alien resurrection
LIVE, DIE, REPEAT IN THIS BRUTAL PS5 SHOOTER…
RETURNAL GAME OUT NOW | PS5
The second wave of PS5 blockbusters begins with a bang, as a lightning strike from a swirling electrical storm causes space pilot Selene to crash-land on the alien planet Atropos. Bruised but otherwise intact, she stumbles from the wreckage of her ship into a dark landscape with a menacing aura, before finding the lifeless body of another spacefarer. Turning it over to scan its identification tag, she recoils in horror as she sees her own name…
This isn’t going to be the only corpse Selene leaves behind in this ruthless third-person shooter, which marks a major departure from Sony’s house style. Returnal offers no openworld sprawl, but a series of large, interconnected rooms in which you’ll face off against Atropos’ ferocious fauna, as you gather weapons and upgrades to tackle ever more dangerous threats. Ever since its humble demo-producing beginnings, developer Housemarque has favoured an old-school arcadestyle challenge. Perhaps best known for Defender-inspired PS4 launch title Resogun, the Finnish studio certainly hasn’t softened its hardcore edge as it sets its sights on the big leagues.
For some players, the first death will come as a rude awakening, as Selene restarts back at her ship with nothing but her sidearm, all previous perks lost. But with these biomes rearranging themselves after each attempt, and a breadcrumb trail of narrative clues spread across successive loops, every run offers new discoveries to encourage you back.
Besides, combat is consistently thrilling: you’ll leap and dash to avoid volleys of glowing projectiles while flying beasts shriek and swoop, and towering, tentacled brutes launch themselves at you, so you can’t just take aim from a safe distance. It’s not just a match for anything on PS5 in terms of spectacle, either. Housemarque uses the DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers to let you target weak spots or activate your weapon’s alt-fire mode depending on how hard you squeeze them, while the pitter-patter of rainfall can be felt in your palms.
Even so, the randomness can occasionally be off-putting. Some runs combine unusually high concentrations of enemies with miserly health drops, resulting in punishing difficulty spikes, while mysterious parasites and malignant power-ups can leave you with debilitating status ailments that give you no chance on the later biomes. Yet if you’re up to the challenge, the alluring strangeness of Atropos (a setting that owes as much to Alex Garland’s Annihilation as it does Alien) and the exhilarating spectacle of its encounters make Returnal the first true PS5 essential. Chris Schilling