Returnal review3/5/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() But far from just a bunch of tiny voxels bouncing around the screen and neon tentacles flailing from many of the game’s enemies, Housemarque outdid themselves with Returnal’s environments. It’s Housemarque different than you’ve ever seen Housemarque before, but it’s also distinctly and undeniably a Housemarque game with no exceptions.Ī visually stunning experience, Returnal leans heavily into those trademark Housemarque particle effects and physics. It’d be all too easy to list any number of properties that have at least seemed to have an influence, both sci-fi films and notable video games-everything from Aliens, to Journey, to Hades-but Returnal’s gentle respect for these things is an undercurrent to the strong core identity of this game. Every step of the way, it bravely sets its own identity while paying humble homage to what came before. Returnal bears some clear influences from many of sci-fi’s greatest movies, moments, and environments, but it never feels like it is merely copying those elements. Some runs you’ll easily work your way through the levels, and others will present you with sudden terrifying surprises that lead to a quick defeat, but that random nature just makes you want to play more. It’s a sci-fi bullet-hell third-person shooter roguelike metroidvania that’s simultaneously empowering and crushing, always begging for one more cycle, one more run to try to conquer the creatures and discover the mysteries of Atropos. As part of that initial preview, I also said: Seriously, the haptic feedback at work is some of the most impressive stuff we’ve seen felt, and the adaptive triggers make for distinct gameplay that utilize multiple levels of pressure for focused aim and alternate fire abilities. We praised its implementation of the unique DualSense features and PS5’s 3D audio. We called it the first truly next-gen game. I’ve already written extensively about my experience with Returnal’s first two biomes in our early preview. The goal is to find a way to free Selene from this vicious unending cycle of death and rebirth, but Returnal is so good, I never want the cycle to end. The world changes around each time she sets out anew, learning new things about her situation on the alien planet and figuring out how it all ties together. Selene crashes her ship on the mysterious-and dangerous-planet of Atropos, and every time she dies, she is returned to the crash site. Returnal’s core conceit is about breaking the cycle. ![]()
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