9s and 10s Across the Board for PS5 Exclusive Saros

A 9.25 from Game Informer. A 9 from GameSpot. A perfect 5/5 from VGC. Housemarque's Saros launches on PS5 next week, and the review scores paint a picture that's hard to argue with: this is one of the highest-rated games of 2026 so far, sitting comfortably among the top-rated titles of the year on Metacritic.

The consensus across outlets is remarkably consistent. Critics describe Saros as a refinement of everything Returnal did well, with deeper combat, a more flexible structure, and a narrative that pulls harder. GameSpot's review called it an elevation of Housemarque's roguelite formula, praising how the game's structure is "surprisingly malleable" while its combat feels "deeper and more rewarding." Game Informer's 9.25 came with the kind of breathless enthusiasm you rarely see in scored reviews, with the reviewer admitting they wanted to rush through writing just to get back to playing. GamesRadar gave it a slightly more measured 4/5, calling it a "lean fusion of sci-fi action and eldritch horror" that broadens Returnal's appeal without sacrificing its edge.

The one notable outlier is IGN's 7/10, which acknowledged Housemarque's combat design chops but found the game's narrative ambitions didn't always land. Every other major review sits at 9 or above. For a PS5 exclusive in 2026, when Sony's lineup has been under constant scrutiny, that kind of critical reception is a real statement.

I've been waiting to see what Housemarque would do after Returnal, and the fact that they've apparently made the game more accessible without gutting the difficulty is exactly the right call. Returnal lost players who bounced off its punishing structure before they ever got to experience how good the moment-to-moment shooting was. If Saros solves that problem while keeping the tension intact, Housemarque might have built the strongest case yet for PlayStation's investment in them.

Saros launches exclusively on PS5 next week.