Remember Space Punks? The top-down shooter that looked a lot like Borderlands had a baby with Diablo 3? Well, it's getting its second update since releasing to early access on the Epic Games Store in July, and it's going to be focused almost entirely around guns.
Being a looter shooter, one would expect guns to be Space Punks' strong suit, and indeed, previews from various publications pointed out how the combat was fine but not particularly outstanding. You get guns (and other weapons) via color-coded loot drops, but nobody likes to leave their arsenal up to the pettiness of RNG.
Thus, Space Punks' "The Craft One'' update is all about giving players options when it comes to expanding their arsenal. First, there are new blueprints that players can collect, either by turning in resources or as rewards from jobs. Called "Punch Cards," these unlockables will give players a path to constructing a particular type of weapon that they might prefer.
Additionally, there are new resources to upgrade weapons once you have them. Batteries can be slotted into weapons to unlock Software slots, while Software will upgrade a weapon's stats. Different Software does different things, so you can further customize your weapon's performance based on the Software Upgrades you purchase.
Punch Cards can also be upgraded as the game progresses in a system that sounds very similar to Diablo 3's crafting system. You can scrap weapons to get some of your spent resources back, with upgraded weapons providing more resources in return.
That's not all that's coming in The Crafty One. Based on player feedback, Space Punks will receive a number of bug fixes and QOL improvements, such as tweaks to The Devil's Gambit hub area that adds some new vending machines as well as Talents getting some flavorful animations. You can read up about The Crafty One in the patch notes here, and experience it for yourself when it arrives later this week.
Space Punks is technically a free-to-play game, but the only way to actually play it is to get a key code from Flying Wild Hog or to purchase one of the two cosmetic packs that are available on the Epic Games Store. After that, cosmetics and game boosters are likely to be the game's monetization plan. An open beta period is expected to arrive later this winter, with a full launch sometime in 2022.