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.
Each run through the deadly environments in Carcosa is random, but still has the touch of designers. Housemarque explains these are "handcrafted levels, reassembled each run", and at times that comes across as I enjoy navigating spaces but also sometimes in how I don't think about it. With chaotic firefights constantly happening, I'm never getting lost in its beautiful spaces (with visual effects powered by Housemarque's own Graphite pipeline).
Each of Saros' roguelike runs aims to be about 30-minutes long, I'm told, but the strong loop that respects my time and enables constant forward momentum means I'm likely to devote many hours to running it over and over again. I've unpacked my time spent playing Saros early across multiple features, diving into everything you need to know about this Returnal follow-up, which is shaping up to be one of the most exciting new games of the year.
Read on below for the Saros Big Preview, our final deep dive into PS5's next must-play ahead of its April 30 release.
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.
Saros' world-altering eclipse "has both a gameplay and narrative purpose" its game designer tells me, and it's already pulling me back into this roguelike. I speak to lead game designer Abebe Tinari and narrative designer Khalil Osaimi about building the mysterious eclipse mechanic, from how each environmental change it brings affects the narrative to balancing a gameplay "escalation".
Saros aims for bite-sized 30-minute runs, and the cool-off makes you "ready for another", its game designer tells me. I speak to Housemarque about building a Returnal follow-up that re-evaluates its approach to difficulty. Saros has both permanent progression and shorter runs, all leading to a bite-sized approach that asks the players to decide on their difficulty through embracing risk.
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
7 reasons why Saros has me hooked on its eclipse-powered roguelike runs, and why it might be PS5's most impressive release of the year
Saros lets you keep upgrades when you loop, but that just means this twitchy shooter can be challenging in brand new ways
Saros: Everything we know so far
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