Returnal
Housemarque evolves into a new species
i FORMAT PS5 / ETA 19 MAR / PUB PLAYSTATION STUDIOS DEV HOUSEMARQUE / PLAYERS 1
2
Even death won’t free Selene from her fate. Her only choice is to get blasting.
“IT’S UP TO YOU TO UNCOVER THE MYSTERY THROUGH REPEATED CYCLES OF LIFE AND DEATH.”
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conceived three years ago and, according to the dev, involved a pitch which included everything that Housemarque would put in its dream game. Given the studio had previously made PlayStation console exclusives Resogun and Nex Machina – twitchy, vibrant shoot-’em-ups – Sony snapped up the chance to support the dev in shooting for the stars.
But those stars, for the game’s protagonist Selene, are dangerous. She dies after crashing on an alien planet. Then comes back to life. And dies again, and again, and again in a time loop of death and rebirth. It’s a dark science-fiction setting that continues the shoot- ’em-up action Housemarque is a veteran at developing, while moving into a thirdperson action style. There’s a strong focus on narrative yet everything’s nonetheless arcade-like and also immensely replayable.