
REPOisn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. It is just making the ride weirder, funnier, and a little more cursed. By learning fromLethal Company’s success and adding its own distinct flavor, it has all the ingredients to carve out a place in the co-op horror hall of fame.REPOwarrants attention from horror enthusiastswho appreciate titles that effectively juxtapose tension with amusement, wherein the stress of paranoid friends makes the journey worthwhile.
R.E.P.O.
WHERE TO PLAY
R.E.P.O. is an online co-op horror game featuring physics, proximity voice chat and scary monsters. You and up to 5 friends can venture into terrifying environments to extract valuable objects using your physics-based grabbing tool.PHYSICS-BASED HORROR - Even the monsters are affected by Newton’s law of gravity! Under the employ of a mysterious computer intelligence. It is your job to locate, transport and extract valuable items from the haunted remains of a long lost humanity.COMMUNICATION IS KEY - …but know when to stay quiet. Transport anything from heavy pianos to fragile ceramics and use teamwork to make sure that the precious cargo will safely reach its destination.UPGRADES & ITEMS - Robotic enhancements increase your chances!Use your hard earned cash [SURPLUS] to purchase upgrades and weapons from your heartless [GENEROUS] creator.
