Project Lazarus

About

Project Lazarus is a top-down shooter game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. As a member of the Lazarus Project, your mission is to rescue survivors and uncover the truth behind the outbreak. With a variety of weapons and character customization options, players must fight their way through hordes of zombies, completing objectives and battling bosses in intense, action-packed gameplay.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

81%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,296 reviews

gameplay58 positive mentions

grinding30 negative mentions

Engaging gameplay with a satisfying progression system that keeps players coming back for more.
Diverse mech options with unique abilities and weapon configurations, allowing for varied playstyles.
Great graphics and sound design that enhance the overall experience.

Game feels unfinished with limited content and balance issues, leading to repetitive gameplay.
Controls can be awkward, especially with aiming and movement mechanics that may frustrate players.
Some weapons and upgrades lack impact, making it hard to distinguish between different levels of effectiveness.

gameplay
190 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
62%
7%
The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, with some players enjoying the unique mechanics and addictive loop, while others criticize it for being slow-paced, poorly balanced, and lacking depth. The variety of mechs and their distinct control schemes add some strategic elements, but many feel that the overall experience is marred by awkward controls, repetitive gameplay, and a lack of impactful upgrades. Despite its potential and engaging features, the game is perceived as needing significant polish and content to fully realize its promise.
- “The game’s blend of survival mechanics and rogue-lite features ensures that every playthrough is fresh and exciting, while the adrenaline-pumping action keeps you engaged from start to finish.”
- “The core gameplay mechanics are the same as vampire survivors (walk around while auto firing, upgrading weapons and passives, evolving weapons, etc.) but all of the weapons and abilities are completely different with their own strategic uses.”
- “Fun game with an addictive gameplay loop.”
- “The gameplay itself needs a lot of design polish; even the sound design is bad, the mechs have no weight to them, and the music is just weird.”
- “The worst is the gameplay though - most weapons except the flamethrower feel worthless, you can buy passive upgrades without descriptions of what they do, and those upgrades actually allow you to instantly get a weapon to level 7/8 upon finding it in the game.”
- “That makes the entire game about boringly, slowly grinding for money to purchase more and more upgrades, which will make you more and more powerful instantly and reduce the gameplay to less than a mobile game.”
graphics
152 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
45%
3%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the high fidelity and smooth performance, particularly in relation to the mech designs and overall visual appeal. However, some users criticize the graphics as being mediocre or lacking a distinct art style, with issues like blurriness at high resolutions and hitbox inaccuracies. Overall, while the graphics are generally considered good for the genre, opinions vary on their uniqueness and execution.
- “Graphics give me strong Half-Life 2 with a good texture pack vibes and it runs like butter even with hundreds of enemies and fire on screen.”
- “Great graphics, exacting controller movement (not recommended using keyboard & mouse), nicely ramping difficulty, great weapons, meaningful upgrades, multiple bot bodies for different play styles, and developers that are listening and making requested updates.”
- “The graphics are slick and the explosions are satisfying.”
- “Feels like the devs just rushed the graphics, and developed the core gameplay mechanics to the point where it looks 'presentable', then quickly released it to early alpha to sell some copies to fund their game.”
- “Funds they probably ran out of because they prioritized graphics too much, trying to make their game all fancy and ambitious.”
- “The graphics are ok but there isn't a strong art style to give the game character; the enemies I encountered so far were all bugs that frankly blend into the background.”
music
118 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
56%
14%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it either boring or inappropriate for the game's action-oriented theme, often comparing it to elevator music or retro synth tracks that don't match the gameplay intensity. While some appreciate the soundtrack as enjoyable or relaxing, others criticize it for being distracting or lacking depth, suggesting that it detracts from the overall experience. Overall, there is a consensus that the music needs improvement to better align with the game's atmosphere and enhance player engagement.
- “Game has a pretty good soundtrack; I normally turn off in-game music, but I tend to leave it on with this game.”
- “Great relaxing music and good gameplay.”
- “A lightweight electric funk soundtrack makes the frenzied action oddly relaxing to boot.”
- “Terrible sound design, music is much louder than weapons and even if you change the settings to make the music quieter, the weapons and everything else still sounds really bad; there is no 'umph' to anything.”
- “The music is pretty bad and really inappropriate for the game (sounds like 1960s elevator music).”
- “However, this is the first game I have played in years where the sound design and music are so bad as to be actively detrimental to the playing experience.”
optimization
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
38%
31%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some players noting good performance and graphics, particularly on lower-end systems like the Steam Deck. However, many others criticize it for significant optimization issues, including stuttering, bugs that halt enemy spawns, and excessive strain on hardware, suggesting it feels more like a pre-early-access title. Overall, while there is potential, the game requires substantial optimization improvements to enhance the player experience.
- “And to top it off, performance is great; it runs better than Vampire Survivors on the Steam Deck and it's full 3D.”
- “Good graphics, good performance, and addictive, all for a good price.”
- “This game is pretty fun due to the high-quality image performance and different interesting robots with various movement styles and a number of slots for weapons and passive abilities.”
- “Extremely unoptimized game.”
- “There's very little content, nothing is explained, you can't check your current loadout while in a run, maps are basically empty squares, everything is ugly, nothing is balanced, most mechs' gimmicks just plain suck, the music is bad and optimization is non-existent...”
- “It feels more like a pre-early-access rather than an actual early access, although a fair bit of content is there, it's exceedingly rough around the edges, from sound being completely messed up, to the optimization being really bad (it runs my gaming rig harder than playing AAA games at 1440 res 144hz), to the balance being essentially non-existent, to other pretty basic bad design decisions.”
grinding
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, with many noting that progression feels slow and unbalanced. While some appreciate the opportunity to experiment with upgrades, the lack of impactful improvements and the necessity to grind for resources detracts from the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, some players still enjoy the game for its fun mechanics, though they acknowledge that it may require significant time investment to fully enjoy.
- “The progression is pretty grindy and you have to aim most of the weapons, so that's a bummer.”
- “That makes the entire game about boringly, slowly grinding for money to purchase more and more upgrades, which will make you more and more powerful instantly and reduce the gameplay to less than a mobile game.”
- “Some like it, I kinda like it, but compared to other similar games, this has been the most tedious and frustrating.”
replayability
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
45%
15%
The game offers significant replayability due to its engaging gameplay, unique mechs, and enjoyable weapon mechanics, making it easy to pick up and play for hours. While the gameplay loop can be simple and repetitive, the potential for upgrades and synergies enhances the experience, providing players with a sense of agency and satisfaction as they grind for powerful builds. Overall, it is considered a worthwhile investment for those seeking a fun and replayable experience.
- “Engaging gameplay, easy to pick up and play, with hours of replayability.”
- “The gameplay loop is simple and repetitive, but with upgrades and hypermode, there's infinite replayability.”
- “Stuff like more upgrades and possible synergies between weapons/characters would really add a lot to the replayability.”
- “Everything feeling good to use is much more desirable as a player, as it gives us more choices and agency, which increases replayability.”
- “By the time you grind out an invincible build you will have gotten your money's worth and be satisfied, and it's very replayable.”
story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
61%
22%
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth, with many players noting that there is no substantial narrative to engage with. While the gameplay features exciting mech action and strategic elements, the missions often conclude abruptly, leaving players wanting a more satisfying and decisive ending. Overall, players express a desire for a more cohesive story to enhance the experience.
- “The mechs are cool, the weapons are awesome, the levels are neat, storytelling is cool.”
- “Finishing a mission should feel more decisive, whether that's returning to a drop ship, or ejecting out of the mech, or executing the remaining enemies; it should feel more like a mission complete than just a fade-to-black ending.”
- “I'm thinking missions you have to complete and then survive until the extraction ship arrives and other stuff like that.”
- “There's no story here either, so don't come expecting that, but I'd like to see something put together.”
- “Finishing a mission should feel more decisive; whether that's returning to a drop ship, ejecting out of the mech, or executing the remaining enemies, it should feel more like a mission complete than just a fade-to-black ending.”
- “Huh.... soundtrack.... and then there's the mission briefing.... why even?”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its great visuals, animation, and voice acting, featuring amusing lines and charming characters like tuxedo birds. While some players find the humor simple and straightforward, it is generally considered effective and entertaining, especially given the game's low price point. However, there are mentions of a lack of depth in comedic elements, such as interesting perks or complex interactions.
- “Great visuals, animation, and voice acting with some funny lines.”
- “The kicker is that the store page has an accelerated movement showcase, hilarious.”
- “Simple, challenging, funny for less than €2!”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Overall, the game demonstrates solid stability, with users reporting no significant bugs or glitches. It functions well, particularly on Linux, achieving smooth performance at 4K resolution and 60 FPS.
- “Runs great on Linux in 4K 60 FPS.”
- “The kindest thing I can say is that it is functional - I saw no bugs or glitches to speak of, and combat does what it says on the box.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game features diverse character designs and unique control schemes, enhancing the overall experience of character development. Players appreciate the evolution mechanics and the distinct hard points that contribute to a rich gameplay dynamic.
- “Great survivor mech game with hard points, evolutions, and plenty of actually pretty different character designs with some pretty unique control schemes.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users suggest that the game could benefit from a monetization strategy that includes a price increase to $10, with additional DLC priced at $5 each. They emphasize the importance of ongoing updates and expansions, such as new maps, enemies, and skills, to enhance the game's value and longevity.