As a seasoned gamer with over three decades under my belt, I must say that Astro Bot has left me utterly astounded! This little bot’s grand adventure through the cosmos is nothing short of breathtaking. The sheer variety of interactions and controls, from thumbsticks to motion control, even microphone inputs, have kept me engaged throughout this journey.
One common criticism of Team Asobi’s Astro series was that the games were relatively brief and seemed more like tech demos than complete titles due to their length. In response, they packed Astro Bot with an abundance of features, enhancing the appeal of Astro, its world, and PS5-specific gameplay. Not only does this game exceed the original in charm, but it also offers a lavish spread of levels featuring diverse gameplay designs, music, and visuals. It’s possible that Astro Bot could become a defining game for the PlayStation 5 moving forward
That green guy’s a jerk! Get him!
In essence, while Astro Bot’s narrative isn’t particularly noteworthy, it serves as a backdrop for the game’s other captivating elements. The story unfolds as the Bots are voyaging through space in their PlayStation 5 spaceship. Suddenly, they encounter a green goo character in a flying saucer who collides with them, destroys their ship, steals its components, and disperses the Bots across different star systems. Astro must now take on the challenge, this time tasked with traversing galaxies, locating their scattered companions, and retrieving the necessary parts to restore their spacecraft to full functionality. In summary, the plot is straightforward but effectively sets the stage for our adventure
Exploring this game is filled with wonder and fun. Astro Bot breaks down into multiple galaxies, each containing several “planetary” stages and a challenging boss level at the end of each galaxy. As you progress through the stages, you’ll also unlock hidden levels and challenges within each galaxy, or even gain access to bonus galaxies with more difficult stages
Wow, the design of these levels really takes my breath away! Every environment created by Team Asobi is just delightful, and I can’t stop praising how much joy it brings me as I progress through each one. The main goal is to reach the end where you’re propelled to the next level challenge, but on your journey, you need to gather Astro’s fellow Bots. These Bots are hidden in various themes, such as a pirate cove where you use a monkey-like power-up to navigate across damaged ships or a casino level where you employ a time-stopping ability to slow down falling poker chips and roulette tables so you can pass through them. There are even secret levels that reward you with fun cameos upon completion!
Astro Bot doesn’t merely stick to familiar themes like beach, pirate, sweet treats, and size contrasts in its stage design; instead, it creatively and entertainingly plays with these concepts. The game is filled with countless one-of-a-kind interactions and eye-catching set pieces that kept me entertained as I explored every nook and cranny. Plus, the levels are visually stunning, made even more appealing by an infectious soundtrack – one of the best I’ve heard in a while. My partner can’t stop chuckling and humming the hidden robotic lyrics from the secret universe level select song, and that catchy tune is just a small earworm compared to the lively and charming tunes that accompany each stage in this game. I can’t help but wish for this music to play in my daily life, and I’m confident many other players feel the same way
Putting all that DualSense tech to work
In a manner characteristic of Astro, Team Asobi didn’t merely create an aesthetically pleasing PS5 platformer. Instead, they skillfully leveraged the PS5 and DualSense controller technologies to their full potential, resulting in an engaging gameplay experience that offers delightful variations across levels, filled with enjoyable surprises and intriguing challenges to uncover at every turn
In my gaming adventure, the core objective of any level is clear: make it to the end while uncovering all the hidden Bots and secrets scattered throughout. When it comes to playing the game itself, I’ve got your standard jump, a boost jump that also fires a laser beneath Astro, taking down enemies in its path, a punch button for good measure, and a charged punch that lets me pull off a spin attack. The controls feel smooth and intuitive for a 3D platformer. What really adds to the fun are level-specific power-ups; they introduce all kinds of new actions and control schemes such as boxing gloves to punch from afar, jet boosters for soaring horizontally, and goop that creates floating platforms beneath my feet mid-jump – just a few examples
In Astro Bot, you’ll encounter a diverse range of controls like thumbstick movements, trigger pulls, and even microphone interactions that pop up unexpectedly. While they might not always be the most enjoyable part of the game, they do help break the monotony of typical controls and never become repetitive to the point of being boring. This variety is particularly evident in each level, especially if you aim to complete the game at 100%, which takes roughly 20 hours if you want to collect everything literally. A more casual playthrough, from start to finish, will probably fall within the 15-hour range
These travels all culminate in a boss battle at the end of each galaxy, and those boss battles are also a menagerie of interesting gameplay and interactions. I wouldn’t say any of them are very hard, but some of the secret levels in Astro Bot can be quite the platforming challenge. It’s all worth it to collect each Bot and ship piece and bring them back to your hub base. It’s there that you can see your progress, unlock new base features and cosmetics, and plenty more. It’s known by now that you can find Bots based on video game characters from other games like Kratos from God of War or Crash Bandicoot. There just so happens to be an unlockable gacha machine full of props for your discovered Bots such as the Aku Aku Mask for Crash Bot. Finding the props for each Bot and seeing their animations out in the hub as they interact with each other is just fun cherries on top of an already delectable gaming sundae.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that using a PS5 DualSense controller isn’t essential for enjoying Astro Bot. The game provides adaptable controls that enable you to reassign the actions typically tied to motion controls or advanced features like Adaptive Triggers to conventional button and joystick inputs. So, if you prefer playing on a different controller like the Victrix BFG, it’s possible. While I find the additional interactivity provided by the DualSense in Astro Bot quite engaging, I appreciate that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy the game equally well
Out of this universe
3D platformers seem to be few and far between these days, but 2024 looks promising for this genre. I really enjoyed Penny’s Big Breakaway, but Astro Bot takes the cake as an all-around fantastic representation of its kind. If someone is buying a PS5 and wants a game that everyone can enjoy, Astro Bot is my top recommendation. It feels like something Sony should include with the console from now on. Astro Bot is a delightful homage to PlayStation’s past, showcases the power of the PS5 hardware, but most importantly, it’s just an exceptionally well-made game
This critique is derived from a digitally provided PS5 version of the game, courtesy of the publisher. The delightful title, Astro Bot, will be available on PlayStation 5 starting September 6, 2024
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2024-09-05 15:50