Sony announces sci-fi shooter Returnal for PlayStation 5

Housemarque is working on Returnal, a sci-fi third-person shooter where the game world changes when the player dies. Every time the player dies, the story also apparently starts over. The goal of the PS5 exclusive is to break this cycle.

In the announcement trailer below, developer Housemarque shows how the protagonist wants to land on a planet, but that this landing ends in a crash for unknown reasons. On this planet, the player is attacked by aliens, causing her to die. The player then respawns in the crashing spaceship and experiences the crash again.

When respawning, the game world is also different every time. For example, at one time there seems to be vegetation on the planet and at the next respawn the player ends up in a Mars-like environment. When the player dies, the planet seems to take over her a little bit and modify memories, for example. The aim of the game is to break this cycle before the protagonist loses her sanity.

In order to do this, the player is given a weapon with different shooting modes. The trailer shows a few of these modes, such as firing small spheres quickly or firing longer laser beams slowly. Players can choose between shooting modes using the adaptive trigger.

Sony calls the game a third-person shooter in the description, although first-person images can also be seen in the trailer. These first person images seem to hint at a VR mode. Sony does not mention a price and release date.