“Come back stronger.” By the end of my recent three-hour preview session with Saros, it was clear that this is more than a marketing beat; it’s the ethos that underpins the entire game. Housemarque’s latest swing at a roguelite bullet-hell builds on what made Returnal so special, but the progression, gameplay advancements, and stronger narrative focus make it clear that it isn’t just another entry into the genre; it’s coming for the crown.
Alien planets and time loops may sound familiar, but the story of Saros is more pronounced and far more intriguing than anything Housemarque has offered before. Protagonist Arjun Devraj (played by the devilishly handsome Rahul Kohli) is a member of Echelon IV, a squad dispatched to the alien planet of Carcosa by the faceless megacorporation Soltari. As the numeral suggests, Arjun and his teammates aren’t the first to land on the ever-changing and desolate orb, and it’s their objective to find out what happened to the now missing members of Echelons I-III.
Rather than a carved-out, bespoke slice of the game, my preview kicks off at the beginning of Saros, with Arjun searching for someone close to him. While I only dipped a toe into the interpersonal relationships of Echelon IV and the tribulations the team has and will face, I was immediately drawn in by the carrot-danglingly vague hints at larger powers at play, and the influence those mysterious forces have on Arjun and his fellow Soltari grunts.
Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and open your mind to the warmth and power of the sun
As someone who fell head over heels for Returnal’s unique blend of fast-paced movement and frenetic gunplay, I felt immediately familiar with Saros’ core mechanic tenants. But Saros isn’t a sequel, and the game’s approach to progression proves that it cares about newcomers as much as fans of Housemarque’s previous works.
Succumbing to a volley of multicoloured projectiles will send you back to the Soltari base, a site you’ll become very familiar with as time stretches on. Lucenite, the very resource that brought the greedy megacorp to Carcosa in the first place, is earned throughout each run and remains even after death. It’s back at base camp, where the Lucenite can be spent to unlock permanent upgrades that give Arjun a better chance of surviving the next attempt.
Early nodes will grant additional health or increase the chance of finding better weapons during a run, but far more substantial buffs litter the skill tree as well. The first major upgrade made available to the player, and the one that allowed me to make it through the preview, was a second chance. Got caught by a rogue energy blast that drained your health? Don’t worry, Enforcer, get back in the fight with 30% health.
This robo-bastard will upgrade you, but he won’t be happy about it
You won’t be able to farm Lucenite and steamroll your way to victory, though. The skill tree is gated at key junctures and can only be unlocked by defeating the boss of the biome, which is a feat unto itself. This approach ensures that progression is satisfying and engaging, without fear of stripping out difficulty or pacing. Permanent progression and lasting resources make each run feel productive, something that’s further helped by their shorter, roughly 20-minute runtime.
Upgrades and stat increases go a long way, but Arjun’s core bag of tricks far exceeds Selene’s before him. While the fluid movement and snappy gunplay do feel vastly improved and far tighter than Returnal’s, it’s the new Soltari shield that overhauls your approach to encounters. This energy shield is a defensive tool that forces you to go on the offensive. Working on a cooldown, you can activate the shield to block and absorb all incoming damage. Once a meter has been filled, this power reserve can then be spent on an ultimate attack that begins life as a powerful missile but can be altered during your run.
While the introduction of a shield sounds like Returnal’s combat but with a new hat, its impact on moment-to-moment gameplay can’t be ignored. It might feel natural to run and hide when your chips are down, but this is where the Soltari Shield gives you an alternative: run into the fire and fight back.
The Soltari Shield is equal parts empowering and terrifying
The shield is joined by various weapons that can be found during each run. I experienced a beefy pistol, an auto rifle, and a wide-spread shotgun. Housemarque is back, taking full advantage of the DualSense, as each has an alternate fire that’s activated by holding down the left trigger halfway before firing. Your death-dealing capabilities can be further altered by Carcosan Modifiers, which can be found and applied to give you an edge. But like with everything on Carcosa, they can come with a cost.
The techno-organic mysteries of Carcosa are potent enough, with energy-spewing drones, sentient turrets, and sword-swinging goliaths roaming its surface. Once the Eclipse swallows the sun, these threats are heightened. During an Eclipse, the entire audio-visual landscape changes, Lucenite becomes more plentiful, and enemies grow far stronger and more aggressive.
During my preview, I had to trigger the Eclipse to progress, making my run to the boss of each zone far more difficult. With the sun hiding, enemies emit a yellow projectile that blots out portions of your health that can’t be recovered, adding another layer to combat you’ll have to comprehend on the fly. Moreover, those vital modifiers I mentioned now come with a corrupting influence in the form of a nasty debuff, forcing you to balance benefits and drawbacks as you get to the pointy end of a run. The Eclipse is Saros at its most stressful and difficult, and it’s marvellous.
Watching the madness spread through Echelon IV will undoubtedly be devastating
Death is a chance to grow stronger, yes, but it’s also less of a setback than in Returnal. Arjun’s path through Carcosa is treacherous, but it doesn’t have to be tackled like a gauntlet. Each biome acts as a standalone challenge and can be teleported to via the World Dial at the Soltari base, making each run feel like a genuine attempt rather than a crapshoot to see if you can make it further than before. This is yet another example of how Saros wants you to feel challenged, but not deterred, and it certainly helped my anxiety levels during a timed preview.
Saros looks to empower as much as it challenges, making for a far more accessible experience for newcomers and genre veterans alike. While that may sound like the difficulty has been tempered, my brief preview showed me that the nail-biting tension that comes from scraping through a run with only a sliver of health hasn’t been diluted one bit. Meeting the high bar that was set by Returnal would be a monumental effort, but Saros has shown that it’s not willing to stop there; it wants to fully eclipse its predecessor.
Saros is set to release on PS5 on April 30.
Previewed on PS5 at a preview event hosted by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
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