TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Housemarque talk upping its arcade pedigree for its cosmic horror thrill ride, out April 30 on PS5.
There’s an accepted understanding that the Housemarque name brings with it an expectation of exceptional action. Great gunplay. A superbly tuned gameplay intensity by way of ultra-refined and overlapping mechanics and systems. And in just over a month, PS5 players can experience that pedigree first hand again with the Finnish studio’s latest, as a rescue crew tries to discover the fate of a human colony gone dark at the far reaches of the cosmos. Saros is sci-fi action with a cosmic horror twist.
Housemarque has shared a taste of what’s to come before in a scene-setting story trailer, and outlined the gameplay systems that’ll power your survival on the alien planet of Carcosa. We’ll play Enforcer Arjun, his combat prowess making him the perfect choice to scout out the terrain for the rescue crew. And we know on Carcosa, death is not the end. Arjun resurrects every time he falls, returning to the rescue crew’s home base to start his expedition anew. That resurrection is a common theme during our hands-on with a three hour slice of the game proper, which incorporates the game’s first two levels – the cliffside Shattered Rise and the claustrophobic Ancient Depths – and the brutal bosses that lie at their end.
To go alongside that session, we chatted to creative director Gregory Louden and art director Simone Silvestri to dig deeper into the systems at play.
Saros’ core mechanics are extensive yet easy to memorise, tied as they are to different resistances of DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers, as well as L1 and R1 bumper taps and holds.
Soltari’s human-crafted tech covers your collectable handheld weapons such as Hand Cannons, Rifles and Shotguns. You’ll scavenge these as you explore, and while there are multiple variants, each with its own unique perk, they all have two fire types. Primary fire is mapped to a pull of R2, with an alt-fire mode unique to each weapon chosen through pulling L2 halfway down (a satisfying resistance in the adaptive trigger signifying activation), with a trigger of R2 to unleash.
The same tech covers a directional Dash on L1 (which negates most damage while performed), and a bubble-like Shield, the deployment of which is dependent on two things: R1 being held and there being enough power left to sustain it.
Sustaining your Shield’s Power level (note the deliberate capitalization) brings us to the risk/reward symbiosis between Soltari tech and alien Carcosan weaponry which partially defines Saros’ playstyle.
An early encounter with an alien artifact imbues Arjun’s arm with the ability to store and fire out Carocosan energy. This Power Weapon, as it’s named, is activated with a full pull of L2, and with the right aim, its blast can take down one or more smaller foes. But it requires energy. Energy that your Shield can pool by absorbing blue-colored enemy projectiles. And Housemarque’s beautiful bullet ballet is in full force in Saros, with hypnotic, deadly patterns firing your way with gusto. It means on Carcosa, charging towards danger is sometimes a smarter strategy than weaving out of its way.
“We wanted to make projectiles opportunities,” explains Louden, describing it as a shift away from the “obstacle course” of the studio’s previous title Returnal to something more akin to “a playground”. It’s a term that perfectly captures the flow state that results as you play: always moving, always interacting. Continually switching between projectile dodges and absorption, using melee to burst enemy shields, a blast of the Power Weapon to down enemy groups… every fight is a constant juggle of split-second decisions to how best to counter threats and turn the tide to your advantage. Very intense, very fun.
You’ll become familiar with a multi-armed device discovered in every area of Carcosa that when interacted with, initiates an eclipse that’s biome-specific. Outside the first activation to show...
Read more: Full article on blog.playstation.com
What do you think about this?
There’s an accepted understanding that the Housemarque name brings with it an expectation of exceptional action. Great gunplay. A superbly tuned gameplay intensity by way of ultra-refined and overlapping mechanics and systems. And in just over a month, PS5 players can experience that pedigree first hand again with the Finnish studio’s latest, as a rescue crew tries to discover the fate of a human colony gone dark at the far reaches of the cosmos. Saros is sci-fi action with a cosmic horror twist.
Housemarque has shared a taste of what’s to come before in a scene-setting story trailer, and outlined the gameplay systems that’ll power your survival on the alien planet of Carcosa. We’ll play Enforcer Arjun, his combat prowess making him the perfect choice to scout out the terrain for the rescue crew. And we know on Carcosa, death is not the end. Arjun resurrects every time he falls, returning to the rescue crew’s home base to start his expedition anew. That resurrection is a common theme during our hands-on with a three hour slice of the game proper, which incorporates the game’s first two levels – the cliffside Shattered Rise and the claustrophobic Ancient Depths – and the brutal bosses that lie at their end.
To go alongside that session, we chatted to creative director Gregory Louden and art director Simone Silvestri to dig deeper into the systems at play.
Saros’ core mechanics are extensive yet easy to memorise, tied as they are to different resistances of DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers, as well as L1 and R1 bumper taps and holds.
Soltari’s human-crafted tech covers your collectable handheld weapons such as Hand Cannons, Rifles and Shotguns. You’ll scavenge these as you explore, and while there are multiple variants, each with its own unique perk, they all have two fire types. Primary fire is mapped to a pull of R2, with an alt-fire mode unique to each weapon chosen through pulling L2 halfway down (a satisfying resistance in the adaptive trigger signifying activation), with a trigger of R2 to unleash.
The same tech covers a directional Dash on L1 (which negates most damage while performed), and a bubble-like Shield, the deployment of which is dependent on two things: R1 being held and there being enough power left to sustain it.
Sustaining your Shield’s Power level (note the deliberate capitalization) brings us to the risk/reward symbiosis between Soltari tech and alien Carcosan weaponry which partially defines Saros’ playstyle.
An early encounter with an alien artifact imbues Arjun’s arm with the ability to store and fire out Carocosan energy. This Power Weapon, as it’s named, is activated with a full pull of L2, and with the right aim, its blast can take down one or more smaller foes. But it requires energy. Energy that your Shield can pool by absorbing blue-colored enemy projectiles. And Housemarque’s beautiful bullet ballet is in full force in Saros, with hypnotic, deadly patterns firing your way with gusto. It means on Carcosa, charging towards danger is sometimes a smarter strategy than weaving out of its way.
“We wanted to make projectiles opportunities,” explains Louden, describing it as a shift away from the “obstacle course” of the studio’s previous title Returnal to something more akin to “a playground”. It’s a term that perfectly captures the flow state that results as you play: always moving, always interacting. Continually switching between projectile dodges and absorption, using melee to burst enemy shields, a blast of the Power Weapon to down enemy groups… every fight is a constant juggle of split-second decisions to how best to counter threats and turn the tide to your advantage. Very intense, very fun.
You’ll become familiar with a multi-armed device discovered in every area of Carcosa that when interacted with, initiates an eclipse that’s biome-specific. Outside the first activation to show...
Read more: Full article on blog.playstation.com
What do you think about this?