Returnal was one of the most memorable new titles showcased at Sony’s PS5 reveal stream last June. Developer Housemarque showed off the upcoming PS5 exclusive’s gameplay and teased its story in a new demo on Thursday.
The two-and-a-half-minute video was part of GamesRadar’s Future Games Show Spring Showcase. Narrated by Housemarque Marketing Director Mikael Haveri, the demo walks viewers through what to expect when Returnal launches on PS5 next month.
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The demo opens with the protagonist and deep-space explorer Selene crash-landing on the mysterious planet of Atropos. There, she finds herself trapped in a strange loop of death and resurrection. Every time Selene dies, the planet rearranges, creating a new environment to explore. The teaser also nodded to Returnal’s creepy online component, with Selene discovering the corpse of another her.
Haveri describes Returnal as a fast-paced shooter with roguelike elements. That definitely comes through in the clips of gameplay. The third-person combat is partially reminiscent of Mass Effect: Andromeda, with Selene dashing and zipping around enemies. However, it also incorporates elements inspired by bullet-hell shooters. Enemies fill the screen with brightly glowing projectiles for the player to avoid. The demo showcased some flying squid creatures that seemed particularly fond of saturating the battlefield with bullets.
Combat is just one half of Returnal’s gameplay, with the other being exploration. The planet of Atropos has a savage beauty to it, not unlike the aesthetic of Dark Souls. It’s also littered with alien ruins and ominous swamps for Selene to explore. Players will need to search for scattered clues to uncover what became of the planet’s inhabitants. Solving this mystery may be vital to freeing Selene from Atropos’ seemingly supernatural hold.
It may not just be the planet keeping secrets in. As was hinted at in the trailer last year, Atropos haunts Selene with visions of her house on Earth. What that means is another mystery that players will have to figure out. Housemarque hopes to blend Returnal’s exploration with the game’s non-linear story, with the goal being for players to learn more about their character as they explore and learn more about Atropos. Presumably, Selene’s escape depends on major revelations about both.
Despite being the oldest game studio in Finland, Housemarque is a relatively small team of only around 80 employees. As Haveri points out, Returnal is the developer’s first original story-driven game. Still, that lack of experience does not seem to have hindered development.
Returnal releases April 30th on PS5.