Saros Review: A Haunting yet Flawed Shooter
Sometimes, against our better judgment, we do the same thing over and over again hoping for a different outcome. Developer Housemarque's new third-person bullet-hell shooter Saros explores this idea in many ways – the roguelite level structure, the repeated combat encounters, and the internal conflicts of its main character, Arjun.
Arjun Devraj is an expeditioner for the space corp Soltari; he sports the voice and likeness of actor Rahul Kohli, who absolutely nails the leading role. His crew is sent out to investigate the disappearance of previous expeditions on Carcosa, a planet riddled with biomechanical imagery and the gothic architecture of a lost alien civilization; the science-fantasy and Giger influence is definitely used effectively here.
You quickly realize that something is extremely off, with each solar eclipse turning the planet into a hellscape and inducing a deep psychosis that chips away at everyone's well-being as tensions grow increasingly hostile. There are parallels to works like Heart of Darkness or Apocalypse Now here, but Saros is more of an adaptation of the 19th century anthology "The King In Yellow" by Robert Chambers.
Combat and Gameplay
The more you familiarize yourself with the unrelenting attack patterns of enemies and learn how to be effectively aggressive with weapons you vibe with, the closer you get to a flow state that speedy shooters like this uniquely tap into. It's strongly rooted in Returnal's design philosophies with a few edges sanded off, and while I don't think Saros is necessarily an evolution, I came away with a sated appetite for Housemarque's house style.
Each failed run is a training ground for what you ultimately need to do – get through the level as healthy as possible and defeat its boss in one fell swoop. Carcosa's various biomes are broken up into distinct levels, which themselves must be completed in a single run to make progress.
Storytelling and Themes
As a PlayStation 5 exclusive, Saros seems like it’s trying to align itself more closely with Sony’s other "prestige" single-player games by having a more deliberate, high-concept story. Themes of trying to break harmful cycles, coming to terms with grave mistakes, and even struggles with sexual identity work their way into what initially seemed like something primarily inspired by Hollywood sci-fi.
I commend that direction because these are intriguing threads to pull on, but the ways the storytelling comes up short really stick out when there’s a bigger emphasis on it this time around. Saros gets halfway there, but unfortunately leaves many of its stronger plotlines underdeveloped.