A new sci-fi horror game is coming to PS5 by Housemarque Games. Returnal will put players in the shoes of an astronaut forced to relive alien attacks and death, all while her sanity slowly slips away after a crash landing, thus causing her to relive horrific images and encounters on an alien planet.
The words "The crash, the attack, my death" are repeated over and over as those events are shown again and again, with cinematics very much like Dead Space or Alien: Isolation. The astronaut appears in an advanced space suit and wields futuristic weapons, so the gameplay could be similar to Dead Space and other horror shooters, though it seems much more fast-paced.
The death of the astronaut is repeated, but every time, the planet seems to change. Alien creatures and demonic beings surround the character as she blasts them with various laser weapons. As she fights on, various puzzles and challenges will lead players to discover the mysterious planet and struggle with what is real and what is not. As a survival horror game, death may be a recurring event and it will be interesting to see if dying will restart progress or force players to play on with consequences.
The trailer also shows the astronaut's face many times, which is stricken with fear and panic. The character has heterochromia, giving her mismatched blue and green eyes behind her glass space helmet. The use of colors and lighting in the trailer seems vaguely similar to Death Stranding, and may draw inspiration from the mysterious scenes from Kojima's masterpiece.
The trailer does not explain much of the story besides the crash, the attack, and apparently the main character's death. However, the trailer does show gameplay of different weapon capabilities and challenging enemies. The combat system briefly demoed, however, an impressive array of guns are shown.
Although the landscape surrounding the character appears horrific and bleak, the gunfire and flashes of light brighten the area. Based on the trailer, the player will play through different environments as her memories and experiences are affected in an attempt to leave the hostile planet.
Some environments shown appear as dark forests, dystopian ruins, and blood-colored skies above rocky cliffs. The cycle of death could be the cause of the changing environments, which means players may be thrown into different locations in the main character's memories or possibly hallucinations caused by the planet. Returnal will take advantage of the next-generation graphics and truly bring horror to the PS5.
Returnal is expected to release exclusively on PlayStation 5 in 2020.