- Saros received its first gameplay reveal at State of Play, and it shares striking similarities with Returnal.
- The upcoming Housemarque title has an emotional story and introduces new mechanics like power weapon and soltari shield.
- However, many aspects feel no different from Returnal, and the game is set to launch in March 2026.
Housemarque had a promising debut in 2021 with Returnal, which managed to capture many fans with its grueling but rewarding gameplay loop. However, the game failed to make a major commercial impact, selling only over a million copies on PlayStation 5, despite its release on Steam.
Sony, however, was impressed with the developer and put Housemarque to work on another major AAA project: Saros. Information about this title has been scarce, but we finally have new gameplay, courtesy of PlayStation’s State of Play, and it looks very familiar.
Why This Matters: Although the Saros gameplay looks breathtaking, some of its aspects, being too reminiscent of Returnal, could be bad news for the upcoming adventure game.
From the few minutes of gameplay showcased at State of Play, Saros appears eerily similar to Returnal, with many of its mechanics, including dodging, closely resembling those of the 2021 title.
Creative director Gregory Louden guided us through the Saros gameplay reveal, which follows our protagonist on the planet Carcosa. The developer unveiled new mechanics, such as the Soltari Shield and the power weapon, that give our main character several attack dimensions.
In addition, the gameplay looks brilliant and is more forgiving than Returnal, giving you a second chance, meaning you can revive after the first death. Louden also emphasizes the emotional weight of the story, with logs also providing necessary context about Carcosa and our character.
However, all in all, the speed and overall shooting mechanics are not significantly different from Returnal and appear somewhat similar for a game that is being released five years later and has been in development for the last three years.
Saros is set to launch worldwide on March 20, 2026, and that is when we can finally try out how similar the Housemarque game is to its spiritual predecessor.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devotedly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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