"The biggest goal was to make it more of an evolution," says Saros lead game designer Abebe Tinari when I ask about developing a spiritual rather than direct sequel to Housemarque's electric PS5 launch window title. The aim has been to "build off what Returnal established and add elements like the shield, different types of bullets, take the bullet ballet formula, but then bring something new to it."
Central to this vision was "Evolutionizing our gameplay, [and] being more cinematic, as well," adds narrative designer Khalil Osaimi. Specifically, how the team was to "drive the story" through this new, theatrical lens. The result stars Rahul Kohli as Solatari Enforcer Arjun Devraj, on a mission to find out what happened to a lost colony on alien planet Carcosa – and, already, there's more immediate cinematic flair to this tale than Selene's often isolated journey on Returnal.
