A new update for Saros dropped today, adding some new features to the hectic Housemarque shooter. New Carcosan Modifiers allow players to further tweak the challenge, a boss rush mode lets you compete on leaderboards, and Arjun gets a golden glow.
Zenith adds 10 new Trial Modifiers to increase the challenge level. One example is “Hostile Regeneration,” which allows you to stun larger enemies, but you have to get in and finish them with a melee strike before they recover.
The update also adds New Game+, which adds mysterious new nodes to the Armor Matrix back at Passage. You use these to move through Eclipse Layers, which ramp up the challenge with new rules and deadlier enemies.
During Eclipse Layers, Arjun dons a golden crown and his armor glows. The more trials you have active, the more it glows and the flashier his gilded attire gets. Wearing the crown also grants access to new story and lore entries called Visions.
Then there’s Overlord Rush, accessed via the primary unit in Passage. This is a training simulation boss rush mode that lets you take down the fiercest Saros enemies and compete for a place on global leaderboards.
“Overlord Rush is divided into multiple Sets, each of which contains a different selection of Overlords,” the post on the PS Blog said. “The Incursion and Ascension Sets contain three Overlords each, and can be completed in 10 minutes, for a nice little Saros snack. The final Set is known as Totality. As the name implies, it lines up all eight Overlords from around Carcosa in one continuous gauntlet!”
Elsewhere, Housemarque has added a bunch of accessibility modifiers for people who are struggling with Saros, including the ability to slow projectiles down, giving you more time to dodge. “You have control over how much the game slows down, and can even choose if you want the setting to kick in automatically during combat, or if you want to manually toggle it on when things get hairy,” the blog said.
There’s also a new Auto Fire setting you can toggle on, which fires your weapon for you whenever you’re aiming at an enemy. You can also change the controls to aim with the motion sensor, for players who can’t get used to patting their head while rubbing their tummy and running on a treadmill at the same time.
“We here at Housemarque are super excited for everyone to get their hands on the new content Zenith adds,” Housemarque said. “I can’t wait to hear what players think about all the new control options, see your Crown-equipped Photo mode snaps, and compete (and likely lose) to your high scores in Overlord Rush.”