Saros’s free Zenith update adds New Game+ and a boss rush

Saros owners can download the free Zenith update from 19 October, adding New Game+, a boss rush mode, and accessibility settings that make Housemarque’s shooter more adjustable. The update gives returning players tougher versions of Carcosa while offering newcomers more time to react to its projectile-heavy combat. Both sides of the update revolve around changing how you tackle the game, rather than simply adding another stretch of campaign.

In the PlayStation Blog announcement, Zenith design lead Abebe Tinari explains that Housemarque wanted to improve replayability and accessibility together. The result stretches from automatic firing to combinations of difficulty modifiers that players must choose before entering New Game+. For anyone who finished the shooter after its appearance in our April games guide, there’s now a different set of reasons to return.

More reaction time, with the same attacks

The new Slow Game Speed setting gives players longer to read incoming attacks without reducing the number of projectiles. You can choose how much to slow the game, then have the setting activate automatically during combat or toggle it manually. That preserves the attack patterns while giving you more time to decide whether to jump, dash, shield, or parry.

Auto-fire addresses a different obstacle: holding the fire button while managing movement and defence. When enabled, it fires your weapon automatically while you aim at a hostile, reducing the number of inputs you need to handle at once. Reloading remains manual, though, so a perfect reload still depends on a correctly timed button press.

Zenith also introduces Motion Sensor Aiming alongside the existing button-remapping options. Together, these settings let players change the controls as well as the pace of combat, rather than relying on one broad difficulty adjustment. They add another layer of customisation beyond the visual and performance changes covered in our earlier look at Saros’s PS5 Pro enhancements.

New Game+ makes you choose the challenge

The expanded Carcosan Modifier system supplies the link between a more forgiving first run and a demanding return visit. Zenith adds 10 Protection Modifiers, which ease the challenge, and 10 Trial Modifiers, which increase it. These can change the decisions you make in a fight, rather than only adjusting how much damage an enemy absorbs.

Corruption Melee Enhancement, for example, turns accumulated Corruption into damage when you land a melee strike. Normally, Corruption eats away at maximum Integrity after certain projectiles hit your armour. With this Protection active, closing the distance lets you consume that build-up in a powerful hit, giving players a more aggressive way to deal with the threat.

Hostile Regeneration pushes in the opposite direction. With this Trial enabled, weapon damage can stun larger hostiles, but they quickly regenerate and recover unless you finish them with melee. Ranged damage therefore sets up the final blow instead of completing the job, forcing you to move in before the opportunity disappears.

Those choices become central to Eclipse Layers, the update’s New Game+ mode. After you clear Saros, new nodes appear in the Armour Matrix at Passage and unlock access to the next layer. Each layer offers a more intense version of the game with altered rules, and you must meet a modifier threshold before starting.

Reaching that threshold requires multiple Trial Modifiers, but you choose which ones to combine from 25 available Trials. That gives returning players room to shape the challenge around their preferred approach, while also creating opportunities for difficult combinations. A modifier that seems manageable alone may become more troublesome alongside another rule that changes how you fight.

The crown opens up more story

Eclipse Layers also give Arjun a crown and golden armour, with the crown growing more elaborate as your Modifier Balance increases. Taking on more Trials therefore changes his appearance as well as the combat rules. Housemarque has tied that visual reward to exploration, so it has a purpose beyond a Photo Mode souvenir.

Across Carcosa, 12 new collectables called Visions contain murals and messages left by an ancient king. Higher crown levels are required to perceive the additional story text they hold. Players chasing those details consequently have a reason to increase their modifier loadout, rather than settling on the minimum needed to enter a layer.

Boss rush offers a shorter route back

Overlord Rush provides a more focused alternative to another run through Carcosa. Accessed through the Primary Unit at Passage, the training simulation challenges players to defeat selections of the main game’s bosses quickly. As VGC’s update coverage reports, it arrives alongside New Game+ in the free rollout.

The Incursion and Ascension sets each contain three Overlords, while Totality puts all eight into one continuous gauntlet. Housemarque estimates that the smaller sets can be completed in around 10 minutes, making them the more compact option. Integrated leaderboards let you compare results globally and filter by main weapon, so players can compete within their preferred weapon category.