Looking at Housemarque’s 31-year lifespan, we can easily say that this company has something to do with us. Saros, the latest wonder of the company that re-created the Bullet Hell genre, does not disappoint expectations and invites us to a great rollercoaster. If you remember, the company’s previous game, Returnal, was one of the beauties that made the launch of PS5 strong. We thought we went through hell in Returnal, where we controlled Selene who went to the forbidden planet called Atropos, but we learned that Housemarque had worse plans, thanks to Saros.
Friends, we are faced with the spiritual twin of Returnal, which brings together roguelite, shooter and extreme horror genres, but Saros is perhaps the most refined product of the company’s more than 30 years of experience. This is a game that makes you say “okay” in every respect, it smells of quality enough to be addictive. Let’s take a quick look at his story. We are in a future with an uncertain calendar. A valuable mineral, Lucenite, is discovered on the distant planet Carcosa, and a (greedy) company called Soltari goes after this mine.
Soltari, who wants to be the first to reach the planet and claim rights, sends three colony ships called Echelon. While everything seems fine, there is no sound from the three ships and the colony. Surprise is a story that has never been seen in popular cinema and games. Enraged by this uncertainty, Soltari sets out a rescue ship named Echelon IV. We control Arjun Devraj, who is among the crew on this ship. Days have passed since Echelon IV arrived on the planet, but Arjun wakes up not remembering anything.
What had happened in the past days, why did the rest of the team gradually go crazy and sabotage their own ship? Saros starts with a familiar story, but that’s the thing about the company; less knowledge, more work. The story unfolds as you progress, and the knot unravels as you discover the hidden “thing” on the mysterious planet. Saros builds everything on the game dynamics that Housemarque built with Returnal. The action is familiar, the weapon system is pretty similar, even the progression mechanics smell pretty Returnal.
This is not a bad situation at all, we have a team that confidently develops and refines what they created in the previous production. Saros’ number one strength is his non-stop action. The controls are incredible, moving in the middle of all that enemy fire hell, opening fire and achieving this in an enjoyable way cannot be described, it is experienced. Shall We Take Another Tour, Handsome? First, let me talk about the general structure.
As Arjun dies, he mysteriously returns to the base and comes to life again, starting the map from scratch. He sets out again with a basic weapon, but the map changes each time, as if Carcosa is consciously playing with our minds. Our hero takes this situation very calmly, always in the “We’ll figure it out, man” mode. On the way you will see many breakable monoliths. Some of them gift you new weapons. The system is very fast and simple.
If you like the new weapon, replace it with the old one; if you don’t like it, leave it behind and move on. We generally encounter pistol, shotgun and machine gun variations. Details of the weapons will appear on the screen. Pay attention and choose the weapon that suits your style. Meanwhile, the effects of each weapon are very different and directly add freshness to the gameplay. I’ve been playing the game for hours and I’m constantly encountering weapons with new effects.
So don’t hesitate to be an individual who enjoys experimentation. Some people have asked me what my favorite type of weapon is (-tur), but I generally prefer rifles that fire bullets that lock on the target and allow you to get out of chaos quickly. Even the firing system has been developed with a creative idea. You fire as standard with R2. When you half-press L2, the alternative, more powerful attack of your current weapon is activated.
The difference between each weapon will be fully understood here. If you fire while holding down L2, you activate a special weapon. The firepower of this weapon is incredibly high, but you need to kill a lot of enemies to fill its ammunition. The enemies of this mysterious world look like they came from Returnal, their designs and attack patterns are similar. Flying and running enemies have different attack techniques and are incredibly aggressive.
The barrage of bullets filling the screen can be intimidating at first. Never fear, Arjun’s abilities are not limited to just firepower. Similar to its predecessor, Arjun quickly moves in the direction you want with the L1 key, and becomes untouchable during this move. Thanks to this move in the bullet hell, you can make strategic evasions and spew fire at the enemy and protect your health. Blue and yellow enemy fire is ineffective against this move, but you cannot avoid red ones this way.
Once you see them, you will go directly off their radar. Is that Shield for Me? Of course, Arjun’s talents are not limited to this. When you press R1 once, you punch and make enemies with shields defenseless. When you hold this button down, it opens a shield for a while and you save yourself with the shield in times that are difficult to avoid. At first I felt like I wouldn’t use it much, to be honest. As things started to get more intense, I realized that Housemarque wasn’t going to waste talent.
Especially in boss fights, there are fast attacks that are very difficult to avoid. It is almost impossible to escape from them by lunging or jumping. The shield, with all its majesty, says “I’m here too, friends” and comes to your rescue. As the story progresses, things happen to Arjun and he gains another fantastic ability. A purple bar begins to fill right at the bottom of your health bar at the bottom left of the screen.
When this is completed, you perform an über attack, which we encounter in most games and is activated with L3 R3. This is a perfect feature to deal huge damage when fighting a tough boss, so get your hands on it now. As you progress through the map, you will often encounter containers containing objects called artifacts. These items will give you small but effective side abilities. They are not activated by pressing any button, these are self-effecting abilities that are gifted to you.
When you reach certain parts of the levels, an event called Eclipse occurs, Carcosa literally changes size and becomes more dangerous with the solar eclipse. In this new version, the enemies are also more troublesome, the space designs change and moving limbs invade the environment. Artefacts turn into Corrupted Artefacts and you need to think twice before buying them. There was a similar system in Returnal, the player knows it.
While these new versions give you a positive feature, they also give you a negative feature that will make your job difficult, especially in action. This is where the Risk/Reward system comes into play and it is entirely up to you to evaluate and accept the consequences. This is a touch that adds sweet color to the game, never disrupts the dynamics, and looks natural. A nice dose of addition has been made to Saros’ crazy action.
Isn’t there anything collectible in Saros? Of course there is, don’t get angry right away. There is a cultivation tree that Arjun can access every time he returns to home base. Here you will see two expendable units; Lucenite and Halcyon. As you kill enemies, a lot of yellow light balls will scatter around. These are Lucenite. Be careful to constantly collect these items, which disappear if you do not buy them for a long time, because they are the most important currency of the development tree.
To activate the purple abilities on the tree, you must collect Halcyons of the same color. These also drop from enemies, especially the heavy ones, but your chances of finding them are harder. The green colored Aether is an object that allows you to replenish your health and whose importance is clearly understood in the game. Thank God We Are Full of Adrenaline Again… Saros has an adrenaline system that forces the player to progress without mistakes.
As you kill enemies without taking damage, the adrenaline bar gradually fills up, and when each stage is filled, Arjun gains special abilities. I’m talking about abilities such as increased firepower, being able to see and shoot distant enemies and extracting more health from Aether, but this is a Housemarque game, everything is not that easy. If you take even one grain of enemy fire, the Adrenaline bar is reset. The abilities you’ve been granted are so great, don’t be surprised if you find yourself straining to avoid taking damage.
Some of the blue containers give you a key called Carcosan. This key is important, it allows you to open some secret doors or dark orange containers. Each opening is a key, so use it carefully. While containers give special weapons, you can find hard Artifacts if you open locked doors. It is fun to follow the Saros map. Just like in Returnal; On the minimap in the bottom right you will see a blue flag in each region.
This indicates the direction you need to go. White flags point to an extra area in that region and turn your direction there first. At the beginning of the game, you cannot enter every white flag area because you do not yet have skills such as pulling yourself with a hook or a powerful blow. When you acquire these skills, do not forget to review the previous chapters once again. Apart from special objects, you will also find audio files and written notes from the previous Echelon crew that enhance the story.
At Ri Bute Be Brother, Nothing Will Happen! You’ve just witnessed the most disgraceful subtitle ever, but I couldn’t help myself, my apologies. Finally, I would like to talk about the Attributes system. There are three main headings in this system; Resilience, Command and Drive. Later, three subheadings will be opened, but the main topic is the main trio. If you develop these titles, which are separated according to their colors in the development tree, and assign the relevant Artefacts to Arjun before starting the new round, you start the game with different pluses.
Resilience aims to increase your impact resistance, Command maximum power, and Drive increases your effectiveness in collecting Lucenite. This is a system that seems complicated in the game, it is not as clear as the others, but it does not have much effect on the game. With a little attention, you can easily build a structure that suits your own style. I saved two of Saros’ biggest advantages for last. The graphics are magnificent and a technical achievement is hidden under this visuality.
Carcosa is a dangerous planet and you can see it in every corner. Many impressive places are waiting for you, including vegetation, structures, and closed areas straight out of the Alien movie. Moreover, problems such as suddenly appearing objects and weak coatings never occur. The technical success of the work is this; All hell is literally breaking loose on the screen, but the game does not slow down or stumble for a moment.
Housemarque has put all its experience into Saros. Providing smooth action under a unique color palette and riot of details is not an easy task. The other plus is the sound work. Loud, full and incredibly detailed sound effects, similar to those created by DICE in the Battlefield series, add color to the game. It is very enjoyable to hear the pieces of walls crackling under the sounds of fire and to hear the interesting sounds of creatures that you have never heard before, under the chaos.
The ambient music style, which has increased recently, suits the general spirit of the game very well. There is no such exciting Doom music here, the tones that support the feeling of unknown and lostness of the planet caress your ears. Meanwhile, we should not forget Rahul Kohli, who adds value to the game with both his voice and appearance. The actor, who made himself loved in the Mike Flanagan series, also gave a flawless performance in Saros.
I can easily say that Saros is the best game of Housemarque, whose CV is full of great games. It deserves to be an early classic with its eerie atmosphere, action that takes your breath away when you start but creates a great balance by not deliberately leaving the player helpless, and smooth controls. Don’t pay attention to the detractors, they are not in their day (I softened it in my chest, I could have hit it harder).
Saros is one of the best this year, don’t miss it. Saros Review Score Story – 8.5 Visuality / Atmosphere – 9.5 Playability – 10 Sound / Music – 9.5 9.4 Saros is one of the action hits of this year. Housemarque is one of the rare companies that knows how to make hell enjoyable. Don’t miss!
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