Housemarque's Returnal is a stunning sci-fi game that had me enthralled from start to mid-point. I say mid-point as I have the shocking revelation that I didn't actually finish this game, nor did I even get near to the end. By my estimations, I made it roughly halfway into the game after about twenty six hours, before bouncing off of it due to the high difficulty. The time I spent with the game however was spell-binding, this really felt like a true 'next-gen' game. Due to not actually finishing this I won't be including a score at the end of this review.
You play as ASTRA Corporation pilot and explorer Selene Vassos. After learning of a strange signal coming from the off-limits planet of Atropos, Selene decides to disobey orders and investigate this signal. Her attempts to land don't go well, with her ship crash landing, wrecking the vessel in the process. With the only way to request rescue being tied up in the mission she had embarked on, she decides to push on, trekking through the ruins of a long dead alien civilisation in order to locate the strange signal dubbed 'White Shadow'. It isn't long before she discovers a terrible fact, should Selene die then she awakens back in her crashed ship, stuck in a perpetual time-loop. She also discovers that with each subsequent attempt to locate the signal that the planet is morphing and changing around her, so that each attempt has her traversing a different layout.
Returnal is a very hard rogue-like action adventure game that is a sublime joy to play. As Selene, you traverse biomes made up of a series of interlinked areas. There is a finite amount of these areas but they are always remixed in a different order, with different items and weapons appearing each time. Combat is zippy, with Selene's spacesuit having the ability to boost in any direction quickly. There are a variety of guns that are similar to current day weapons in part. There is a shotgun type weapon, a machinegun, pistol, rifle, and even a gun that shoots corrosive globs of green gloop. Enemies change with each biome visited. The starting biome - ruins in a rainy forest mostly features wolf type tentacled alien creatures, later areas feature different type of alien animals, as well as robots of both flying and ground based variety. Enemies often attack by shooting vast 'bullet-hell' waves of brightly coloured projectiles. Dotted around the levels are machines that you can use energy dropped by defeated enemies to buy upgrades such as increased weapon damage and health, as well as items such as a device that prevents gun turrets from activating.
The different biomes I encountered all looked amazing, with so much atmosphere to them. The starting area was beautiful, and the Playstation 5 controller does a fantastic job of representing the rain drops falling. The second area - a desert area was just as impressive, giving the illusion of a gigantic endless desert. I really loved how Selene's spacesuit gradually gets covered in the red sand. The third area I got to took place in a vast ruined city made up of giant buildings. Each run requires you to play through the entire game, the only concession being that once a boss is defeated (tough fights of the multi-stage variety) there is no need to re-fight it, and that you get the ability to fast travel if you so wish. For example, once you have gotten to the top of the mountain in the desert area you are subsequently able to use a warp gate at the base of the mountain to teleport straight up. The third area becomes accessible from the first after you collect a certain item that allows you to ascend to out of reach platforms. These shortcuts are good, but your abilities are brought to zero with each run, so it might save you time, but it might also be wise to go the long way around to build up your weapons and items.
This game has atmosphere in spades, you get a real feel for the isolation the character finds themselves in. I also loved how you keep finding audio diaries left from previous versions of Selene who had attempted to get to the signal, and how you slowly come to learn the alien language that allows you to translate the words on alien markers, which hint at what caused the long lost alien civilisation to fall. After each boss you also get access to a bizarre recreation of Selene's family home, which provides hints to Selene's backstory, and how things might not be exactly as they seem.
Should you tire of the search for the signal, you can also head to a seemingly endless tower. Made up of a randomised battle rooms, you fight your way ever upwards. This includes its own story and plenty of audio diaries.
I guess my biggest complaint with Returnal is how stingy the game is at letting you keep things you discover. There are a handful of key items that stick with her, but mostly each run you are starting completely fresh, with progress only really coming from not having to re-fight bosses, and the shortcuts you are able to take. I adored this game, but playing it on Playstation's version of GamePass, and with my strange randomised way of playing a set list of ten games at any one time, I felt it was time to move on, hoping to one day return. There may not be a score, but if I was forced to give one based on my time with the game I would shockingly, currently, give this a solid ten out of ten!
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