BLAZING.
I found it tricky to write up this review for SAROS. Not because of any kind of negative sentiment toward the game. Far from it. Even though I’ve reached an end, much like its predecessor, Returnal, I don’t think I’m at THE END. And it felt like an obsession was washing over me to chase it. Which means the game has succeeded in linking its gameplay to the narrative.
Obsession.
Arjun Devraj is an Enforcer for the Soltari corporation. Played by Rahul Kohli, they are sent to the alien planet Carcosa with the Echelon IV colony. Their mission? To find the previous 3 colonies that have gone to this world and disappeared. You’d wonder why a corporation would do that! Well it’s easy. Money. And this planet has a resource that will set up Soltari for…millennia. With Arjun being reborn on Carcosa, we find his reason for being there. His lost love, Nitya, was part of one of the earlier colonies. With obsession in tow, Arjun heads out into the wilds of Carcosa.
And this is where Housemarque reveal their cards. The famed studio has worked almost exclusively on bullet hell-like titles. Except they like to call them bullet ballet. Their most revered title, Resogun, is still lauded to this day while their most recent title, the previously mentioned Returnal, made a big impact on both the PS5 and PC. And it’s this title that influences a lot of the choices in SAROS.
Returnal wasn’t necessarily hard.
But it had a limit. With a ruthless rougelike structure that reset you on every death, it could at times feel like a grind to press through the game. While you would eventually unlock items and weapons which would assist you further, sometimes it was a fruitless and an unrewarding endeavor. This is potentially due to how the death cycle influenced our hero Selene. It was more about the trauma and unlocking the cause, while SAROS goes another way. Death is time that is moving every which way but forward. When Devraj dies during a cycle, the world changes with you. And the last choices and experiences you had will stay with you. And it’s this kind of cycle that starts the obsession with finishing the game completely.
In Returnal, you couldn’t really come and go as you’d want. If you started a cycle, you had to commit to however long it could take. SAROS? One cycle could be anywhere from 15 minutes to my longest being a 3 hour run. It’s up to you. And if you need to stop, the game will pick up where you left off with everything in tow. And damn that feeling of accomplishment keeps you pushing through. Along with a mixture of entertaining weapons! From your regular gunplay items, through to spinning chakra and insane archery, SAROS will let you find a best way to play.
Along with its power weapons.
These are integrated into your suit, and allow you to deliver devastating blows to multiple enemy. And they vary from missiles through to a laser that will focus on multiple targets. Both ranges of weapons have 5 tiers to them, that add new buffs to them increasing your odds of surviving. Because if you survive, that’s where you can start to unlock skills which will allow you to get through the Eclipse.
What is the Eclipse?
Drawing upon the power of the planet, you summon the Eclipse to change the world. The environments start crawling with tendrils and produce active changes to the way you move through it. Enemies become more dangerous, threatening to corrupt you if they damage you enough. And areas previously unreachable, suddenly become within reach. If you want to find out what happened to the Echelon colonies, you must survive the Eclipse. And if you do, you might just make it to the….well you’ll see.
As I reached my 10th hour in game, I had one thought.
“I think this might be a game of the year for me”. From their visual flair, Rahul Kohli, and rewarding, hectic gameplay, SAROS feels like what gaming is. Something so far removed from the world, and just as wild. And the thing is, it doesn’t even need 10 hours to feel like that. Just the opening of the game alone gives you the idea of what kind of ride you’re in for. And it’ll be you, dancing through globules of glowing bullets trying to beat the Eclipse. Because even if you die, you’ll come back a lot stronger. And ready for round 200.
If you told me I was going to enjoy a roguelike, bullet ballet this much I would tell you "that's surprising!".
But the way Housemarque has iterated on what they built in Returnal, is a masterclass in taking the good and adding the even better.
It's a 10 for me!
