There isn’t much to introduce here. Astro Bot is just pure, unadulterated fun.
If you have a PlayStation 5 and don’t know who or what Astro Bot is, you just aren’t paying attention. Every PS5 comes with Astro’s Playroom pre-installed, and whether you’re a fan of platformers or not, you can’t hate on a good game, much less one that’s as polished while also paying homage to literally every PlayStation device before it. Now with the fully-fledged and aptly titled Astro Bot out, while it’s hardly the first game in the series, the little white robot’s adventure should more or less cement it to be PlayStation’s mascot.
The plot to Astro Bot is nothing new to fans of the series. All of Astro’s robot friends have been abducted, and it’s up to him to go through space and save them all in several different themed galaxies. In addition to saving these robot pals, Astro also needs to find broken key pieces for their giant spaceship, which of course resembles a PlayStation 5 console, continuing the homage to PlayStation history.
One opinion that you’ll see throughout the internet, whether its from a pundit or a casual gamer, is the amount of comparisons the game gets to Mario games. One of the funniest memes I saw was that Astro Bot completes the Super Mario Galaxy trilogy, and I don’t think that’s a farfetched opinion. Astro Bot absolutely feels exactly the way a Nintendo game would. The speed at which the robot moves is nice, the platforming is precise, and Team Asobi even went out of their way to continue to maximize the PS5 DualSense for what its capable of.
If you know, you know.
Everything from Astro’s Playroom makes a return, and there are a bunch of new power-ups too. There’s the Octo-Balloon that allows Astro to float to unreachable heights, the Twin-Frog Gloves that gives Astro a powerful and far-reaching punch, the Barker the Bulldog Booster that acts as a jetpack for Astro to jump incredible distances while also allowing him to bust through glass and other destructible elements, the Micro Mouse Shrinker to make Astro incredibly tiny to fit in the smallest of spaces, and a handful of others. Each of these power-ups is a joy to use and really fits the whimsical setting that the game tries to portray, adding variety to an already solid platformer.
Of course, the precise platforming and plentiful power-ups wouldn’t mean much if Astro Bot didn’t have clever level design, but this isn’t a worry at all. If you’ve played Astro Bot: Rescue Mission on PlayStationVR, you should feel right at home here. Astro Bot levels follow the formula of simply getting to the end of the level in order to move on, but the path there is littered with Astro’s friends that you’ll need because not only is rescuing the other robots the point of the game, they’re what allow you to unlock other areas in the first place.
The fun part about each robot is some will be easy to find, and some are going to be well hidden and the act of finding them relies on your own curiosity and exploration. This was what made Rescue Mission special; while there are some bots you’ll have to perform a certain task in order to find, a lot of them are just hiding really well–they can be on a ledge you don’t see unless you look for it, they can be underground, they can be virtually anywhere. Some levels even feature a hidden exit that’ll unlock another level in a special galaxy, adding to the fun. Sometimes, to find those, you have to play a level differently, and that’s all we’ll say about that.
Bot of War turning the game into God of War is definitely one of the game’s most epic moments.
Great design aside, the main thing that makes Astro Bot unique is its renewed homage to PlayStation that we first saw in Astro’s Playroom. In that game, we unlocked items that were pretty much every PlayStation device that ever existed. In Astro Bot, there are over 180 “cameo” bots spanning various video game franchises, including games that aren’t even exclusive to PlayStation. Because I don’t want to spoil much, I won’t name too many of the cameo bots, but just some include Kazuya (Tekken), Spyro the Dragon, and even Joker (Persona 5).
In addition to these cameos are VIP Bots, which are definitely more than just an homage to PlayStation history. When you beat a galaxy’s boss, you unlock a special level that essentially plays like a different game. Again, I don’t want to say too much, but “Bot of War” is probably the most epic level in the game. In this level, you unlock Kratos and Atreus and take control of the Leviathan Axe and it works exactly the way it does in God of War and Ragnarok. From destroying enemy bots to solving frozen puzzles, to even finding Odin’s raven spies to unlock more cool stuff. This is just one example of the endless smile you’ll have when playing Astro Bot.
When the game was first unveiled, I was absolutely excited but did have one fairly major reservation. I didn’t want it to be too big for its own good, because the first trailer for the game really showed a lot of content and worlds. That said, the fact that I got the platinum in this game and am satisfied after 16 hours of play says a lot.
Yes, both Helldivers II and Stellar Blade have some representation in Astro Bot.
Unless you absolutely hate platformers, Astro Bot‘s design really leaves something for everyone. There are even “challenge” stages that are difficult yet fair enough to demand some frustration, and the developers have made evergreen content by releasing free DLC that includes both new levels and new cameo bots. With everything it has going for it, Astro Bot is easily one of the best games of the year.
There isn’t much to introduce here. Astro Bot is just pure, unadulterated fun. If you have a PlayStation 5 and don’t know who or what Astro Bot is, you just aren’t paying attention. Every PS5 comes with Astro’s Playroom pre-installed,…
There isn’t much to introduce here. Astro Bot is just pure, unadulterated fun.
If you have a PlayStation 5 and don’t know who or what Astro Bot is, you just aren’t paying attention. Every PS5 comes with Astro’s Playroom pre-installed, and whether you’re a fan of platformers or not, you can’t hate on a good game, much less one that’s as polished while also paying homage to literally every PlayStation device before it. Now with the fully-fledged and aptly titled Astro Bot out, while it’s hardly the first game in the series, the little white robot’s adventure should more or less cement it to be PlayStation’s mascot.
The plot to Astro Bot is nothing new to fans of the series. All of Astro’s robot friends have been abducted, and it’s up to him to go through space and save them all in several different themed galaxies. In addition to saving these robot pals, Astro also needs to find broken key pieces for their giant spaceship, which of course resembles a PlayStation 5 console, continuing the homage to PlayStation history.
One opinion that you’ll see throughout the internet, whether its from a pundit or a casual gamer, is the amount of comparisons the game gets to Mario games. One of the funniest memes I saw was that Astro Bot completes the Super Mario Galaxy trilogy, and I don’t think that’s a farfetched opinion. Astro Bot absolutely feels exactly the way a Nintendo game would. The speed at which the robot moves is nice, the platforming is precise, and Team Asobi even went out of their way to continue to maximize the PS5 DualSense for what its capable of.
If you know, you know.
Everything from Astro’s Playroom makes a return, and there are a bunch of new power-ups too. There’s the Octo-Balloon that allows Astro to float to unreachable heights, the Twin-Frog Gloves that gives Astro a powerful and far-reaching punch, the Barker the Bulldog Booster that acts as a jetpack for Astro to jump incredible distances while also allowing him to bust through glass and other destructible elements, the Micro Mouse Shrinker to make Astro incredibly tiny to fit in the smallest of spaces, and a handful of others. Each of these power-ups is a joy to use and really fits the whimsical setting that the game tries to portray, adding variety to an already solid platformer.
Of course, the precise platforming and plentiful power-ups wouldn’t mean much if Astro Bot didn’t have clever level design, but this isn’t a worry at all. If you’ve played Astro Bot: Rescue Mission on PlayStationVR, you should feel right at home here. Astro Bot levels follow the formula of simply getting to the end of the level in order to move on, but the path there is littered with Astro’s friends that you’ll need because not only is rescuing the other robots the point of the game, they’re what allow you to unlock other areas in the first place.
The fun part about each robot is some will be easy to find, and some are going to be well hidden and the act of finding them relies on your own curiosity and exploration. This was what made Rescue Mission special; while there are some bots you’ll have to perform a certain task in order to find, a lot of them are just hiding really well–they can be on a ledge you don’t see unless you look for it, they can be underground, they can be virtually anywhere. Some levels even feature a hidden exit that’ll unlock another level in a special galaxy, adding to the fun. Sometimes, to find those, you have to play a level differently, and that’s all we’ll say about that.
Bot of War turning the game into God of War is definitely one of the game’s most epic moments.
Great design aside, the main thing that makes Astro Bot unique is its renewed homage to PlayStation that we first saw in Astro’s Playroom. In that game, we unlocked items that were pretty much every PlayStation device that ever existed. In Astro Bot, there are over 180 “cameo” bots spanning various video game franchises, including games that aren’t even exclusive to PlayStation. Because I don’t want to spoil much, I won’t name too many of the cameo bots, but just some include Kazuya (Tekken), Spyro the Dragon, and even Joker (Persona 5).
In addition to these cameos are VIP Bots, which are definitely more than just an homage to PlayStation history. When you beat a galaxy’s boss, you unlock a special level that essentially plays like a different game. Again, I don’t want to say too much, but “Bot of War” is probably the most epic level in the game. In this level, you unlock Kratos and Atreus and take control of the Leviathan Axe and it works exactly the way it does in God of War and Ragnarok. From destroying enemy bots to solving frozen puzzles, to even finding Odin’s raven spies to unlock more cool stuff. This is just one example of the endless smile you’ll have when playing Astro Bot.
When the game was first unveiled, I was absolutely excited but did have one fairly major reservation. I didn’t want it to be too big for its own good, because the first trailer for the game really showed a lot of content and worlds. That said, the fact that I got the platinum in this game and am satisfied after 16 hours of play says a lot.
Yes, both Helldivers II and Stellar Blade have some representation in Astro Bot.
Unless you absolutely hate platformers, Astro Bot‘s design really leaves something for everyone. There are even “challenge” stages that are difficult yet fair enough to demand some frustration, and the developers have made evergreen content by releasing free DLC that includes both new levels and new cameo bots. With everything it has going for it, Astro Bot is easily one of the best games of the year.
by Danreb Victorio
