Going into SAROS as someone with a love-hate relationship with Returnal felt like booking another rollercoaster after swearing off the last one. I remembered the thrills, the nausea, and the moment I promised myself never again, right before lining up for one more ride. It was, as usual, totally worth my time.
Housemarque knows the perfect recipe for the bullet ballet. That formula is refined even further in SAROS, where you have a response to every projectile, no matter its color, unlike Returnal. It is not simply about dodging everything an enemy throws at you, but also about striking back hard with perseverance and precision. More on that later.
In SAROS, you play as Arjun Devraj, a stubborn Soltari Enforcer portrayed by Rahul Kohli. Driven by an unshakable need for answers, he ventures deep into the shape-shifting world of Carcosa to uncover the fate of the previous Echelons, sent to mine a valuable resource, Lucenite, before mysteriously losing contact. He feels refreshingly distinct as a protagonist, bringing determination, personality, and a grounded human edge to the cosmic chaos around him.
SAROS learns from Returnal without going easy on you
Returnal is already one of the best games of its kind, but it could be a little too unforgiving at times, especially for players who are not very familiar with fast-paced roguelikes and punishing bullet-hell combat. SAROS feels like Housemarque’s answer to that, adding more readable systems and smarter defensive options without losing the intensity that defines its combat.
The blue projectiles can be absorbed with your new Soltari Shield, charging your power weapon, and letting you unleash wrath on enemies. Yellow attacks, meanwhile, apply corruption every time they connect, forcing you to cleanse it by using that same power weapon strategically. Then there are the red attacks, seemingly unavoidable at first, which shatter your shield on impact, though later in the game they can be parried and turned into devastating counterattacks.
This perfect color coding of the projectiles adds a method to the madness, allowing players to gradually build it into their muscle memory. It also helps tone down the visual clutter that comes with hectic combat. The result is a cleaner, more aesthetically pleasing experience without sacrificing any of the chaos.
However, do not mistake that added clarity for lowered challenge. SAROS still demands careful decision-making. From choosing the right weapons, artefacts, adapting to enemy movesets, and nailing your parkour timings as you move between areas, you’ll always be on your toes.
If the default difficulty does not suit you, the Carcosa Modifiers let you fine-tune the experience, whether you want extra help or a punishing throwback to Returnal levels of difficulty. There’s also Second Chance, which gives you a way to rise back from death without taking a trip to your base.
Unlike Returnal, you do not restart from your crashed ship or a checkpoint after every failed run until a boss is defeated. Instead, you return to a home base known as The Passage, a Carcosan temple that serves as the headquarters of Echelon IV. Here, your Soltari AI companion, Primary, can teleport you back into the biomes whenever you are ready, while also helping you improve your stats with the resources you gather, making future runs far better prepared.
Move like a butterfly, sting like a bee
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, SAROS feels like a spiritual successor to Returnal and retains its combat DNA, and it is every bit as addictive.
Once you get a few runs under your belt and start to understand the many ways enemies can punish mistakes, that is when the real dance begins. You slip into a flow state where every second matters, juggling movement, positioning, cooldowns, and aggression just to preserve your Adrenaline streak while dismantling everything in front of you.
There were moments where I cleared an area or brought down a boss, only to realize my heart had been racing the entire time. It is exhilarating, the kind of combat high that only a few games can deliver. Even death rarely felt discouraging. More often, it sent me straight back in, eager to test a new weapon, pair different artefacts, or approach the same challenge with a smarter strategy.
The boss battles in particular are exceptionally well crafted, and each one feels distinct from the last. The final few encounters are especially breathtaking, unfolding like epic anime showdowns where every new phase introduces fresh mechanics and a tougher challenge.
Housemarque’s trademark feel is present in every exchange. Weapons hit with satisfying force, enemy attacks demand respect, and the haptics add extra texture, making every dodge, blast, and impact feel more immediate in your hands. Pressing L2 halfway activates each weapon’s alt-fire, a mechanic that feels like a genuine game-changer. The adaptive feedback also helps distinguish every weapon in the arsenal, giving each one a unique identity that feels especially rewarding with the game’s wide range of firearms.
SAROS also introduces Eclipse, another layer that pushes encounters further and keeps runs feeling dynamic. It adds extra tension to already dangerous situations, ensuring complacency is rarely rewarded. If you manage to overcome it, you are rewarded with corrupted artefacts, extra Lucenite, and weapons significantly stronger than their standard counterparts, giving you a better shot against the bosses waiting at the end of each biome.
Once you unlock the grapple, the game opens up in exciting ways. Suddenly, arenas gain a new sense of verticality, letting you reposition instantly, escape danger, or shoot at enemies from above. It also expands exploration, granting access to loot and secrets that were previously out of reach, making progression feel rewarding both in and out of combat.
Housemarque’s most grounded story yet
The world of Carcosa is mysterious and ever-changing, a hostile planet layered with dark secrets and deadly inhabitants. No two runs feel the same, and every defeat still feeds progress as you return stronger, by investing Lucenite and other resources into permanent upgrades. Spread across multiple striking sci-fi biomes, each region introduces its own enemy types and combat rhythms, constantly forcing you to adapt if you want to survive.
Something I missed in Returnal was a stronger focus on narrative, and SAROS absolutely delivers in that department with a full-fledged story told through cinematic sequences, holograms, encrypted text entries, and audio logs scattered throughout the biomes as you carve your way forward. If you pay attention, you can learn a lot about Carcosa and the reason for everything under the sun.
I will not dive into spoilers, but Rahul Kohli gives a grounded performance, and there are several emotional moments that naturally emerge as you progress, helping sell the stakes of surviving on an alien planet. Carcosa is brought to life through atmospheric sci-fi inspired 3D audio soundscapes, all punctuated by a dark electronic score from Grammy-winning composer Sam Slater, known for his works in Joker, Chernobyl and Battlefield 2042. Using PlayStation 5’s Tempest 3D Audio, you can really feel the enemies’ precise location in your ears to dodge naturally without seeing the attacks.
Beneath the shadow of an ominous eclipse, Housemarque once again proves it can make lightning strike twice, or in this case, sunrise twice.
- SAROS delivers fast, addictive bullet-hell combat with excellent weapon feel.
- Smart color-coded projectile system adds clarity without reducing challenge.
- Stronger progression systems make failed runs feel rewarding.
- Adjustable difficulty modifiers let players tailor the experience.
- Spectacular, varied boss fights, especially in the later game.
- Grapple movement adds verticality, mobility, and exploration depth.
- Still a demanding game that requires quick reactions and constant focus.
- Combat can feel overwhelming early before mechanics click.
