GTFO's Rebirth update adds ceiling monsters and brain injections

Tactical horror FPS GTFO had a big update yesterday, wiping away all its old levels once again, and introducing fresh ones with eerie new environments to explore. This time it seems nature has returned to the Complex (the big underground compound you're sent into), with plant life beginning to grow amongst the horrors. Unfortunately, that plant life seems to have contributed to the horrors too, because you'll now find "spawner sacks" hanging from the ceilings. I don't fancy meeting what comes out of them.

Rebirth is the co-op game's fifth Rundown (developer 10 Chambers' term for their content-wiping updates), and it went live last night. You can catch a glimpse of this slightly floral new zone, the Floodways, in the trailer below.

Players will also be able to find artifacts that are sought after by The Warden ("the mysterious entity that is keeping you prisoner"). Your reward for grabbing these will be a lovely brain injection called a Booster that will enhance your abilities on subsequent trips to the Complex. This could be things like increased hacking speed or improved assault rifle damage.

This is the first time the game has had any sort of progress that contributes to further expeditions. Previously, the only thing you really gained from completing a level was unlocking the next level - but you don't even need to complete anything to get the Boosters. As soon as you find an artifact it's sent to The Warden, so it doesn't matter if you die after. It's a nice feature that will definitely encourage me to try another run if I manage to get myself killed (which is often), even if it does require sticking needles in my virtual skull.

You can find more info about the new update here, and the devs say they'll be publishing a change list that should have more details in a separate post.

If you've yet to try out GTFO, Matt Cox said it's "the best way to panic as a group since Killing Floor". And Matt played before monsters could fall on you from the ceiling; imagine how much that panic has evolved now.

GTFO is in early access on Steam (and it's currently on sale for 20% off). There's no news on when it'll be leaving early access, though the developers plan on continuing the Rundown concept after its 1.0 release. It's worth noting that each new Rundown completely replaces the previous one. So, if you've missed Rundowns one through four, I'm afraid they're gone for good.