SAROS: HOUSEMARQUE MAKES BULLET HELL KINDER
8.5 of 10 bananas. Housemarque's follow up to Returnal keeps the dazzling third person bullet hell gunfights and makes them far easier to get into. Critics rate it slightly above Returnal. Several say it gave up the roguelike depth that made Returnal stick.
By the Alpha. Full review. Updated Nov 13 2026.
Honest note: This is not a fresh hands-on playtest. I built this verdict from critic reviews, player reviews, the store listing, and the official game pages linked below. If I put real hours in on stream, I will update the score and say so.
Platforms: PlayStation 5 only. Released April 30 2026, developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The Amazon button is the PS5 disc. At my Nov 13 2026 check it was sold by Amazon.com at 52.99 dollars.
Get SAROS for PS5 on AmazonStore check, Nov 13 2026: new copies sold and shipped by Amazon.com at 52.99 dollars. Prices and sellers change, so look before you pay.
Listen well. I watched half the troop bounce off Returnal. Great game, cruel teacher. One death, and the whole climb was gone. Housemarque heard the yelling. SAROS is the answer, and the answer is a much gentler hand on your shoulder.
What It Wants To Be
A third person bullet hell shooter on the hostile planet Carcosa, with a cosmic horror story about Arjun Devraj and the crew of the Echelon IV. You fight through shifting biomes, die, and return to base, but this time permanent progression and world modifiers let you tune the difficulty up or down. It is a spiritual follow up to Returnal, not a sequel in story.
What Works
Critics are near unanimous: 87 on Metacritic at my check, with 132 of 140 critic reviews positive. GameSpew called it Housemarque's best game yet and praised the permanent progression and difficulty modifiers. PlayStation Universe called it a masterclass in third person shooter design and one of the best looking games on PS5. Even its critics agree the moment to moment gunplay and boss fights are fantastic.
What Breaks
The roguelike side is the complaint. GameSpot says the small perk pool leaves almost no room for builds and calls level variety and bosses stagnant. Polygon says it overcorrects for Returnal's difficulty, explains its systems poorly, and makes it too easy to strip out the challenge by accident. Space.com and Polygon both say the story structure fights the run based format, since the game keeps sending you back to base. Expect to roll credits and not feel much pull to replay.
Who Should Play
Play it if Returnal's difficulty scared you off, or if you want the best looking arcade action on PS5 with a story attached. Wait for a sale if you live for deep roguelike builds and hundreds of runs, because that is the part it gave up.
STRENGTHS
- Superb bullet hell gunplay
- Far easier to get into than Returnal
- Tunable difficulty
- Sold by Amazon.com at my check
HONEST COSTS
- Shallow builds for a roguelike
- Repeating layouts and bosses
- Story fights the run format
- Little reason to replay
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