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I love PlayStation's games, but in a portfolio dominated by cinematic adventures there's something refreshing about Saros being staunchly "gameplay first". That's how Housemarque introduces me to its Returnal spiritual successor after I'm ushered into a cinema-room and blasted with some of the prettiest, scariest particle effect bullets I've seen in my gaming career. Thee hours later, having devoured the game's opening for myself, I'm blown away. Oozing confidence, Saros is so far one of the best PS5 games yet, and a first-party triumph. It feels poised to stick the landing.
Described to me as a "a dream project by a dream team", Housemarque has made it clear to me that Saros wouldn't exist without the Finnish studio's 30-year history behind it, of iterating, tinkering, and honing its devotion to twitchy action. Which doesn't mean there's no narrative to speak of. Lead character Arjun Devraj is played by Rahul Kohli, so there's star power there. But, helping it stand out from the other PS5 games I love, the story is "like an onion", layered, and up to the player to peel back if they so wish. Otherwise, you can jump back in for roguelike run after run.
Saros: The Big Preview
With Saros, Housemarque has evolved on everything I loved about Returnal while also being a huge step forward. Not only does it feel like a development team more comfortable with the PS5 hardware, but Arjun's shield combat and armor progression makes each roguelike run feel like they matter more than ever. Constantly teasing me to dive into danger, I'm excited to jump back in.
Saros isn't just about dodging and shooting, but shielding up as well. It might seem simple on the surface, but "that one thing changes everything," lead game designer Abebe Tinari tells me. Adding nuance to every firefight, each clash with the dangers of Carcosa is another opportunity to skirt certain death in exchange for supercharged power-ups, so you can blast enemies back.
Returnal spiritual sequel Saros lets you keep upgrades when you loop, but that just means this twitchy shooter can be challenging in brand new ways. Rather than flattening the difficulty, Saros gives you the tools to rise to meet Carcosa's power curve, and to weigh up which risks you're willing to take on in order to catch a break in other areas. How challenging do you want it to be?
With Saros, Returnal's spiritual successor, releasing on April 30, we're almost set for the next PlayStation 5 must-play. That's pretty soon, but also means we already know loads of information about exactly how the game will play, its story premise, where you'll be able to play it, and many more details. In our big explainer, we break down everything you need to know ahead of launch.
New Saros Gameplay
Dive Deeper into Saros
In pursuit of the ideal roguelike, Saros runs are shorter than Returnal's as Housemarque wanted to "keep the feeling of danger" and "reduce the feeling of helplessness"
Saros throws anything that slowed Returnal down out the door, meaning it'll be tough for other games to keep pace with my most anticipated PS5 game of 2026
Loop back to our best roguelike games ranking for more like Saros!
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