Housemarque kicked off today's State of Play presentation with our first look at gameplay for Saros, showcasing some of the new gameplay mechanics that the studio is implementing to build off what it did with Returnal, and landed the new trailer by revealing that Saros is coming to PS5 on March 20, 2026.
It was a very action-packed trailer that showed Housemarque isn't trying to fix what wasn't broken with Returnal's gameplay, and is adding new features to turn up the danger by giving players a shield they can use to break up some of the onslaught of colored shots coming their way, and fire back with more power.
You'll also get one extra chance per run, letting you revive yourself at least once instead of reviving, which is something you unlock deep into the game, like it was in Returnal. The trailer didn't get too deep into the modifiers and upgrades you can unlock, though, so it could be that we'll have more than one extra chance in a run, depending on what you unlock.
"For our first look at gameplay we wanted to show real and unedited action gameplay from Saros, and then layer by layer detail some of the new elements we have added on top of Returnal’s award winning third-person action. Our goal with these new elements has been to add more depth to our gameplay by adding a wider variety of tools," wrote Gregory Louden, creative director at Housemarque, in a PlayStation Blog post.
"Arjun’s Soltari advanced combat suit allows him to dash, melee, jump, and more. At the start of every run you will select your loadout from a mix of Soltari human weaponry and Carcosan alien weaponry. In this video, Arjun is using the Soltari Phosphorous Shotgun to defend himself and melt the hostile machines housed in the lost ancient city. As you can see from our extended gameplay, you can expect spectacular bullet patterns from enemies, and brutal weapons to use which fuel the sci-fi power fantasy."
Louden also briefly touched on the story in Saros and what Arjun is doing on the planet of Carcosa, though was careful not to reveal too much, of course. "We also wanted to highlight how we are expanding our storytelling in Saros. Along with grounded voice-over, stunning cinematics, haunting audio logs, and conversations with our ensemble cast of NPCs, there are also Soltari Holograms detailing what happened on Carcosa as you explore. If you choose to collect them, they are vital to discover what happened on this hostile planet. There’s also more surreal and mysterious storytelling sequences, but we will share more with you about these moments ahead…"
Saros will arrive on PS5 and PS5 Pro on March 20, 2026.
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