Bot Colony _redux Playtest Adds Unlimited Ammo Looting, Cutscene Skips, and Promises Checkpoints

Quality-of-life fixes land in Bot Colony _redux – here’s the real story for players

This update caught my attention because Bot Colony was one of the first games to really try “talk to the NPC” gameplay back in the day. Seeing it return as Bot Colony _redux with an oil rig scenario-and now getting steady playtest tweaks-feels like a second shot at a wild idea. Today’s patch isn’t flashy, but it’s the kind of cleanup that either keeps a playtest alive or sends it to the uninstall pile.

• Unlimited ammo looting is in—for now—so expect chaos and combat testing over survival balance.
• Cutscene skip options were improved, getting you back into gameplay faster (thank you).
• Humanity Test got fixes: no more audio restart weirdness, and the Pause menu is back.
• Dev clarification: the playtest lacks checkpoints, but the final level will save after major objectives.

Breaking down the update

Let’s start with the crowd-pleaser: looting is live, and it currently grants unlimited ammo. That’s a deliberate choice for playtesting—North Side wants you to go loud and push the combat sandbox without worrying about resource economy. It’s a good call for a build that’s still finding its feel. The question is what happens later: will ammo scarcity shape the pacing, or will the team lean into a more arcadey loop? That decision will fundamentally change how this oil rig plays.

The other big win is improved skip options for early cutscenes. This is basic respect for player time, especially in a playtest where you’re replaying content. Pair that with punchier audio for the Hunter Bot landing cutscene and updated damage grunts for Jennifer (farewell, mismatched male pain sounds), and you’ve got a project paying attention to presentation, not just systems. These aren’t headline features, but they absolutely affect how “complete” a build feels.

UI polish got a small but telling tweak too: chat avatars in the text field now match the oil rig bots they represent. It’s cosmetic, sure, but in a game that historically leaned on natural language and NPC identity, correct visual cues matter. If redux is aiming to meld spoken or typed interaction with action gameplay, the small stuff like this reduces friction and confusion.

On the systems side, the Humanity Test—your not-inconsequential penalty box—now behaves better. Background music no longer restarts awkwardly during interrogations, and the Pause menu (ESC) works again. It’s the kind of fix you only notice when it’s broken, and it’s been broken. Consider this one a sanity restore.

The real story: checkpoints aren’t here yet, but they’re coming

North Side clarified something that’s caused more than a few rage quits: this playtest build doesn’t include checkpoint saves. Any random death kicks you back to the Control Room for another round of the Humanity Test. In the final level, they say progress will save after each major objective, so if you clear, say, the Capitalist Faction challenge and get clobbered en route to the next faction, you’ll respawn safely at the Capitalist camp with progress intact.

That matters. Right now, the playtest loop can feel punitive in a way that muddies the design signal. Are you testing stealth routes and bot behaviors, or just testing how long your patience holds out? Checkpoints will put the focus back on mission design instead of repetition. Until then, expect that old-school friction—and plan your runs accordingly.

Why this matters in 2025’s AI-NPC moment

Bot Colony tried to make NPC conversation an actual mechanic years before the rest of the industry caught up. Redux arrives as everyone from indies to AAA is experimenting with AI-driven characters. This update, small as it is, nudges the project toward a playable baseline where the tech can shine: fewer janky interruptions, quicker retries, clearer feedback loops. If the chat interface and NPC identity cues are tightening up, that’s a good sign the team hasn’t lost the original thread.

But let’s keep it real: unlimited ammo and cutscene skips are band-aids, not a vision. The big questions still hanging are about pacing and player agency. Will conversation and faction challenges meaningfully change encounters, or is this mostly a shooter with talking parts? The devs say “new episodes” are planned and oil rig updates will roll out steadily. Great—give us one with checkpoints, real resource rules, and a mission structure that spotlights the game’s unique strengths.

The gamer’s perspective: what to test now

If you’re in the playtest, lean into the ammo buffet and stress the combat: try different weapon loops, see how bots react to noise and aggression, and report where AI falls apart. Use the cutscene skip to iterate quickly on routes. Expect to be bounced into the Humanity Test on death and treat it as a rhythm tax until checkpoints arrive. And don’t sleep on the audio polish—call it out when the Hunter Bot landing finally sounds as terrifying as it looks.

My wishlist for the next update is simple: implement the checkpointed mission flow they’ve promised, flip ammo back to a balanced economy, and show off at least one objective chain where talking to bots or reading their cues changes the outcome. That’s the redux pitch worth getting excited about.

TL;DR

Solid QoL patch: unlimited ammo looting for testing, better cutscene skip, audio fixes, and UI polish. The lack of checkpoints is a temporary playtest constraint—the final level will save after major objectives. Good steps forward; now it’s time for mission structure and balance to show what makes Bot Colony _redux different.