Although it was revealed way back in June last year, we still hadn’t seen much of Returnal coming into 2021. However, that’s no longer the case, as Sony has released a brand new gameplay trailer for the upcoming action title.
This video features a look at not only at the game’s combat and gunplay, but also some other elements that players will encounter. In terms of gunplay, we now see the weapons you’ll be wielding against your alien foes. Each gun not only has a regular firing mode, but also an alternative Weapon Trait; the rapid fire Tachyomatic Carbine features the “Shockstream” trait, which lets you use hit enemies with powerful lightning. Another couple of guns, like the Electropylon Driver, also get a feature. Looking even closer, each weapon has a bunch of stats to look through; with so many different guns, Returnal looks like a loot hunter’s dream.
A wide variety of combat perks – including alien parasites – should keep gameplay fresh
But, back to the other parts of the game Sony showed off in the trailer. “Devices” scattered across the planet will allow players to activate different effects or buffs to change the way you play. Some may give you an additional shield effect or allow you to trade an item for a consumable. Furthermore, there’s another way to change up the game – alien parasites. Once these attach to the player, they seem to trigger certain stat changes. Put all this together, and you get a highly varied gameplay system that should help keep the game’s roguelike system entertaining.
There’s even more depth to the new Housemarque title than this trailer shows, with even more explanation of the game’s action on the PlayStation Blog. Hopefully, this game will be another PS-exclusive hit for the Finnish games company.
