Saros is pure action nirvana

At a glance:

• Saros is a third-person bullet-hell roguelite PS5 exclusive from Finnish studio Housemarque, launching April 30th.
• It follows protagonist Arjun Devraj (played by Rahul Kohli) on a time-looped rescue mission to mineral-rich planet Carcosa, with permanent meta-progression upgrades between runs.
• The game features a gold-drenched aesthetic, blends sci-fi/horror influences from H.R. Giger and Sunshine, and includes a soundtrack mixing doom metal and club music by Sam Slater.

Visual and audio design set a gilded, tense tone

The alien world of Saros lives up to its reputation as a gold-drenched, visually striking experience, described in the preview as a setting touched by King Midas. Frequent solar eclipses bathe the sky in golden light, while deposits of the precious resource Lucenite radiate a shimmering amber across the terrain. Protagonist Arjun Devraj (played by Rahul Kohli) even takes on a deep yellow hue as he ventures into Carcosa’s wilds, with death sequences cutting to cryptic imagery including a double bed draped in gold silk sheets. The aesthetic feels fittingly aligned with the current state of gaming, as the preview notes the exorbitant cost of a PlayStation 5 in the current market.

The audio design compounds this infernal ambience, led by composer Sam Slater’s soundtrack that seamlessly segues between doom metal and blaring club music. Environmental sounds like the belching bogs of the Blighted Marsh and whirring machinery strike a hellish harmony with the groans of awakened beasts, immersing players in Carcosa’s tense atmosphere.

Gameplay builds on Returnal’s framework with accessible roguelite tweaks

Saros is a third-person bullet-hell shooter, throwing hundreds if not thousands of slow- and fast-moving projectiles at players at any single moment. It follows the roguelite structure of Housemarque’s previous PS5 exclusive Returnal, with a time-loop mechanic that traps Arjun Devraj in a repeating cycle on Carcosa, much like Selene’s loop in Returnal. Unlike more punishing roguelike titles such as Spelunky or Rogue Legacy, Saros offsets its difficulty with permanent upgrades purchased between runs, which bolster Arjun’s health, firepower, or ability to collect resources.

Over the first 10 hours of play, the preview author died 25 times progressing from a stunning mountain region to a gigantic citadel, discovering weapons including arm-length handguns with ricocheting bullets and space-age crossbows that fire bolts of raw energy. Players can teleport back to any unlocked area once they reach it, starting each new run slightly further along Arjun’s journey with accumulated upgrades. Even players who are not naturally dexterous can progress using forgiving auto-aim weapons like the Smart Rifle, whose red spectral bullets curve elegantly toward the game’s many Lovecraftian enemies, or a power-up that unleashes mini eclipses dealing fatal damage to nearby foes.

Housemarque has built a 30-year reputation for punishing bullet-hell shooters including Nex Machina and Resogun, and Saros represents the studio’s effort to balance accessibility with the genre’s core challenge after being acquired by Sony. Arjun moves with liquid-mercury smoothness and impossible speed, with dashes that grant split-second invincibility to help players dodge overwhelming projectile volleys. The game largely nails this balance, per the preview, though its most arresting moments remain the deadliest, requiring constant movement to avoid polyrhythmic orb volleys that fill every inch of space from floor to sky.

Sci-fi and horror influences shape Carcosa’s worldbuilding

The game’s worldbuilding draws heavily from a mashup of sci-fi and horror influences, with supersized bio-synthetic architecture clearly inspired by H.R. Giger and talk of Ancients evoking Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. Gigantic portals call to mind Stargate, while the cosmic dread of the experience is pure Event Horizon, and the standout visual leitmotif of a huge burning sun summons Danny Boyle’s underrated film Sunshine. Arjun’s mission to Carcosa is framed as a rescue operation to investigate an imperiled human colony, driven in part by a search for a lost romantic partner, though this narrative thread often fades during intense shootouts.

Carcosa’s eclipses do more than darken the sky: they make the world many magnitudes more deadly, filling it with writhing entities that strike a balance between organic and machinic, similar to the steel monsters in The Matrix. Enemies range from generic Lovecraftian foes to a standout boss described as an ominous floating eye surrounded by wraith-like orbs, which can be defeated more easily with accumulated meta-progression upgrades. By the end of play sessions, Arjun feels less like a person and more like a phosphorus energy force, serving as the catalyst for the game’s kaleidoscopic, brutal chain reactions.

The preview author notes multiple moments of transcendent gameplay, including a session where accumulated upgrades let them tear through early-game foes and previously stumping bosses with ease. Saros makes players feel like a god as runs progress, with Arjun wielding alien technology and the ability to trigger eclipses that reshape Carcosa’s danger level. The result is a mesmerizing, fireworks-like display of action that lives up to the "pure action nirvana" description in the headline.

Lewis Gordon