Kicking off today’s State of Play, Housemarque shared gameplay footage for its upcoming title, Saros. The developer also confirmed that the game launches on March 20, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro. From the team behind Returnal, Saros aims to deliver a fast-paced third-person shooter experience, and today’s gameplay reveal showed off one of the game’s features, the Soltari Shield. By pushing R1, players will be able to absorb incoming projectiles as a defensive move. What’s absorbed, though, can also be unleashed later for a devastating attack. It’s an interesting take on a parrying mechanic for a shooter, something DOOM: The Dark Ages also put its own spin on earlier this year. Combined with fast-paced movement and timely dodges, Saros is already checking off all the boxes that Returnal veterans are hoping to see.
Housemarque gave us a glimpse of what to expect regarding permanent progression, revealing Second Chance, an unlockable that is basically a revive. To put it simply, the gameplay looks amazing with a fluid dance of dodges, shields, and parries, and the gunplay looks fantastic. Of course, we’ll have to get our hands on it to really know, but Returnal nailed all of those aspects, so we have a lot of faith in Saros.
In a blog post, Housemarque confirmed that at the start of every run, players will select a loadout from a mix of Soltari human weaponry and Carcosan alien weaponry. In the gameplay video, we see the protagonist, Arjun Devraj, wielding the Soltari Phosphorous Shotgun. Storytelling will also be an important aspect of Saros, with grounded voiceover, cinematics, haunting audio logs, and conversations with an ensemble cast of NPCs. Lastly, Housemarque announced that the game’s soundtrack is composed by two-time Grammy Award winner Sam Slater, who has worked on Chernobyl and Joker.
