Saros review – Returnal of the king

The follow-up to Returnal is another masterful third person shooter, that immediately puts it in the running for the best PS5 exclusive so far.

It may be one of the least famous, and looks like it could easily have been released on the PlayStation 4, but 2021’s Returnal remains by far the best exclusive on the PlayStation 5. Created by Super Stardust and Resogun developer Housemarque, it’s a third person actioner with elements of bullet hell shooter, Metroidvania, and roguelite. Technically, Saros isn’t a sequel, but it may as well be in every sense except the story.

Although describing the two games as Dark Souls with guns is not wholly inaccurate, it’s a fairly reductive way to talk about what are two of the best action games of the modern era. Their high difficulty level, opaque storytelling, and cautious exploration are reminiscent of FromSoftware’s work, but the game also makes inspired use of Housemarque’s experience with arcade shooters, including the sadly underappreciated Nex Machina.

Returnal also had some clear influences from Metroid Prime, although that is lessened slightly in Saros, as its maps are more open plan, rather than just a series of interconnected rooms. In most other regards though the games are a lot more similar than we were expecting, which we’d be disappointed in if Saros wasn’t such an incredible shoot ‘em up.

The one area where we feel Returnal is unequivocably better than Saros is the story, which here casts you as a security officer for a group of would-be colonists. The planet of Carcosa is ravaged by constant eclipses (saros is an astronomical term) and is home to both a long dead race and a range of deadly monsters. Unfortunately, you work for a heartless corporation, very much influenced by the film Alien, who doesn’t care about that and only want the planet’s minerals.

Although there are a number of cinematic influences, the closest in terms of tone is 2007’s Sunshine. By comparison, Returnal was more Lynchian and weird, with protagonist Selene also being more interesting than Saros’ Arjun Devraj, who spends most of the game being just a gruff tough guy looking for one of the lost female colonists. There are some twists towards the end of the game, but they arrive a bit too late.

While the storytelling is a, relatively small, step backwards the action in Saros is absolutely peerless. The basics are essentially identical to Returnal, with gorgeously precise controls that allow you to move at high speed and, thanks to a new auto-aim feature on most (but not all) weapons, still aim quickly and accurately.

Saros makes better use of the DualSense controller than almost any other game, vibrating and rumbling in time with the onscreen action, while also making rare use of the clutch-like trigger buttons to activate alt fire modes for each of the many weapons.

Combined with superb sound design, the act of shooting and dodging and fighting is an absolute pleasure at all times. Despite the high difficulty you never blame the controls for anything that goes wrong and although there’s an unavoidable amount of repetition, since you have to restart an area if you die, the combat is so inherently enjoyable it’s rarely a frustration.

Enemies generate huge showers of luminous bullets, highly reminiscent of classic Japanese bullet hell shooters. What makes bullet hell games so entertaining is that at first glance it seems absolutely impossible to dodge or counter the huge sea of bullet, and yet there’s always a way to weave between them or otherwise counter them.

Saros takes influence from Ikaruga in particular, in that blue bullets can not only be dashed through but you have a shield which can absorb them to charge a secondary power weapon. Red bullets have to be dodged, or later punched, while yellow ones only appear when an eclipse is in effect and decrease your maximum health if they hit you – although you can restore the upper limit by firing your power weapon.

Eclipses are initiated manually and are often the only way to proceed, as they change the landscape around you, in one case turning blood red, but otherwise harmless, pools of water into bubbling lakes of acid. They also make enemies more dangerous and cause all stat boosts to have a negative trait, with the game always tempting you to make things harder for yourself in exchange for greater rewards.

Each time you return to an area its map is randomised, and while this feels more organic than Returnal it’s still a linear route with optional side paths that you can explore for extra rewards.

There’re a large variety of buffs, stat boosters, and weapons to collect, which you lose if you die, but every defeated enemy drops the mineral the company is after, which you can use to unlock a substantial skill tree – something Returnal didn’t have.

This means that even a heavily truncated run can still mean you’re better prepared for the next one. Housemarque has also made a point of highlighting that, unlike Returnal, you can stop and save your progress in a run whenever you want. So while the game is still very difficult the roguelite element allows for a much greater sense of progression than before.

All of this, as well as a small range of modifiers to make the base difficulty harder or easier, makes the game more accessible than Returnal and its completion more achievable for everyone.

As to whether Saros is a better game or not… we’ve still not really made up our minds, as the pros and cons of each have them coming out essentially equal. We’ll have to see more of Saros’ endgame and what kind of post-launch support it gets (Returnal’s was very good) but as fantastic as the combat and exploration is there are some mild disappointments in Saros.

There’s lots of weapons, but most are just minor variations on a small number of basic models (and all the shotgun ones suck). The variety of biomes is also disappointing, with too many grey wastelands and ruined temples. And while it’s only a minor point, Arjun is just an ordinary human and yet seeing him running around at Sonic the Hedgehog speeds, and surviving drops of any height, does look faintly silly at times.

While the plot and characters are already not as compelling as Returnal, what disappointed us the most is that Saros reuses the exact same storytelling gimmick by having Arjun mysteriously return to Earth to explore his backstory.

Returnal was a breath of fresh air when it first appeared, a challenging but hugely rewarding mix of old school shoot ‘em up action and modern roguelite exploration. Saros may not be as original but the euphoria of overcoming its challenges, and the inherent joy of its combat, is just as palpable.

Some ancillary elements, such as the storytelling, might not be quite as good but the action is a small but definitive improvement. The jury’s still out on whether Saros is the best exclusive on PlayStation 5, but this is one case where being second best is more than good enough.

Formats: PlayStation 5
Price: £69.99
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Housemarque
Release Date: 30th April 2026*
Age Rating: 12

*48 hours early access available via Digital Deluxe Edition

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