Saros Unveils Release Date and Details for Its Largest Update to Date

The bullet-hell roguelike Sarosis is rolling out its first major update, titled Saros: Zenith, packed with new features and modes designed to welcome newcomers while providing veterans with fresh challenges. Best of all, it’s available for free starting today.

For those new to the game, Sarosis introduces several accessibility options to ease the learning curve. The standout feature is the “Slow Game Speed” setting, which allows players to adjust the speed of enemy bullet patterns. You can customize how much the game slows down, with options for a manual toggle or automatic activation when projectiles are incoming. The developer has emphasized the importance of balancing these features with the game’s core identity, resulting in this bullet-time mechanic.

Another significant addition is the “Auto-fire” feature, which enables your character to automatically shoot at enemies in your line of sight, allowing you to concentrate on dodging the barrage of bullets. While players still need to reload manually, perfect reloads will require precise timing. These adjustments aim to reduce chaos for those who might feel overwhelmed, especially when the screen fills with a flurry of alien projectiles.

For seasoned players who have already taken down Carcosa’s King in Yellow, Zenith introduces Overlord Rush, a boss rush mode where you can face off against the game’s formidable Overlords for leaderboard glory. There are three sets of bosses to tackle: the “Incursion” and “Ascension” sets each feature three Overlords, while the “Totality” set pits you against all eight bosses in succession.

Veteran players will also appreciate the new Carcosan Modifiers. These optional toggles can either ease gameplay (Protection Modifiers) or ramp up the challenge (Trial Modifiers), with a limit on how many Protection Modifiers you can use before needing to balance them with Trials.

The Zenith update adds 10 new Protection Modifiers and 10 Trial Modifiers. One example of a new Protection is “Corruption Melee Enhancement,” which releases Corruption to boost damage on close-range attacks.

These new modifiers are integrated into the newly added New Game Plus mode, called Eclipse Layers. After completing the game for the first time, players will find new nodes in the Armor Matrix within the Passage (the hub area). Unlocking these nodes allows access to the next Eclipse Layer, which requires additional Carcosan Modifiers to progress. In Eclipse Layers mode, Arjun dons a crown and golden armor, with the crown growing larger as you add more modifiers. A larger crown unlocks hidden messages scattered throughout the game world.

The latest title has garnered general acclaim, with many praising its imaginative visuals inspired by weird fiction and its tight bullet-hell mechanics, although some critics felt the easier difficulty compared to previous titles was a misstep. Sales have been modest, with reports indicating that this PS5 exclusive sold around 300,000 copies in its first two weeks. Following the game’s release, the co-founder and managing director of the studio stepped down. Hopefully, the Zenith update will help Sarosis gain the recognition it deserves.

You won’t be left for dead in the Crimson Wastes this time around.