Saros Reviews
SAROS veers further away from the roguelike path with its focus on permanent progression and more accessible levels. While its story and characters didn’t draw me in, its visual style and sound design are excellent. Most importantly, it delivers out of this world gunplay that simultaneously feels stressful, stimulating, and satisfying.
Housemarque Studio once again proves its ability to create unique games with its own identity. Saros offers a difficult and intense journey filled with chaotic battles and huge Bullet Hell moments, creating fast-paced and addictive gameplay while giving the world beautiful visuals. The game also delivers excellent technical performance and great sound design. If you enjoyed Returnal and are looking for a similar experience, then don’t hesitate to travel to Carcosa planet and enjoy one of the most exciting action games out there.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Saros is an ambitious and visually stunning work, confirming Housemarque's crystal-clear talent for creating vibrant alien worlds and rock-solid gameplay. However, their attempt to hybridize their pure "action" formula with RPG structures and interconnected maps is not without its challenges: the menu management is a bit complex, the loot balance isn't always impeccable, and the game's pace suffers from slowdowns that Returnal fans may find unpalatable. It's a step forward in terms of the project's scale, even if the path seems to have taken a marked turn from the original. It's an experience worth experiencing for its atmosphere and technical brilliance, but it requires a greater degree of patience from the player than it has in the past. We're confident it will continue to offer a wealth of new experiences, given the fantastic support Returnal has received over time.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Saros is a visually stunning technical experience that puts you in the heart of an addictive, relentless combat chaos. The game excels in providing gameplay that is among the best in its class, making full use of the PS5's capabilities to give you a real feeling of every shot and every explosion. Despite the fun of combat, the game falls into the trap of repetition due to the limited enemy types and the weakness of the Roguelite systems, which do not offer strong incentives for replayability as in competing games. Additionally, the story—which began with an ambitious scope—falters at its end. In short, if you are looking for a game to showcase your console's power and enjoy a solid and fun gameplay experience for hours, Saros is an excellent choice. However, if you expect more from the story or variety in enemies and Roguelite elements, you may feel some disappointment halfway through.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Saros is a highly enjoyable game to play, featuring truly fantastic action sequences, a constantly escalating intensity, and plenty of chaos, managing to take its sound design and DualSense utilization to new heights. However, it has etched itself into my memory as a title burdened by a narratively lacking story, acting performances that fail to rise above average, and skill systems that lack tangible impact.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Housemarque evolves the foundations of Returnal into something even bigger with Saros, delivering intense third-person combat, stunning world design and a mysterious sci-fi narrative that constantly pulls you deeper into Carcosa. A breathtaking roguelite experience that feels both familiar and refreshingly ambitious.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Saros turns death into progress, delivering a fast, challenging and visually striking sci-fi adventure where every failed run makes Arjun stronger and Carcosa even more compelling.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
An unforgiving alien planet, brutal bullet-hell combat, and a mystery slowly eating away at reality - Housemarque came back with another game full of chaotic combat and eerie atmosphere that demands your full attention.
Saros is a triumph for Housemarque and a reminder that some of the most exciting games being made today don’t need to rely on cinematic spectacle to leave a lasting impression. It takes everything that made Returnal special and builds upon it in meaningful ways, from its improved progression systems to its breathtaking world design and its roster of unforgettable boss encounters. The story is heavy, the gameplay is addictive, and the world of Carcosa will stick with you long after the credits roll. If Returnal was Housemarque announcing themselves to the world, Saros is them planting their flag. Don’t sleep on it.
"Saros is a game where it dances on the line of head-scratching design decisions along with intriguing ideas. Its influences from The King in Yellow are wonderful and its core gunplay is excellent, yet it fails to coherently bind together its gameplay along with narrative in a way which makes it enjoyable at length."
Saros has everything it takes to become more than just a spiritual successor to Returnal, representing a clear evolution of the formula created by the studio, but with a completely new look.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Saros is the sequel to Returnal. You take on the role of Arjun to find out what happened on Carcossa. You must do everything you can to find out why the colony has disappeared.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
While Saros tries to offer its protagonist, who seeks to rewrite the past, “a new tomorrow,” it unfortunately traps the player in the same cycle. Although the player-friendly features added following feedback from Returnal create a much smoother experience, the balance of difficulty can occasionally spiral out of control. As a result, Saros ends up being a game that addresses the shortcomings of the genres Housemarque knows best, while also dulling some of the studio’s greatest strengths.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
SAROS feels like a confident evolution of Housemarque’s gameplay-first philosophy. Between the stylish combat, rewarding progression systems, and haunting sci-fi atmosphere, the game delivers an intense and memorable experience that keeps pulling players back into the darkness of Carcosa.
Instead of being just like every other safe and overbudgeted action adventure by the company, this is a gameplay-first experience, just like how Returnal had done five years prior. It shows, once again, that Housemarque might actually be Sony’s most important internal development team, masterfully mixing arcade-like controls and an endlessly replayable gameplay loop with higher quality visuals and cinematic storytelling.
I have a truly strange relationship with Saros. On the one hand, it’s a game I honestly hate and that has caused me endless frustration. On the other hand, it’s a game that rewards you even for your failures, and once you finally master the chaos on the screen, the sense of satisfaction from your progress is simply immense. It’s a game that, despite its rather bland supporting characters and a lack of deeper emotion in the plot itself, manages to draw you in with an incredibly engaging story full of intriguing mysteries. The world design is a true masterpiece created by talented artists, further enhanced by stunning visuals and brilliant sound design. To top it all off, the core gameplay itself, though incredibly exhausting most of the time, ultimately proves exceptionally satisfying. Saros is a fascinating paradox that’s hard to ignore.
Review in Polish | Read full review
This is a great showcase for the PS5 and well worth a look for those seeking a sci-fi epic packed full of challenge.
SAROS is recommended because it’s a step up from Housemarque’s previous title. The experience is much more polished, especially in terms of its progression system and accessibility, yet it doesn’t lose any of its intensity. It’s not a perfect game, but it knows exactly what it wants to offer and how to keep you hooked for hours.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Saros is one of PlayStation’s finest action games and a strong candidate for 2026 Game of the Year conversations come December.
Housemarque has taken a game genre they master better than anyone else, and made it more accessible for regular human beings like me, without losing what makes them unique. Play Saros if you liked Returnal, play Saros if you enjoy action games; play Saros even if you think it might be too difficult. Eventually, it will all fall into place.
Review in Unknown | Read full review