When PS5 exclusive Returnal is released in March, Housemarque fully intends to make use of the console’s technology to get the most out of their title. In an interview with PlayStation Official Magazine, the developer revealed how they’ll be using the SSD to enable incredibly quick respawn times after a player dies.
Returnal is a roguelike featuring a pilot, Selene, who crash lands onto a hostile planet called Atropos. Each run promises to be different. When she dies, the SSD will enable players to respawn almost immediately. Not all is lost upon death; most abilities and items will disappear, but some of them will be carried over into the next run.
Once they’ve respawned, players will find themselves reliving the events directly following the crash, only this time they’ll be slightly different. An alien device known as the Cthonos will also generate a random item to use depending on the amount of progress players have made. This is then a permanent addition to the loot pool. The thousands of variants of the game’s world will help the game “survive repetition” and offer “unlimited replay value“.
The super fast SSD isn’t the only console feature to enhance the experience. The Adaptive Triggers offer seamless transition between aiming down a weapon’s sights and activating its alternative fire mode. The title has ten base weapons, each of which have their own alt-fire mode. There’s also more than 90 weapon traits for players combine to fit their playstyle. Meanwhile, Haptic Feedback from the DualSense controller will replicate different environmental effects to allow players to “feel the natural ambience of this alien planet”.
Housemarque has moved away from their arcade and twin-stick shooter roots following disappointing sales of some of their later titles in those genres, like Nex Machina. The team then decided to try their hand at the battle royale genre with Stormdivers. After realising the title was unlikely to succeed, it was put on hold to make way for Returnal. Their latest title will be released soon, hitting PlayStation 5 on March 19.
[Source: PlayStation Official magazine via GameSpot]
