Returnal lets you see how other players died and hear memories you don't remember

A new Returnal trailer teases out more of the mysterious story for this upcoming PS5 exclusive, including how it will let you see things from other points of view.

While Returnal is a single-player game, you'll be able to see how other players died when you discover their corpses out in the world. Interacting with their bodies - which is extremely distressing for your character since that is also her body - will let you see a projection of their last moments. Afterwards you can choose to either pocket any items left on the remains or attempt to avenge their death, which triggers "events that are best discovered when you play", as teased by Housemarque narrative designer Greg Louden on the PlayStation Blog.

Not all of the corpses you can find come from other players, however. Some of them come from other versions of your very own Selene, and while she can't remember how they got there, interacting with them will unlock audio logs that reveal more of the story of this strange alien world that seems to know much more about you than you do about it.

That brings up another way Returnal lets you get a new perspective on things - the first person perspective, specifically. When Selene enters a mysterious farmhouse that seems to be pulled straight from her past (and which definitely shouldn't be present on an alien planet) the camera pulls in to let you explore the house and see what unfolds inside from her perspective. It sounds like you'll enter this house at several points in the game, letting these first-person narrative moments function as a semi-regular break from the third-person action.

If you want to know more about the shooty bits, Housemarque gave us a better look at Returnal's combat and roguelike elements last month.

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.

Read more
Saros screenshot featuring the main character and am imposing monster in the background with a swirling void in its chest and multiple arms with balls of fire
I want Saros to riff off a misunderstood Hades feature to become a very different roguelike to Returnal
Saros
State of Play's big reveal was Saros, a "new single-player IP that builds on Returnal's award-winning third-person action" from the roguelike maestros at Housemarque
Saros
Returnal is a roguelike, Saros is a roguelite: "Permanent resources and progression" make "every death valuable" in Housemarque's new shooter
Concept art from Cronos: The New Dawn shows a fleshy creature with two heads and many arms.
Bloober's new sci-fi horror game looks like Silent Hill 2 meets Alien, the retrofuturistic gorefest I've always dreamed of
Atomfall screenshot
Playing Atomfall for 90 minutes booted me out of my comfort zone more than any other survival action game, and that's a very good thing
Cloned versions of the same person arguing with themselves in The Alters
The Alters is a "journey of discovery" that will have you asking one of life's biggest questions in 2025
Latest in Third Person Shooter
Marvel Rivals Spider-Man
Spider-Man has become every Marvel Rivals player's worst nightmare
Helldivers 2 screenshot showing a fully geared/armored diver standing with gun in hand as three jets soar the skies behind him
Arrowhead reveals the Helldivers 2 ideas left on its cutting room floor, from 5-player squads to low-gravity planets and a whole new armor system
Helldivers 2 Ultimatum
Helldivers 2 has a Major Order problem, but the solution isn't simple because "having 100% participation means the MOs will always be won and that introduces other issues"
Marvel Rivals Clone Rumble
Marvel Rivals' new Clone Rumble mode sounds like the kind of absolute chaos multiplayer games need more of
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 has an endgame problem, but a developer assures us "things are coming," they just can't say what yet because otherwise our expectations will be too high
Jeff the Land Shark as he appears in Marvel Rivals
"Sounds like a skills issue": Jeff the Shark co-creator says Marvel Rivals players "should get better at the game" if "my boy is beating your ass every night"
Latest in News
Scarlett Johansson in Jurassic World Rebirth
Jurassic World Rebirth studio asked Scarlett Johansson to join Instagram, but she refused: "The film will do fine"
Deltarune
Undertale creator Toby Fox's tomfoolery leaves Deltarune testers thinking an intentional nerf was actually a bug after they "independently" discovered it
A Minecraft Movie
Minecraft movie's popcorn bucket is an explosive, game-accurate continuation of a cinema trend that shows no signs of slowing down
The Running Man
The Running Man reboot is bringing back key aspects of Stephen King's novel to turn it into "the deadliest game of hide and seek"
Balatro Joker card
After stepping away from Balatro for 3 months, the developer only resumed work "because I was bored but the internet was out so I couldn't play Rocket League"
Shots of Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread in play
RPG board game designer's revelation was searching for a D&D quick start guide to find "You needed to pull together lots of different pieces in order to play"