Saros Reviews

Developer Housemarque picks up where it left off with Returnal in Saros, a similarly fast-paced third-person shooter with roguelite progression wrapped in a deviously cozy cosmic horror blanket. If you loved Returnal as much as I did, you’ll feel right at home in Saros’s horrifying alien world, even if its overall difficulty feels just a notch or two lower here. Still, its permanent progression systems make for a compelling gameplay loop, and the narrative’s sci-fi take on horror classic The King in Yellow makes for a real virtual page-turner.

I’ll be honest: I am getting really tired of the Playstation Studios exclusive pattern. Given how Sony always aims for the most cinematic, featured-bloated, and as a result, expensive experiences, most of their games started to feel quite samey as a result. They need to feature a ton of (safe) mechanics and content to appease to the highest amount of people at once, whilst also featuring somewhat predictable audiovisual styles and writing patterns that instantly turn them into award darling...

SAROS is a fantastic experience from beginning to end. The narrative delivers a brilliant cosmic horror narrative with a great cast of characters, brilliant performances, a rich and intriguing world, and incredible representation thanks to a great South Asian protagonist. Further, the gameplay is a non-stop thrill ride throughout, that never feels too difficult despite the occasional spike in challenge. While there are some issues with the post-game and build options, this is a must-play for ...

Building on the foundation of Returnal, Saros refines its core gameplay loop with more fluid combat and a significantly improved progression system that creates a stronger sense of long-term growth. At the same time, it elevates the studio’s storytelling and presentation, with cinematic delivery and a standout performance from Rahul Kohli helping bring its world to life.

Saros stands tall as a bold evolution for Housemarque, proving the studio wasn’t content with simply recreating the magic of Returnal. Instead, it refines and expands on it in meaningful ways by pairing its punishing bullet-hell combat with smarter progression systems, broader accessibility ideas, and a narrative that trades clarity for intrigue. Arjun’s relentless, emotionally driven journey through Carcosa gives the experience a fiery contrast to Returnal’s isolation, while the “come back stronger” philosophy is felt in every run, every failure, and every hard-earned breakthrough back at The Passage. It can be overwhelming and at times unforgiving, but that tension is exactly what makes its victories so intoxicating. And by turning struggle into growth and persistence into something deeply rewarding, Saros cements itself as a serious GOTY contender and a lot more than just a sequel in spirit.

Housemarque doesn’t just refine Returnal—they rebuild the roguelike into something more forgiving, more brutal, and, somehow, more addictive.

A blistering, rapid-fire epic without peer, Saros confidently delivers a dual masterclass in third-person shooter design and roguelike sensibilities all wrapped in a delectable veneer that elevates it to one of the best looking games on PlayStation 5. To quote the kids - Housemarque cooked here. This is their masterpiece and it is next the must have, utterly essential PlayStation exclusive. Carcosa beckons.

Arjun, for all of the scattered bits and pieces of his backstory that Housemarque dripfeeds to the player, is a pretty awful protagonist when you take a step back from the sci-fi mythology and look over his shoulder at the way he interacts with his colleagues and chases after his missing partner. Arjun is a flawed man with anger issues towards his father which manifests in the brief backstory vignettes players stitch together in the course of death and rebirth. The entire time I spent on Carcosa in his standard issue space boots was watching a man who refuses to take no for an answer slowly succumb to the madness seeping through Carcosa.

Saros might be following in the footsteps of Returnal in many ways, but this is very much a standalone experience, telling a new story within another original sci-fi setting, building out its third person bullet hell action with its own particular twists, and a compelling new roguelite narrative to unfurl.

As a follow up to Returnal, Saros is excellent. It builds on the foundations of Selene’s adventure and is a sensational slice of bullet-hell shooter goodness.

Discovering a powerful (and profitable) new element on a faraway planet is a sci-fi staple that is especially prevalent in modern media, but Saros embraces this trope by making Lucenite’s home planet, Carcosa, the stuff of inescapable but wholly engaging nightmares. Protagonist Arjun fights to maintain his sanity, find a lost love, and stay alive (failing often) against an onslaught of lasers and monsters while the people around him descend into vague madness. All this while your AI-driven ...

After the incredible Returnal, Housemarque returns with SAROS and it is definitely their best game to date so get ready for intense action.

Saros' narrative often feels at odds with the kind of experience it wants to be, but there's no denying this is another top-tier action game from Housemarque.

Saros is a masterpiece. Not only does Housemarque successfully build on the foundations of Returnal, but it refines them to create a more accessible experience without losing its core principles. The combat system encourages aggression, making each encounter a tense and enthralling battle where risk-taking is rewarded. While the story is much more present than its predecessor, it never interrupts the action, complementing the deep and complex systems. With more options to personalise your adventure, this is not just a Game of the Year contender, but one of the defining games of its generation.

Saros is Housemarque at its best. It nails the roguelike formula, with each run feeling completely different than what came before thanks to changing areas and a variety of weapons. The story grips you and doesn’t let go, with Rahul Kohli’s fantastic performance at the heart of it.

Here's our review of Saros, Housemarque's spiritual successor to Returnal!

Housemarque’s Saros feels like a proper evolution of Returnal’s mechanics. It’s bold, it’s exciting, thrilling even. Each time Arjun heads out in search of answers yields clues to the truth behind Carcosa and those burdened by its existence.

With 2021’s Returnal, Housemarque reintroduced itself as a studio ready to shake up the modern AAA landscape. Returnal instantly placed them on my shortlist of studios to watch, its balance of traditional action and roguelite elements making for a challenging sci-fi experience like no other. Five years and one PlayStation acquisition later, Housemarque has returned to the world of sci-fi bullet hells with Saros, a game that smartly iterates on its spiritual predecessor.

Saros is an incredible step up over Returnal in every way imaginable. The rogue-lite progression and quality-of-life improvements are great, but it's the more complex bullet-hell system, bolstered by a compelling world and some masterful level design, that truly elevates it.

A surprisingly conservative follow-up to Returnal but the transcendent third person action is so well orchestrated that qualms about the storytelling and lack of innovation seem like only minor concerns in comparison.

Returnal was a bold statement from a humble Finnish team in 2021. After decades of smaller, arcade-oriented projects, it showed just what Housemarque was capable of when reaching for the stars. Now, in following it up, the devs have proven it was far from a fluke. While rough around the edges at launch, SAROS shows that when afforded the opportunity, they can shine brighter than even Carcosa’s blazing sun.

Advancements in progression, narrative delivery, and player engagement, as well as refinements made to a near-perfect set of gameplay fundamentals, see Saros eclipse its predecessor and ascend to a throne above all others in the genre.

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Housemarque is back with yet another fantastic fast-paced third person shooter. Saros builds on Returnal, delivering deeper and more enjoyable gameplay, as well as a new permanent progression system and modifiers which allow you to tweak the difficulty to your preferences. All in all, it's Housemarque's best game yet.

Saros is a relentless, exciting and demanding rogue-lite shooter that combines cinematic spectacle with tight bullet-hell combat. It’s a marvellous follow-up to Returnal, that retains the best bits of its predecessor while sanding down its (minor) rough edges. It pulls very few punches, but will have you saying “one more run” on a loop.

SAROS is head and shoulders above Returnal, which was already a stellar reinvention of the bullet-hell genre, thanks to a richer story, tougher enemies and gameplay systems that tailor the game to the player.

Saros is an excellent, heart-pounding action game that is easily one of the PS5's best exclusives. The combat is exhilarating and Carcosa is a blast to explore. The quality-of-life features make it more accessible than Returnal, and while that might upset some purists, it helps Saros avoid some of the frustrating pitfalls that roguelite games sometimes fall into. Saros is one of the year's best releases and a must-have for PS5 gamers.

Saros’ levels are beautifully eerie, with the best and weirdest vistas saved for its second half. Character and enemy design are generally excellent as well, though NPC conversations can appear disjointed, with underwhelming mocap outside its gorgeous proper cutscenes. That doesn’t distract from the game’s many superb voice performances, but it can get noticeably awkward at times. Returnal’s Jane Perry was transcendent, but her voice had to carry that entire game, so it's gratifying that Saros' ensemble cast, led by Rahul Kohli as Arjun is exceptional across the board, well beyond the quality we tend to find in our action fare (and we even get Perry’s return in a minor role as the beleaguered Commander Sheridan).

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