‘Saros’ Shows Off the PS5’s DualSense Tricks

spoiler for The first thing you’ll see in the upcoming game saros:It is a group of words. Characters type on the screen one by one, spelling out some world-building that gives context to the game’s story to begin with. I don’t remember what any of it said, as I was focused on the tactile vibrations coming from the controller in my hand. There’s a loud haptic buzz for each letter, and it immediately feels very clicky-to-clacky. from the very beginning, saros Makes its intentions clear—this is a story you have to feel.

Since the launch of the PlayStation 5, Sony’s DualSense controllers have enabled haptic feedback, which developers can use to vibrate the controller in the right way to convey the sensation of what is happening on the screen. It might be letters being typed on a screen, the gentle patter of rain, or a larger thud when firing a gun or hitting something with a melee weapon. Adaptive triggers add resistance to the main trigger, meaning the difference between feathering the trigger and pulling it all the way down is very noticeable.

saros, Launching on April 30, the show is developed by Sony-owned Finnish studio Housemark. It’s been here before, when it released the hugely popular PlayStation 5 game Return In 2021. That game, as a launch title for the console, was intended to utilize all the new technology Sony was introducing with its hardware, particularly the haptic and adaptive features in the DualSense controller. Housemark creative director Gregory Louden, who helped develop both games, says that both titles came with added pressure to show what the console could do.

“Back when we started ReturnWe felt almost a responsibility – because we were the launch window title for PlayStation 5 – what can you do with this hardware? Louden tells WIRED. “In many ways, we’re doing it for our players, but also as a means to inspire others.”

as it happened with ReturnHousemark has developed its latest game to take full advantage of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controllers. It also uses 3D audio features to make the world feel more alive. Return And saros It came on the same hardware, but Louden says it all matches up now more than ever.

“We’ve really pushed the graphics forward and pushed the hardware forward,” says Louden. “We wanted to do something better for players and really get the most out of DualSense.”

Of the few hours I spent with it, saros Feels very good to play. It’s a dark sci-fi roguelike where you shoot down dozens of hostile aliens in frantic, tactile gameplay. Battles feel particularly clear because everything on screen feels the same as you do on a controller. The obvious tricks are simulating firing a weapon or feeling the echoes when enemy bullets and explosives hit your shield. But Housemarque has also deployed haptics in more careful, subtle ways, such as during cinematics, where a steady haptic pulse helps make the tension and anger of onscreen characters more palpable.