Saros review: Returnal's spiritual successor is a huge success - here's why

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Patience and persistence are two things you don't really come across in society anymore.

But despite the incredibly fast-paced and high octane nature of Saros, these two traits are absolutely key to progressing and getting the most out of this PlayStation first-party exclusive.

Saros is a third-person action bullet hell roguelite game developed by Housemarque. Bullet hell is a shooter subgenre where there are lots of intricate projectile attacks to beat and a roguelite is where players have to complete levels in one run or else they're forced to start from the very beginning - but these games do include longer-term progression, meaning upgrades, checkpoints and currency can be carried over to a new run.

And having played through Saros, this spiritual successor to Returnal successfully refines what came before it with its own unique identity and twists - and it's a blast.

A review code was provided by the publisher and I played Saros on a PS5 Pro.

Players play as Soltari Enforcer Arjun Devraj in Saros / Housemarque, PlayStation Studios

Saros has a much stronger narrative focus than Returnal as players take on the role of Soltari Enforcer Arjun Devraj who is on a mission to uncover his identity and investigate a lost colony alongside his team. You're put right into the middle of his plight and everything unfolds as you progress.

The game is set on Carcosa, a world which is trapped in a reality-shifting eclipse cycle. This is a key gameplay feature as when an eclipse happens on Carcosa, enemies get much stronger, making Arjun much more vulnerable.

Carcosa is simply an incredible setting. Housemarque has done a fantastic job in not only creating the tension in every run but building an incredible atmosphere which heightens immersion.

The game has a very distinct visual identity in that the world is beautifully desolate but when an eclipse happens, that's when Saros really looks unique visually.

That's because the lighting in this game is exceptional. That unmistakable reddish-orange hue from an eclipse oozes across the screen with the superb sound adding to that sense that it's about to hit the fan and you're in for a ride.

Speaking of which, the game's sound is fantastic across the board with the score being excellent, the sound of enemies attacking being strong and even the sounds the world makes around you again heightening that immersion.

All of this creates such a brilliant atmosphere that never drops as you're playing through the game.

Character models and animations are good too and in terms of performance, from my experience, the game runs pretty flawlessly. Cutscenes are locked at 30fps while gameplay is at 60fps. It can take a bit of getting used to going between the two at first.

Housemarque's use of haptic feedback on the DualSense controller is nothing short of exceptional. You can feel every detail of the world around you in your hands as you're playing. There's even the option to hold down L2 halfway to alt fire.

Saros is a lot more deadly when there's an eclipse / Housemarque, PlayStation Studios

While the story is a decent one and there are some interesting twists and turns, along with a supporting cast this time, gameplay and presentation are still undoubtedly the main draw for Housemarque.

Death is inevitable in Saros, making persistence and patience key to overcoming the initial pain of losing some progress each time.

On each attempt, you run through a level on Carcosa, navigating light platforming sections and taking out waves of enemies that fire projectiles at you.

These projectiles can be dashed through to dodge or absorbed using a shield, which in turn generates power for deadly attacks. You shoot at enemies using an arsenal of weapons, including handguns, rifles, shotguns and more.

Learning enemy attack patterns for openings and knowing when exactly to attack, defend and dodge is crucial.

When there's an eclipse, enemies fire corrupted projectiles which cannot be absorbed. They can be defended against using a shield but this corruption sticks to your suit and means you cannot heal fully again until you get the corruption off.

This adds so much more intensity to the eclipse sections. Every enemy feels significantly more deadly. There are different kinds of projectiles to uncover and beat as you progress too.

Enemies have different kinds of projectiles to contend with / Housemarque, PlayStation Studios

During runs, you can find new weapons, upgrades and materials and while some upgrades you find offer improvements, others offer upgrades but with a trade-off in certain areas.

For example, a gun might have a faster reload speed but much less velocity or an upgrade might improve power and resilience at the cost of drive.

This makes every choice feel crucial and it's fun experimenting with different weapons and upgrades to find the style that suits you best. Keys you find to unlock certain chests usually offer much better upgrades though.

However when you die, these upgrades are lost and you respawn with the most basic version of the weapon you were carrying at the time - but the materials you gather are crucial for being able to unlock more permanent upgrades.

Although there is a death penalty where you lose a chunk of your materials, upgrades can actually be unlocked quite quickly and you really feel stronger on each run.

That, plus the information you've learned about enemies or where crucial components are, all give that slight sense of progression - even if it is granular, making patience and persistence key. Some checkpoints do unlock and you go on too meaning you don't have to do certain sections all over again.

Some permanent upgrades are locked behind meeting certain objectives in the game world, meaning you can be maxed out to a point until you beat something that's in front of you, giving a real sense of skill when you overcome these.

With movement, it's great on the whole and really fast-paced but I did experience the odd occasion where Arjun didn't quite do what I wanted him to despite inputting correct commands and it left me cursing on occasion as it ended my run prematurely.

There is a central hub where you respawn, upgrade abilities and can talk to other characters if you want to better understand their stories as well as your own and the overarching one.

If you'd rather blast through levels, you can. If you want that bit more depth, it's there as well. Saros caters for all types of players on that front.

Runs are a lot shorter this time than in Returnal and that's incredibly welcome - they were way too long in Returnal but they feel a lot more manageable in Saros, especially as, like before, you can't save and come back to a run if you're part way through it.

It never feels overwhelming or as though you're grinding - a run never outstays its welcome and that's crucial. It's still quite a difficult game but isn't as tough as Returnal.

New audio and text logs can be discovered during each run too offering key detail about the world you're in.

There are different permanent upgrades available throughout Saros / Housemarque, PlayStation Studios

On the whole, Saros is a high-octane blast to play through yet requires patience and persistence to beat in juxtaposition.

Its setting of Carcosa is fantastic, the world building and atmosphere are phenomenal and the gameplay is superb with key quality of life features offering a successful improvement on Returnal.

For me, the story isn't the strongest and some of Arjun's movement could be a tiny bit tighter.

But Saros is still a thrill from start to finish and is an essential bullet hell roguelite if you enjoy either of those kind of games, let alone both together.

9/10

Saros is out on PS5 on 30 April. Those who pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition can play it 48 hours early on 28 April.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• PlayStation's Saros trophy list 'leaked' online ahead of release
• Saros PS5 and PS5 Pro features revealed by studio

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