Game review: Returnal by Housemarque

Returnal casts you as astronaut Selene, an interplanetary scout who has crash-landed on the planet Atropos.

Returnal by Housemarque for Sony’s PlayStation 5

When the PlayStation 5 console launched late last year, we saw some tantalising hints of what it was capable of via the games Astro’s Playroom and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

With sci-fi shooter Returnal landing, we now have a stand-alone AAA PlayStation 5 exclusive title that firmly establishes the console as a next-generation gaming experience – even if the game is incredibly challenging.

Developed by Housemarque for Sony’s still-surprisingly-hard-to-obtain console, Returnal casts you as astronaut Selene, an interplanetary scout who has crash-landed on the planet Atropos while following a mysterious radio beacon and contravening a “Do Not Land” order in the process.

You set out to explore the planet, which is full of exotic creatures and environmental hazards intent on your demise and each time you die – and you die a lot – you wake up back at your ship with almost all of your items gone, your skill progression reset, and a totally new level layout in front of you.

Returnal – Combat

The levels for Returnal are randomly generated each time you start over – everything from area layout to weapons to equipment and health pick-ups.

It’s an interesting mechanic but resulted in an extremely frustrating game which I did not enjoy.

It’s one thing for a game to be hard – and I hate difficult games at the best of times – but it’s quite another for so much of that difficulty to come from what amounts to random number generation, meaning you have little idea what to expect between one life and the next until you’ve played the game for a dozen hours stuck on the same level, and have repeated it so often you’ve seen all the area iterations which can make it up.

Ask me how I know this.

The only items which carry over between deaths are a rare resource called Ether, and some milestone-related abilities like being able to use teleporters and melee attack with a nanosword.

The enemies and combat are often too challenging as there is often too much happening on screen to keep track of – energy balls flying, enemies rearing up to attack, things exploding – and there just never seems to be quite enough health pick-ups to restore the damage I would invariably take.

Returnal – Chest

Worse, when I eventually made it to the end-of-level boss, I would get absolutely thrashed, no matter what I tried – grinding through the level to get better weapons and expand my health bar a bit, harvesting the crystals needed to purchase ‘artefacts’ which confer useful bonuses until you die, and so on.

After more than a dozen hours – both before release and after – I have been utterly unable to finish the first level. I’ve come close to defeating the boss a couple of times, but have not been able to marshal the combination of reflexes and decent equipment necessary to bring them down.

My time with Returnal has ultimately been frustrating and unrewarding as a result. The game is simply too challenging for me and will likely be the same way for a lot of other ‘regular’ gamers as well; it is not an easy game, nor is it a game for people without a lot of uninterrupted time to devote to a run through a level. There is no save function; the best you can do is put the console to rest if you need to leave it for a while.

Having said that, despite the many issues I had playing the game, Returnal does a lot of things extremely well.

First, it makes outstanding use of the haptic feedback capabilities of the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller. The controller gently vibrates to mimic raindrops landing on your character, and is generally excellent and offers feedback.

Interestingly, the left trigger is only pulled halfway to activate the aim mode of your weapon all the way for the alternate fire mode. While this simply wouldn’t be a good design choice on the previous controller generation, it works very well with the DualSense controller which has game-adjustable trigger resistance – I never had any issues with accidentally using my alt-fire when I wanted to aim, for example.

Returnal – Exploring

Returnal looks absolutely amazing too. Housemarque has done a superb job with everything from the pulsing light effects of the alien creatures and their attacks, to the way the levels look, to how the rain and fog effects enhance the visual experience.

Equally impressive is the audio, which has been designed to take advantage of a 3D capable headset like the Sony Pulse 3D. It really does provide an added dimension to the game, allowing you to track enemies and attacks by sound regardless of where they are coming from.

The sound is still very good coming from TV speakers, but given the asymmetric nature of the combat you will encounter, the edge the 3D audio provides is a useful one.

One point which does need addressing is the high price tag – Returnal has an RRP of $124.95, which is a lot of money for what it is. Even with its superb graphics, sound, and haptic feedback features, the game is still essentially a third-person action-platformer-shooter that does what it does very well if you like those sorts of games.

If you are looking for a casual, fun sci-fi shooter then Returnal absolutely is not going to be for you. If you want something to test your reflexes, your gaming combat abilities and have the patience necessary to roll with the alien punches and energy-balls, the game will throw at you. I think you’ll find it worth exploring once the price drops a bit.