Cronos: Lazarus vs Hell is Us

• Platforms: PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2
• Game Engine: Unreal Engine 5
• Parent Game: Cronos: The New Dawn
• Release Date: October 27, 2026
• Storage Footprint: 30 GB Available Space (SSD)

• Perspective: Third-Person
• Multiplayer: Single-Player Only
• Setting: War-Torn Hadea (Fictional Country)
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
• Unique Feature: A unique 'no hand-holding' design that completely removes the map, compass, and quest markers, forcing players to rely on instinct and observation to explore.

• Echo-3 Recon Drone: Illuminates unpowered subterranean corridors with floodlights and pings enemy locations through walls.
  Autonomous Tactical Drone
• Tethered Harvester Bit: Hovers around the Warden, automatically collecting dispersed essence globules during high-speed combat.
  Magnetic Siphon Construct

• Shattered Essence Shards: Concealed within secret containment alcoves and reward safes throughout the Terminal sectors.
• Collective Encrypted Black Boxes: Recovered from deceased Collective reconnaissance units and fallen security commanders.
• Prototype Upgrade Matrices: Discovered in high-security engineering vaults to enhance phase-dash and weapon telemetry.

• Amine Prisms: Found in various locations and given by NPCs. These are key items required to close the 14 Timeloops scattered across Hadea.
• Notes and Clues: Scattered throughout the environment. These are essential for solving the game's many puzzles and progressing through the unguided world.

• Survival Horror
• Sci-Fi Horror
• Eastern European Brutalism
• Fast-Paced Combat
• Time Anomalies
• Dystopian
• Atmospheric
• Dark Fantasy

• Supernatural Horror
• Exploration
• Civil War
• Mystery
• Psychological
• Action-Adventure
• Minimalist HUD
• Cosmic Horror

• Harvester Scythe-Pike: Polearm / Melee Executioner
  The Warden's iconic signature weapon, capable of fluid sweeping strikes, guard breaks, and instant essence-siphoning executions on staggered mutants.
• Overcharged Trench Scattergun: Heavy Shotgun
  A close-quarters industrial shotgun firing devastating kinetic buckshot that staggers massive armored monstrosities.
• Pneumatic Spike Cannon: Heavy Ballistic Rifle
  Fires high-velocity industrial rebar spikes capable of impaling advancing creatures and pinning them to concrete walls.
• Phase-Disruptor Pistol: Energy Sidearm
  Rapid-firing tactical handgun calibrated to break bio-shielding and detonate corrupted energy sacs on mutated enemies.
• Thermite Cluster Grenades: Tactical Ordnance
  Sticky incendiary explosive charges that latch onto enemy weak points and unleash sustained high-temperature chemical flames.

• Melee Weapons: Varies (Swords, Spears, Axes, Greatswords, Polearms)
  The primary form of combat. Rémi wields a variety of melee weapons in a tactical, stamina-based system.
• KAPI Drone: Support
  Rémi's drone companion, which can be upgraded with different abilities to distract, stun, or damage enemies during combat.

• Reinforced Warden Hazard Rig: Defense: +220; grants 30% resistance against toxic gas and dampens kinetic shock from heavy boss strikes.
• Phase-Shift Tactical Exoskeleton: Defense: +340; accelerates Phase-Dash recharge by 25% and emits an electric pulse when dodging through enemy attacks.

• Rémi's Attire: The game does not appear to have a traditional armor system. Rémi's outfit is consistent throughout the game, with progression focused on weapon and drone upgrades rather than equippable armor.

• Warden Heavy Combat Armor: Standard Industrial Olive, Collective Inquisitor Black, Reactor Hazard Yellow, and Arctic Slate.
• Renegade Pathfinder Trench Coat: Heavy ballistic canvas overcoat with reinforced pauldrons and weathered Collective insignia.

• Cosmetic Packs: The Digital Deluxe Edition includes two exclusive cosmetic skin packs for Rémi and his drone, KAPI: The Hollow Walker Pack and The Phol Guard Pack. The pre-order bonus also includes the 'Military Pack' of cosmetics.

Gameplay radically shifts from slow-paced methodical survival to fast, predatory combat. The Warden wields the Phase-Dash module (allowing short-range directional teleportation through enemy strikes and environmental lasers), Kinetic Parry Counters, an Overclocked Harvester Device (which drains essence mid-combat to replenish armor plating and weapon energy), and modular Suit Enhancements that alter teleport cooldowns, melee shockwave radii, and firearm critical strike chances.

Progression is tied to exploration and combat. Players can upgrade a variety of melee weapons (swords, spears, axes) and the companion drone, KAPI, with different abilities. Weapon upgrades are uniquely tied to 'emotions' like grief or rage, which also manifest as elements in the world.

The expansion centers on the Terminal, a sprawling multi-tiered Eastern European brutalist installation composed of interconnected zones: the Monolithic Reactor Core, the Abandoned Rail Classification Yard, the Cryogenic Decontamination Sinks, the Corrupted Botanical Hydro-Labs, and the Sub-Level Archive Vaults. The environment blends claustrophobic corridors with cavernous industrial chambers optimized for fast teleportation traversal and tactical verticality.

• Collective Transit Railcar: Armored Monorail
  Heavy fortified freight train utilized by Collective pathfinders to navigate across contaminated wasteland sectors.
• Industrial Shaft Elevator: Hydraulic Freight Hoist
  Massive deep-shaft lift connecting the surface staging areas to the subterranean Terminal reactor levels.

• Apex Hunter: Engineered Bio-Mechanical Organism
  A terrifying, relentless predator dispatched by the Collective that stalks the player dynamically through the facility.
• Corrupted Carcass Stalker: Mutated Quadruped
  Fast, skittering bio-mass hounds that swarm in packs and leap from shadowed ceilings and maintenance grates.
• Spore Leaper: Parasitic Bio-Form
  Agile subterranean creatures that detonate upon close proximity, releasing blinding toxic spores.

• The Warden: Protagonist / Rogue Pathfinder
  An elite combat operative of the Collective who breaks all protocols to execute the forbidden Lazarus resurrection mission.
• The Apex Hunter: Antagonist / Relentless Executioner
  A grotesque, cybernetic apex predator programmed to track and eradicate rogue personnel across the Terminal facility.
• Magdalena: Key Narrative Figure / Lost Essence
  A central figure from the Warden's past whose lingering essence is the sole focus of the Lazarus Protocol.

• Rémi: Playable Protagonist
  A man who returns to his homeland of Hadea amidst a civil war and supernatural calamity to find his parents and uncover his origins.
• Hollow Walkers: Enemies
  Supernatural creatures that resemble ancient monuments and are immune to modern weapons. They are manifestations of human emotions and trauma.

• Breach: The Terminal Perimeter: Expansion Campaign Infiltration
  Sever communications with the Collective, breach the quarantined industrial rail yard, and enter the lower facility.
• Stalker in the Sinks: Survival & Boss Encounter
  Navigate the flooded cryogenic cooling sectors while evading and counter-attacking the stalking Apex Hunter.
• The Lazarus Protocol: Climactic Final Battle
  Defend the resurrection chamber against waves of biomechanical horrors and successfully revive the lost essence.

• Main Story Quests
  A mature, deep narrative following Rémi's quest to find his parents and uncover the secrets of the calamity. Progression is unguided and relies on player investigation.
• Good Deeds
  Optional, often time-sensitive side missions to help NPCs. These require players to remember conversations and connect disparate pieces of information without a quest log.
• Closing Timeloops
  A major recurring objective to find and destroy 14 Timeloops, which are ceaseless sources of enemies. This requires defeating their guardians and using a specific key item.

Standard DLC Expansion ($19.99 USD) requires the base game Cronos: The New Dawn to play across PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Deluxe DLC Edition / Complete Bundle ($29.99 USD) includes the original Lazarus dark ambient digital soundtrack by Arkadiusz Reikowski, an exclusive Digital Concept Artbook detailing the brutalist architecture and Hunter evolution, and the 'Renegade Pathfinder' carbon-fiber suit skin.

The game is available in a Standard Edition ($49.99 PC / $59.99 Console) and a Digital Deluxe Edition ($69.99 PC / $79.99 Console). The Deluxe Edition includes 72 hours of early access, two exclusive cosmetic packs, an exclusive investigation, a digital artbook, and the original soundtrack.

Post-launch developer roadmap features include an intense 'Terminal Gauntlet' survival horde mode with randomized enemy waves and temporal hazard modifiers, a Boss Rush challenge arena testing mastery over the apex Hunter encounters, speedrun leaderboards, and full Steam Deck and handheld optimization patches.

• Q: What is Cronos: Lazarus?
  A: Cronos: Lazarus is a combat-heavy story expansion and new chapter to Bloober Team's survival horror game Cronos: The New Dawn, starring the Warden.
• Q: Does Cronos: Lazarus require the base game?
  A: Yes, Cronos: Lazarus is a downloadable content (DLC) expansion that requires Cronos: The New Dawn to play.
• Q: How does combat differ from Cronos: The New Dawn?
  A: Lazarus shifts to a faster, more aggressive playstyle with rapid phase-dash teleportation, aggressive melee cleaves, and active essence harvesting.
• Q: What platforms will Cronos: Lazarus release on?
  A: The expansion will be available on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
• Q: When is Cronos: Lazarus releasing?
  A: Cronos: Lazarus is scheduled to launch in Fall 2026.

• Q: What is Hell is Us?
  A: Hell is Us is a single-player, third-person action-adventure with a unique 'no hand-holding' design. Set in a war-torn country beset by a supernatural calamity, players must rely on instinct and observation to explore and survive.
• Q: Is there a map or quest log?
  A: No. A core feature of the game is the complete absence of a map, compass, quest markers, or quest log, forcing players to navigate and solve puzzles using environmental clues and their own memory.
• Q: How does combat work?
  A: It is a tactical, stamina-based melee system. A unique 'Lymbic Pulse' mechanic rewards aggressive play, allowing players to regain health by dealing damage with precise timing.
• Q: Is it a 'Soulslike' game?
  A: While it shares some similarities, such as deliberate combat and a stamina bar, the developers describe it as a tactical hack-and-slash. Key differences include enemies not respawning within a level and the absence of a 'corpse run' to retrieve lost items upon death.

Built natively in Unreal Engine 5 leveraging Nanite virtualized geometry for photorealistic brutalist concrete surfaces, Lumen dynamic global illumination for real-time light bounces in darkness, and advanced Chaos physics for environmental destruction during boss battles.

Scored by renowned horror composer Arkadiusz Reikowski, blending oppressive industrial percussion, distorted Soviet-era analog synthesizers, metallic scraping tones, and visceral spatial audio engineered with Unreal Engine 5's MetaSounds to heighten the terror of the Hunter stalking the player.

Features a diegetic and streamlined tactical HUD. The Warden's suit spine illuminates energy nodes indicating available Phase-Dash charges and armor integrity, while weapon ammo counts and essence reserves are projected via holographic readouts on firearm receivers and the wrist-mounted Harvester interface.

Extensive accessibility suite including individual sliders for combat aggression and enemy damage, customizable auto-aim and target snapping, visual sound indicators for footsteps and monster growls, colorblind rendering modes, full input remapping for controllers and keyboards, and scalable subtitle fonts with speaker tagging.

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system. DirectX 12 is required. Solid-state drive (SSD) installation is mandatory for fast level streaming and seamless phase-teleport traversal.
• Laptop Performance Note: Unreal Engine 5 Nanite geometry and Lumen dynamic lighting demand steady mobile GPU power; a sustained 75W+ TGP is strongly advised to maintain 60 FPS during intensive combat brawls.
• Laptop Consideration: G P U T G P: 60W minimum mobile TGP for 1080p 60 FPS; 95W+ TGP recommended for high refresh 1440p displays.
• Laptop Consideration: Cooling Thermals: Ensure elevated laptop chassis and unrestricted intake vents to curb CPU thermal throttling during multi-enemy particle collisions.
• Laptop Consideration: C P U Power Limits: Sustained 40W CPU power delivery avoids micro-stutter when rapid teleport dashes stream high-poly brutalist assets.
• Laptop Consideration: M U X Switch Optimus: Activating discrete GPU mode via MUX switch significantly cuts input lag for responsive dodge counters and quick-turn aiming.
• Optimization Detail: Upscaling Tech: Features native support for NVIDIA DLSS 3.7 (Super Resolution and Frame Generation), AMD FSR 3.1, and Intel XeSS.
• Optimization Detail: Key Settings Impact: Lumen Global Illumination, Volumetric Fog Quality, and Screen Space Reflections exert the heaviest GPU impact.
• Game Name: Cronos: Lazarus

• OFFICIAL AND EXTRAPOLATED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS for Hell is Us. This information is based on the official PC specifications from developer Rogue Factor, adapted to the requested JSON structure. As a visually ambitious title built on Unreal Engine 5, the game is exceptionally demanding, with the developers noting that all performance targets are achieved with upscaling (Unreal's TSR) enabled. Laptop and future-generation GPU listings are extrapolated based on performance benchmarks.
• Laptop Performance Note: Laptop versions of the listed desktop GPUs require comparable performance. For a graphically intense Unreal Engine 5 game like Hell is Us, a laptop with a high-TGP (Total Graphics Power) GPU and an excellent cooling system is critical to avoid performance dips and maintain a stable framerate.
• Laptop Consideration: G P U T G P: A high TGP is essential. The game's reliance on UE5 features like Lumen means a low-power GPU variant will struggle significantly, especially at higher resolutions.
• Laptop Consideration: Cooling Thermals: Unreal Engine 5 can heavily tax both the CPU and GPU. A robust cooling solution is necessary to prevent thermal throttling during long gameplay sessions and in visually complex areas.
• Laptop Consideration: C P U Power Limits: A strong CPU with good power delivery is important for handling the game's physics, complex AI, and asset streaming without creating a bottleneck for the GPU.
• Laptop Consideration: M U X Switch Optimus: A MUX switch or NVIDIA Advanced Optimus is highly recommended to minimize system latency. In an action-adventure game with precise combat, reducing input lag is key to a responsive experience.
• Optimization Detail: Upscaling Tech: The game officially supports NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS, in addition to Unreal Engine's native TSR. The developer has stated that all official performance targets are based on using upscaling, making it essential for achieving playable framerates.
• Optimization Detail: Key Settings Impact: Performance will be most affected by settings related to Unreal Engine 5's features, particularly Global Illumination (Lumen), Shadows (Virtual Shadow Maps), Reflections, and Post-Processing. The game is known to be very GPU-bound.
• Game Name: Hell is Us

• Upscaling Tech: Features native support for NVIDIA DLSS 3.7 (Super Resolution and Frame Generation), AMD FSR 3.1, and Intel XeSS.
• Key Settings Impact: Lumen Global Illumination, Volumetric Fog Quality, and Screen Space Reflections exert the heaviest GPU impact.

• Upscaling Tech: The game officially supports NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS, in addition to Unreal Engine's native TSR. The developer has stated that all official performance targets are based on using upscaling, making it essential for achieving playable framerates.
• Key Settings Impact: Performance will be most affected by settings related to Unreal Engine 5's features, particularly Global Illumination (Lumen), Shadows (Virtual Shadow Maps), Reflections, and Post-Processing. The game is known to be very GPU-bound.

• G P U T G P: 60W minimum mobile TGP for 1080p 60 FPS; 95W+ TGP recommended for high refresh 1440p displays.
• Cooling Thermals: Ensure elevated laptop chassis and unrestricted intake vents to curb CPU thermal throttling during multi-enemy particle collisions.
• C P U Power Limits: Sustained 40W CPU power delivery avoids micro-stutter when rapid teleport dashes stream high-poly brutalist assets.
• M U X Switch Optimus: Activating discrete GPU mode via MUX switch significantly cuts input lag for responsive dodge counters and quick-turn aiming.

• G P U T G P: A high TGP is essential. The game's reliance on UE5 features like Lumen means a low-power GPU variant will struggle significantly, especially at higher resolutions.
• Cooling Thermals: Unreal Engine 5 can heavily tax both the CPU and GPU. A robust cooling solution is necessary to prevent thermal throttling during long gameplay sessions and in visually complex areas.
• C P U Power Limits: A strong CPU with good power delivery is important for handling the game's physics, complex AI, and asset streaming without creating a bottleneck for the GPU.
• M U X Switch Optimus: A MUX switch or NVIDIA Advanced Optimus is highly recommended to minimize system latency. In an action-adventure game with precise combat, reducing input lag is key to a responsive experience.