By Linette Marte

A colorful, sci-fi world. Running and gunning weird and grotesque creatures. There’s no time for slowpokes in the high intensity rougelite, Saros. You are dropped into a planet called Carcosa where creatures are hostile and intense and a solar eclipse could mean your possible death. 

You control Arjun, a determined but also somewhat aggressive man who is ready to take on anything as you head out into the different biomes Carcosa has to offer. Shattered Rise lets you learn the basics of the game, and the Ancient Depths, drops you into caverns and tunnels as well as vault doors that are only accessible during the eclipse.

As you progress, you become more aware of the enemies you encounter, but also protect yourself in the process with new enhancements and weapons. Don’t be afraid to die in this game; it is the best way to learn. Your knowledge of the creatures and environment will improve every time you go out to start a cycle, so try new techniques and enhance your power ups to make every next one just a little bit easier.

Arjun is who you focus on for the most part. You learn how he was sent to Carcosa by the Soltari corporation and how a part of the crew he was in has gone a little bit crazy. An addled crewmate sabotaged the ship, tampering with it, leaving Arjun and the rest of his group stranded on Carcosa. Despite this, Arjun’s main goal is to find his wife, even though they had a difficult relationship because of Arjun’s issues prior to the events.

What also caught my interest was the game’s artwork. There is also an eclipse aspect with the artwork containing a large, swirling, somewhat hypnotic solar eclipse, almost as the fiery center piece. It’s a very clear hint as to what you may experience as later on in the game, you are sometimes forced to cause an solar eclipse to progress, which makes enemies more aggressive in return. Overall, the art gives a very sci-fi feel to the game which is accurate to what you encounter in gameplay: new worlds and strange fantasies.

You have Arjun in all his glory but also a being behind him. They look otherworldly, with eight arms and a grand headpiece but you can’t quite tell what exactly is it, which might cause you to wonder the importance of them. I looked it up, and it’s a reimagination of an Ashtabhuja, a Hindu diety that’s perhaps the Goddess Durga.

I really enjoyed the soundtrack but there was one thing that enhanced it for me, which was how the music changed based on what was going on. I’ve sometimes realized that a few games have their soundtrack on loop which breaks the immersion. But Saros excels at music! Whenever enemies are close or have spotted you, the music changes and becomes very tense. And when the enemies are defeated, the music slowly relaxes again. The transitioning between the music is very smooth and some of the voice lines that are heard through your controller are a nice touch to the experience.

Of course, soundtracks can’t carry a game. It needs nice gameplay to back it up. I enjoyed the hours I have in Saros so far because of the fact that the mechanics are pretty simple to grasp. You pretty much shoot for most of the time while using your other powers for specific circumstances. It was a little difficult as the game does drop multiple enemies at once when you’re just starting out. But I did manage to get through by using the dodging mechanic. You can also use various upgrades you get as you progress which can come with positives and negatives. My favorite upgrade is probably the second chance upgrade which you can get in the skill tree. As someone who sometimes doesn’t pay attention to my stats as much as I should, I’m very prone to dying. With the upgrade, I get another chance at the run I was on! 

Unfortunately for me, picking up a poorly timed upgrade was my downfall. I equipped an upgrade I found, not recognizing that it had the negative side effect of fall damage. Immediately after, I fell down a small hole which was a little bit too long of a drop from the ground below. It caused me to die and end my cycle. Despite this shocking turn of events, I had a lot of fun and I plan to be more wary of what enhancements I pick up.

Saros is definitely for you if you like shooting and learning enemy attack patterns while also risking your progress. You just feel that rush of adrenaline when thrown into compromising situations. The story is definitely also a nice plus if you like exploring and finding little voice memos in the environment as you progress. Overall, it’s safe to say that this game would be enjoyable to people whether you’re in it for the story, gameplay, or both! 

Writer/intern Linette Marte is a Bronx native who attends the Jonas Bronck Academy.

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