Or how Rahul Kohli held my hand.
Housemarque Creative Director Gregory Louden appears on-screen with a giant title next to him; “Housemarque is gameplay first”. He humbly points at it, remarks on what it means to the studio, and moves along. This is my introduction to the time I get to spend with their upcoming title, SAROS.
During this brief start, they go over Housemarque’s history. While I played and enjoyed their game Returnal, I didn’t realise they were also the studio responsible for Resogun! I never played it myself, but I often heard and read that it was one of the best SHMUP‘s of the 2010’s and made me reflect on older titles such as R-Type or 1942.
As they wrapped up, my friends at PlayStation NZ prepared me for the world of SAROS. I became Arjun Devraj. A Soltari enforcer looking for a lost colony on the planet of Carcosa. I’m also obsessed with someone named Nitya, which is insane to me as I became Rahul Kohli. They should be obsessed with me after all.
“Blazing.”
After one of my favorite tutorial styles, which I’ll let you experience yourself, I rebirth and meet my team. We’re all caught in a time paradox which is super fun, especially as the lady from Returnal is here. But she’s not THAT lady. She’s a new one. ANYWAY! Everyone is emotional because one of the their team just got shot by their captain, you’ve been gone for days, and everything feels a bit whack-a-doodle. AND WON’T SOMEONE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT CRAZY SUN?!
You head out into the Shattered Rise, and you hope to do something about…everything. And good luck, we’ll let you handle it from there. And thankfully, what SAROS does is improve upon the remarkable Bullet Ballet introduced in Returnal. I said to my pals at PlayStation NZ that I really loved that redefinition from Housemarque of ‘Bullet Hell’. Because both Returnal and SAROS aren’t about being overwhelmed by the odds. It’s about seeing the pattern and dancing through it.
And boy did I dance. We were given 3 hours to attempt to make our way through the first two biomes of the game. Which is what other media had the same chance to do. This meant there was a sort of ‘line’. One which when crossed meant that out of everyone who had attended, someone had gotten the furthest. So not only did I have to impress Rahul Kohli. I had to beat the other people who had made their way to PlayStation NZ HQ.
“It was promised.”
For those not acquainted with Housemarque since their last game, then let it be known: SAROS is a bullet ballet, roguelike, third-person shooter. You will shoot. Be shot at. Die. And rebirth to attempt it all again. And Carcosa is just the planet for that.
Making my way across quarries of grey and white rock in the Shattered Rise, with red plant-life bleeding into its surfaces, you spot a tower in the distance. But this doesn’t matter. Especially when remarkable, alien creatures begin to throw a flurry of orbs at you. Thankfully your suit, as an Enforcer, gives you the ability to Dash through these attacks. Shoot back. Melee enemies who are shielded. And absorb attacks through your own shield so you have a fighting chance.
That may feel dismissive. But the reality is you don’t really have a fighting chance. Not yet. That’s left to a version of you in the future. Which is typically the thing that messes up my rhythm while playing these games. To proceed, you have to die. You have to feel that you have lost. But thankfully, SAROS does a better job of managing this than Returnal. You have a persistent resource and progression system. And this is what will carry you forward.
“The Sun is forever.”
This new system, and the ability to play a run and stop without losing anything, is a drastic improvement over Returnal. When talking with PlayStation NZ, I said the standout changes to SAROS were the new ability I won’t disclose and the fact that it feels like I CAN lose this time. That losing will give me the means to succeed. And while the first hour was rough, as I figured out how to fit my feet into a pair of pointe shoes, after that I was locked in. So much so, I forgot my phone upon leaving (stowed away for security) because I had to act like Disney’s Hercules. Why that one specifically?
Because I had to go the distance.
What the SAROS first-look left me with was longing. Sure, it’s because I had just been playing and watching Rahul Kohli running around on what appeared to be an almost 100 inch screen in crisp 4K and 60 frames per second. But also because it was fun. When I lost, I won. And because I’m left with so many questions about what is happening on the planet of Carcosa, I need more.
SAROS is set for release on April 30th. So until then, I’ll be waiting for my own sun to rise daily until the game is in my hands. And in Housemarque fashion, as a final twist, while researching I found this:
In astronomy, the saros is a length of time covering exactly 223 synodic months. This is 18 years. 11 days. And 8 hours.”
Do with that information what you will.
(Yes, PlayStation NZ said I had gotten the furthest through it out of everyone)
