In our review of PlayStation 5 almost six months ago, we expected the console would beat out Xbox Series X/S. Innovations like the DualSense controller and Sony’s reputation for delivering desirable exclusives being the main reasons for such a claim. Returnal was one of the games we felt would entice gamers to PS5. With no PlayStation 4 version to worry about, Housemarque have been able to take PS5’s unique 9th gen. standards and incorporate them into the game to great effect.
We’ve played about eight hours of Returnal – here’s a spoiler-free look at our experience so far.
The Same… But Different
Returnal is a unique and innovative take on several genres at once. A horror Roguelite with refined third-person controls and surprisingly deep combat elements, Returnal sets itself apart from anything else it could be compared to in any of the genres it stands in. The rebirth mechanic, especially, disorients a player while offering a terrifying permanence to each death.
Clumsily falling to your death or biting off more than you can chew in combat doesn’t reset your progress but will force you to learn new routes to your next objective. Players lose their weapons and their collected currency/resources but not all of their accumulated goodies are lost in death.
The layout is a hybrid of procedural dungeon and item placement. This allowed the devs to perfectly craft each area while giving players that sense of unfamiliarity and fresh danger that adds to the plot, the terror and the foreboding atmosphere.
Atmos-Fear
The disorientation of the shape-shifting planet Atropos feeds the game’s psychological horror goals. In our two preview biomes, the design of the dungeons adds an atmosphere of terror. The yawning chasms and sometime-impossible geometry are unsettling.
Similarly, Returnal‘s cast of enemies are otherworldly yet oddly familiar. Housemarque put great effort into how protagonist Selene interacts with the harsh flora and fauna of the planet. The game never explicitly tells players what he overall goal is – you just need to escape. Or ‘break the cycle’ as the game puts it. The steps on the path to freedom shift frequently, leading a player on a tense runaround while undermining any certainties they may think they have learned.
Vibrant and Alive but Deathly
The presentation of Atropos is stunning. Despite each biome resembling somebody’s vision of hell, they teem with life. Flora seems to reach out and grab Selene as if they too are part of the mental torture. Fauna is hostile without exception. Even in our two preview biomes, there is great variety in the manner of avoiding damage and dishing it out. Monsters have several forms of attack – slow-moving but massive projectiles, homing shards of pain and pin-point lasers that can only be escaped with a dodge at the right moment.
Gunplay, while simple, is satisfying. The neon lasers pierce the darkness with a pleasing whirr and eye-grabbing contrast. Selene’s hypermobility adds a layer of strategy and skill to battles. Dodging and weaving are also used to lend some platforming prowess to the exploratory aspects of Returnal. Weapons have different secondary attacks that might blast away a tough shield with one well-placed shot or clear a small area of enemies.
Weapons also have passive effects that affect the vanilla fire of the game’s weapons. This adds variety and forces a player to frequently swap their loadout. Killing three enemies in a row with fill one adrenaline level. Each of the five levels comes with a perk – from guaranteed superior weapons next time you find one to being able to see enemies through walls – and you will need to keep you adrenaline level high as the biomes’ end-bosses can be incredibly difficult.
A Lot on Your Plate
Another combat mechanic you will need to learn is the recharge Overload. Much like Gears of War, players can tap a button to instantly reload their weapon and add a cheeky damage bonus.
There are many items that will help players. There are also as many that will harm as well as help – balancing these affects will probably be more important in the long run as Parasites and Malignancies offer some of the best items and effects that players will come across. Malignancies, in particular, play a huge role. Players can cure them with the rarest and most valuable currency in-game, Ether, or more likely choose to suck up the penalty. It’s probably a good idea to save your Ether and complete the challenge to remove the malignancy. These range from performing a number of successful Overloads, collecting obolites or slaying enemies.
Certain dungeon styles will crop up a lot more than others. Even the most skilled of players will see each biomes’ bonus dungeons and multi-exited chambers quite a few times. While it may sound repetitive, it only adds to the sense of feeling lost and confused.
Uncertain Fate
Early plot points unsettle our protagonist and force her to relive her memories with a wink to an unreliable narrator. The tale reveals itself in a gentle fashion. Returnal doesn’t load the player with exposition but prefers to tease, obfuscate and hint in the grand psy-horror tradition.
One area that may concern players is the game’s odd save function. As in, there isn’t one. If you are halfway through a biome and want to go do something else, you will need to leave the console in Rest Mode. Given PS5’s prior Rest Mode troubles, this may bother some players. If you leave the game entirely, it counts as a death – all of your lovely obolites, your loadout and any non-permanent upgrades are gone.
Returnal launches exclusively on PlayStation 5 on 30th April 2021
We hope you enjoyed our Returnal preview, you’ll find our review here
